bangalore traditionally they have been the familys decision makers in purchases in areas such as confectionery toys chocolates and milk food today their powers go far beyond they may not be the final decision makers but in a wide range of areas going all the way to tvs music systems and cars they influence significantly the familys buying preferences we refer here as you would have guessed by now to kids the term is used with due apologies to kids marketing folk say many kids dont like to be called kids or children anymore but for lack of a better term to describe the 4 to 14yearolds we shall stick to that the phenomenon of kidpower is now recognised by a growing breed of marketers and evidence of that can be seen in companies like bpl aiwa kodak and daewoo which have communications that are directed solely at children theres also now more objective data cartoon networks patented study of indian kids the new generations 2001 which endeavours to understand their role as members of the family finds that pester power or the influence children have on purchase decisions is often substantial and growing the study specifically measures partly through an interview of mothers the pester power of kids in 27 consumables household and personal and 10 consumer durables and the results are striking some 32 per cent of mothers claimed their children influence the purchase of tvs 38 per cent said they influenced computer buying more than 35 per cent said they influenced purchase of microwaves and music systems these percentages were also significant in areas like cars mobile phones and refrigerators explaining this soumitra saha vice president advertising sales turner international india of which cartoon network is a part says the indian kid is becoming more and more discerning she frequently has indepth knowledge about things like tvs and computers children are therefore playing a critical role in category purchase decisions as also brand purchase decisions he also notes that the share of nontraditional advertisers on childrens channels like cartoon network has been growing rapidly the brands that now advertise on such channels are such varied ones as toothpaste brands which till some years ago was seen as a mothers forte daewoos matiz satyam infoway bpl kodak novartis pantene shampoo himalaya drugs adidas and sony music sahas view is now echoed by many others says akhilesh prasad chief executive officer of personality ltd which owns the apparel brands weekender and weekender kids pester power is definitely increasing a 4yearold today is what a 10yearold was some years ago in apparel buying prasad notes that the 11 to 18yearolds take all the decisions themselves in the case of 2 to 10yearolds parents still take most decisions on apparel but i believe that in about three years well reach a stage where kids decide even the brand to buy he says childrens growing influence in the technology domain too is perhaps easy to understand parents in most indian