Marketing to the Four-Eyed, Four-Legged Consumer
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Admap
July/August 2006, Issue 474 www.warc.com
Marketing to the four-eyed, four-legged consumer
Tim Coffey, David Siegel and Greg Livingston The nature of the four-eyed, four-legged consumer (4i4l), otherwise known as mother and child, changes as the child matures from prebirth (pregnancy) to teen. Today's mothers and their children are substantially different from previous generations in their approach to life, and parenting in particular. By examining their lifestages, we can better understand how the 4i4l develops and changes over time. Each stage brings a new relationship between mother and child that significantly affects how they make decisions together, with each stage informing the next one. Most importantly, each stage requires a different approach to marketing effectively. In relationship terms, we see three stages – Dependence, Conditional and Interdependence – which emerge over time. Each stage is characterised by a different mix and balance of mutual decision-making styles. For several decades, this decision-making relationship has been characterised as a nagging child who pesters and cajoles the parent to get what s/he wants, with the parent (mostly the mother) represented as the 'gatekeeper' who decides which requests are granted. We are not saying that there is no truth in these characterisations, but we have seen from research that there is much more to the story. There is far more generational collaboration than was once believed, as both mother and child seek to meet their respective needs. In our 2005 study of mother–child influence, we found clear evidence of this more collaborative relationship even with children as young as two to four years old, increasing as the child grows older. Styles of
Admap
July/August 2006, Issue 474 www.warc.com
Marketing to the four-eyed, four-legged consumer
Tim Coffey, David Siegel and Greg Livingston The nature of the four-eyed, four-legged consumer (4i4l), otherwise known as mother and child, changes as the child matures from prebirth (pregnancy) to teen. Today's mothers and their children are substantially different from previous generations in their approach to life, and parenting in particular. By examining their lifestages, we can better understand how the 4i4l develops and changes over time. Each stage brings a new relationship between mother and child that significantly affects how they make decisions together, with each stage informing the next one. Most importantly, each stage requires a different approach to marketing effectively. In relationship terms, we see three stages – Dependence, Conditional and Interdependence – which emerge over time. Each stage is characterised by a different mix and balance of mutual decision-making styles. For several decades, this decision-making relationship has been characterised as a nagging child who pesters and cajoles the parent to get what s/he wants, with the parent (mostly the mother) represented as the 'gatekeeper' who decides which requests are granted. We are not saying that there is no truth in these characterisations, but we have seen from research that there is much more to the story. There is far more generational collaboration than was once believed, as both mother and child seek to meet their respective needs. In our 2005 study of mother–child influence, we found clear evidence of this more collaborative relationship even with children as young as two to four years old, increasing as the child grows older. Styles of