How family structure affects parent ‐ child communication about consumption

Begins by defining consumer socialisation as the process by which young people learn to function in the marketplace; this is a key concept in studying children’s consumer behaviour and decision making. Outlines the ways that parents influence this process; they are role models, and communicate about purchases and consumption; co‐shopping and concept‐orientation are two aspects of this, as are the influence of the child and the amount of communication. Outlines the changes in family structure, including the increase in one‐parent families headed by women, which has resulted in more co‐shopping; the increase in the number of two‐income families; and the decline in numbers of children per family. Reports research on Belgian children on the four sub‐dimensions of parent ‐ child communication as affected by the family structure variables.