Do your kids force you to spend more than you want to?
How’s this for a news flash: Dora the Explorer gummy bears obviously taste better than the same gummy bears in plain packaging.
A recent study conducted by researchers at Yale University found that kids between the ages of 4 and 6 think that foods in cartoon-decorated packages taste better. Only 40 children participated in the survey, but I suspect that the results would not have differed if thousands had taken part. The study used Shrek, Dora and Scooby Doo on packaging. Here’s a sample from the findings, as described on ABC News.
Eighty-five percent of the children in the study opted for the cartoon-decorated graham crackers over the plain-wrapped ones when presented with a choice of snack; 55 percent of them said the cartoon-decorated crackers actually tasted better. For gummy snacks, 85 percent chose the cartoon package over the plain one for a snack and 52 percent of the children thought the snacks in a cartoon-decorated package tasted better.
But researchers were surprised to find cartoons didn’t have as much of an effect on the children’s taste for carrots. Only 50 percent of children thought carrots tasted better from a cartoon-decorated package.
While the study did not indicate this, many times themed-packaged food items are more expensive. They are also attractive to kids, whose laser vision zeroes in on characters and gadgets down every aisle of the grocery store. As a result, many parents, in an effort to avoid a scene with their 4-year-old on aisle 7, throws the item in the basket.
Question: Do you spend more in the grocery store when you’re shopping with your children? If not, how do you avoid doing so?
Follow me on Twitter @atlbargains and on Facebook at AJC Atlanta Bargain Hunter
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
14 comments Add your comment
Jennifer
June 21st, 2010
3:59 pm
I don’t. It’s very simple, really: I am the mommy, and I make the rules. We don’t watch Dora and all that in our house, but my kids do see it when they go to their friends’ homes, so it’s not as if they aren’t aware. But when I hear, “Mommy, I need Dora [fill in the blank],” I simply say no — unless I want to buy it.
For example, we buy Curious George fruit snacks. But we don’t EXCLUSIVELY buy them. So when we’re home and we decide it’s time for fruit snacks, Curious George is a treat, and sometimes we have George fruit snacks, and sometimes we don’t. Nothing wrong with that! Sometimes it’s fun to have Curious George shapes.
The point is, we don’t spend more money simply because the kids ask for stuff. If I wasn’t planning to buy Oreos, and we already have cookies at home, I don’t buy them, and it doesn’t matter if the kids ask. But if there’s no reason NOT to buy Oreos and the kids ask, then yes, sometimes we’ll buy them. The parents make the decisions in our household, and that’s the end of that. But we also don’t NOT buy stuff because it has a character on it — sometimes it’s nice to have a treat, and that’s just part of being a kid!
David S
June 21st, 2010
4:00 pm
“FORCE?” Who is the parent, and who earns the money?
When do you think they are going to learn fiscal responsibility? I think the last post clearly established that it wasn’t going to be in the schools. Clealy if they watch the actions of their elected leadership, they will only learn that you can spend and spend and spend and expect somebody else to pay the bills.
TallMom
June 21st, 2010
4:01 pm
No, I don’t spend more when I take the kids grocery shopping with me. How? I tell them no. Wow!! Crazy, novel idea, huh?
And yes folks, it IS that easy. Go ahead and practice…”No, we’re not getting that”. No long drawn out explanation (just gives them room to argue)…just say No.
By the way…this saying no thing works in many, many areas of child rearing!!
David S
June 21st, 2010
4:05 pm
By last post, I mean the one about financial education that was posted over the weekend, not Jennifer’s post.
David S
June 21st, 2010
4:07 pm
You aren’t going to be able to blame your children when you are living on the streets or declaring bankruptcy because of your poor financial decisions. Don’t blame them now for your poor financial decisions.
Rana Cash
June 21st, 2010
4:08 pm
I agree that parents make the call, but the marketing to children obviously works. Otherwise, millions (or more) wouldn’t be spent on it.
Rana Cash
June 21st, 2010
4:08 pm
Maybe ‘force’ is too strong a word. Persuade?
Steve
June 21st, 2010
4:18 pm
Rana,
I remember the marketing to kids back in my youth (1960’s & 70’s). I’m sure I wanted stuff back then every bit as much as kids today. My parents were in charge of what was bought though. It didn’t matter how much I whined.
Amazingly, I somehow lived without the item. Today I live with a mortgage I can afford, and no credit card debt.
Jodi
June 21st, 2010
5:04 pm
In the event the fruit snacks are the same cost at Wal-mart, yes my child can pick between Barbie, Nemo, etc. However, like other commenters the purchasing decision falls with mommy.
Mom of Two
June 21st, 2010
5:51 pm
Do you spend more in the grocery store when you’re shopping with your children? No
If not, how do you avoid doing so? I use the word “No.”
My kids (6 and 11) are too busy, comparing the cost per ounce/pound/loads/servings on the shelf tags of the items I’m planning on purchasing, to ask for junk food they know I won’t buy, anyway. Or, the older one is figuring in his head which is the better deal – the 3 pound bag of apples for $2.49 or the 5 pound bag for $4.85.
penguinmom
June 21st, 2010
8:00 pm
We definitely buy things we would not buy if we didn’t have kids.
But, we do not spend more money just because the kids beg for something. It is very rare for any begging to work because my rule is ‘if you ask for it too many times, the answer is automatically No.’
If the kids have been really good, I’ll let them get something they want as a treat. So, in those cases, I do end up spending more than I would have normally but it’s a treat, not a begging situation. I won’t spend a lot more and they know this so they don’ t ask for what they know they probably won’t get.
steve
June 22nd, 2010
12:05 pm
So kids think cartoons make food taste better… Duh! It’s not just kids who get duped by advertisers… I read about a study where adults percieved higher-priced wines as tasting better than the lower-priced, even when the labels were intentionally switched around.
jrp
June 22nd, 2010
4:57 pm
Mine don’t ask for junk food at the grocery store as much as they (boy) will ask for toys..Of course, he always gets told no..He always wants fruit, so that’s where I spend the most money..
Ole Guy
June 27th, 2010
9:25 pm
Judging from these comments, one is left with the notion that 1) people,…presumably parents…who are not affraid to exercise a little parental prerogative, are the only respondants, or 2) people are “packin a little sand” in describing the accuracy of their handling of demanding kids.
Lets face it, businesses which function on marketing and sales to kids is a multi-million/perhaps billion dollar industry.
It is no secret that the public schools have become little more than a daily amusement center/child care facility for the masses. Kids of all ages seem to be the controlling factor in all facets of tax funded public education.
Having spent roughly half of my Military career in the “Old Army” of the 60s, and the other portion in the so-called “new Army”, one is far-less than surprised to have observed an organization, traditionaly fueled by strict adhearance to discipline, bordering on anarchy. As the kids of a particular era, accustomed to the adults in their lives subjugating their wishes to those of the kids, these very same kids become the young adults who, themeselves, bring kids into the world with the very same mentalities of self-aggrandizement.
Be it in the schools, the home, or the “Gummy Bear” displays of America, the problem of “in-charge” kids will only fester and grow UNTIL parents, teachers…the very governments which control our lives…stop being afraid of kids.