The Development of Brand Meaning in Children and Adolescents

In a study with 54 children and adolescents ages 7-18, we examine how brands change meaning across age groups. Results indicate age differences in the overall meaning and image of brands. Specifically, 3rd/4th graders view brands more concretely, as a picture or word, compared to 7th/8th graders, who view brands more abstractly, as socially significant aspects of their environment. Differences of this nature were less clear between 7th/8th and 11th/12th graders, suggesting perhaps that most of the dramatic changes in children’s development of brand meaning and brand images occur by early adolescence.

Citation:

Eileen Fischer, Pauline Maclaran, and Cele Otnes (2005) ,"The Development of Brand Meaning in Children and Adolescents", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 7, eds. Karin M. Ekstrom and Helene Brembeck, Goteborg, Sweden : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 83-83.