Kids Wield $18 Billion in Spending Power: Study
Children, even those as young as three-years old, wield a tremendous amount of influence when it comes to family spending.
In the U.S., kids aged three to 11 comprise a population sub-group of 36 million that had a collective $18 billion in purchasing power last year, according to estimates in The Kids’ Market in the U.S., a new report from market-research publisher Packaged Facts.
The report projects that the kids’ market will see significant growth over the next four years, reaching $21.4 billion in [discretionary spending] “disposable income” by 2010.
Families spend the most on food ($58.3 billion), or about half of the total $115 billion spent in key areas that also include clothing, personal-care items, entertainment and reading materials. Annual expenditures by families on consumer goods for kids will reach approximately $143 billion by 2010, Packaged Facts projects.
Marketing to this important group comes with challenges, as children’s tastes and buying habits change as they age. Also playing a role is the heightened regulatory focus on kids marketing, particularly in the food category.
“The major industry-wide efforts to proactively respond to kid issues, such as obesity, Internet safety, and the appropriateness of marketing and promotions directly targeting children, have certainly impacted the market,” said Don Montuori, the publisher of Packaged Facts, in a statement. “While these need to continue to be major concerns, marketers would be wise to adapt to the rapidly evolving consumer attitudes and habits of today’s media-saturated kids and their families by going beyond what’s politically correct to find more meaningful and age-affirming ways to reach this demographic where they are.”
The full report is available from Packaged Facts
