Mass Media- An Originator of Pester Power and Materialism

Abstract

Media, being an important socialization agent plays a vital role in child development. Studies on the effects of mass media on a child behavior discuss the extent to which children are influenced by advertisements and are measured by the amount of child purchase requests. The dynamic promotional media in Asian countries have resulted in increased materialism among children. Marketers are targeting children at a very early age thus advertisement has turned to be a chief determinant of materialism and child purchase request. This paper investigates mass media as socialization operator and pester power originator for kids in Pakistan. It further studies parental perspective of mass media’s role in making kids more materialistic and hence shaping their product purchase request. Cross-sectional causal research was conducted using purposive sampling. Data was collected from parents of children aged between 7-11 years. Hypotheses statements were tested using SEM and bootstrap method using AMOS software. Mass media was found to be a significant predictor of pester power and materialism. Materialism was found to mediate the relationship between mass media and Pester power. The findings of this research are valuable for both marketers and parents in understanding and managing materialism and pestering among children.