Buying powers always rest with adults in any given family, but it seems that children are increasingly influencing buying decisions with a new survey suggesting that as many as 37 per cent parents have taken a decision to go for a particular car because of their children.
According to statistics revealed by AutoTrader.co.uk based on a survey it carried out of 1,000 UK parents and children, more than three-quarters of parents (78 per cent) claim that having children forced them to buy a new car, while more than a third of parents (37 per cent) claim that children are a key influence when deciding which car to buy next
In the survey, respondents were asked about the things they look for in a perfect family car and to what extent children influenced their parents’ buying decision.
The survey found that colour is the most likely factor that children might have a bearing on, with 26 per cent influencing their parents’ choice of color.
Children are most likely to push for red (28 per cent), followed by blue (21 per cent), black (14 cent) and pink (13 per cent). Perhaps unsurprisingly, boys tend to favor red cars (28 per cent v 23 per cent) and girls preferred pink (26 cent v one per cent). Only two per cent said they’d prefer a white car.
The survey found that children had a lot to say in other factors including comfort (13 per cent), size (12 per cent) and design (12 per cent) and entertainment (9 per cent) of their new car.
However, when it comes to parents, safety of the car is a top priority with 27 per cent considering that as the most important factor. After safety, parents were most concerned with the size and space of the new car they were buying so they could get extra boot space or more seats (25 per cent), how comfortable it would be (23%) and how reliable (19 per cent) – entertainment systems were only considered important by 2 per cent of parents.
The research suggests dads should probably be the target of lobbying, as 39 per cent of dads said they were open to influence compared with 33 per cent of mums.
Nathan Coe, a director at Auto Trader, which commissioned the poll, said “A substantial amount of research has been done looking at how the decision of the car buyer can be influenced and at what stage in the buying journey.
“But few have really considered the role that children play, or the influence of pester power.
“If one of the kids doesn’t like the shape or colour of your next car, or it doesn’t come with plug-in for an i-Pad, then you’d better be prepared for some serious pestering.”
Auto Trader claims that the BMW 3 Series is the most searched for family car on its website, followed by the 5 Series.
