Report: Empowered Gen Alpha to impact purchasing decisions
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Generation Alpha are still being born, but they're already on the minds of marketers.
The big picture: Defined in a Morning Consult report as children under 9, the generation is expected to have a solid financial foundation, and many are already having an influence on household purchases.
- The youngest generation's parents — many of them millennials — came of age during the Great Recession and are teaching their kids early on to think about money, according to Morning Consult’s latest analysis.
Meanwhile, millennial caretakers, attuned to their children’s sense of self-worth, want their young ones to exercise decision-making skills, Emily Moquin, Morning Consult’s food and beverage analyst, noted in a virtual event today.
- One way parents are going about it is making sure their children's opinions are counted and heard in the household, said Moquin.
Zoom in: And when that happens, brand names are included from a very young age, she adds.
State of play: Children’s influence on family purchases takes hold around age 5, when they become more skilled communicators and when school peers start informing their opinions, analysts write.
- Nearly 50% of parents reported that their kids ask for their favorite food brands often by age 7.
- Preferences for electronics, video games and restaurants come around 8–9, and apparel brands start creeping in around 10.
What to watch: This generation is growing up during “unprecedented times — historic inflation, a still-unresolved pandemic, ongoing tech breakthroughs [including] generative AI,” Joanna Piacenza, head of industry intelligence at Morning Consult, said.
- “One of our big takeaways from the overall report is that parents of Gen Alpha believe their children will be better off on every metric that we asked about, except for mental health.”
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