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PARENTS’ PERCEPTION OF TEEN’S INFLUENCE ON FAMILY PURCHASE DECISIONS: A STUDY OF CULTURAL ASSIMILATION Dr. Gurvinder S. Shergill Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Department of Commerce Massey University, Private Bag 102 904 NSMC Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Ph: +64 9 414 0800 x9466 Email: [email protected] & Min Zhao Decorator Consultant Freedom Furniture 19 Link Drive Rd Wairau Park North Shore City Auckland, New Zealand Email: [email protected] Abstract This study investigates the cultural assimilation influence on family purchase decision-making of Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and in Chinese families living in China (PRC). The data is collected from 200 respondents. One- hundred families have been chose from each of these countries. The results of this research show that cultural assimilation does have an influence on parental perceptions of teen’s influence on family decision-making. Chinese immigrants’ teenage children in New Zealand were perceived as having more influence within the family than their peers in Chinese families living in China. Key Words: cultural assimilation, family purchase decision, Chinese family, Chinese immigrant family, decision-making stages, product types. INTRODUCTION As the primary, and basic, consumption unit the family has
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PARENTS PERCEPTION OF TEENS INFLUENCE ON FAMILY PURCHASE DECISIONS: A STUDY OF CULTURAL ASSIMILATION

Dr. Gurvinder S. Shergill Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Department of Commerce Massey University, Private Bag 102 904 NSMC Auckland, NEW ZEALAND Ph: +64 9 414 0800 x9466 Email: [email protected] & Min Zhao Decorator Consultant Freedom Furniture 19 Link Drive Rd Wairau Park North Shore City Auckland, New Zealand Email: [email protected]

Abstract This study investigates the cultural assimilation influence on family purchase decisionmaking of Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and in Chinese families living in China (PRC). The data is collected from 200 respondents. One-hundred families have been chose from each of these countries. The results of this research show that cultural assimilation does have an influence on parental perceptions of teens influence on family decision-making. Chinese immigrants teenage children in New Zealand were perceived as having more influence within the family than their peers in Chinese families living in China. Key Words: cultural assimilation, family purchase decision, Chinese family, Chinese immigrant family, decision-making stages, product types. INTRODUCTION As the primary, and basic, consumption unit the family has been paid increasing attention by marketers and marketing research in recent years, including the decisionmaking stages and the influences on decision-making (Kim and Lee, 1997; Moore et al., 2002). Many studies have examined the influence of husbands and wives on their family purchase decision-making, in terms of various consumption decisions and across

different cultures (see, for example, Cox, 1975; Davis, 1976; Hempel, 1974). Some researchers have pointed out that children will influence the family decision-making process and an increasing number of research results show that teenagers are an attractive market segment, through their influence on their parents spending, as well as through spending their own money, as well as through the fact that they will spend more in the future (Martin and Bush, 2000; Zollo, 1995). Furthermore, due to the spending power controlled by the teenage demographic, this group is usually a trendsetter in terms of consumption patterns (Martin and Bush, 2000). Increasingly, children are no longer passive observers; they are increasingly becoming active participants in the family purchase decisions (Martin and Bush, 2000). They not only spend their own money on a diversity of products and services of their choice, but also have extensive influence on family purchase decision-making (Wimalasiri, 2004). According to McNeal (1992), in China, there are more than 300 million people under the age of fifteen years, with children being referred to as little Emperors. They are interested in everything from confectionary to computer games (Zikmund and dAmico, 1998). According to Wimalasiri (2004), the teenage market in Australia is worth around AU$3.9 million, and is worth around AU$800,000 in New Zealand. Teenagers are perceived by parents as having influence on family purchase decisionmaking. The perception of parents in this area will, however, be influenced by the familys cultural background. Under different cultural backgrounds, parents will have different perceptions regarding teenagers influence on family purchase decisionmaking (Lassere and Schutte, 1995; Adler, 1987; Shoham and Dalakas, 2003; 2005). This research tested whether cultural assimilation influences Chinese immigrant parents perceptions of childrens influence on family decision-making in New Zealand. To isolate the effects of the Chinese and New Zealand cultures, two surveys were conducted: One of Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand; and the other of Chinese families residing in China. The surveys dealt with the parents assessment of the childrens influence on different types of products purchased and the family purchase decision-making stages. The surveys also tested whether cultural assimilation influences parental perceptions of childrens influence as the children grow up.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Factors impacting childrens influenceIn this research, a family purchase is defined as, one in which all family members were involved in the decision-making process or consumption of the purchased item or service (Thomson, 2003, p.23). Research into family purchasing patterns often focuses on the role of spouses, or of the husband and wife separately (Cox, 1975; Davis, 1976; Hempel, 1974). This ignores the important role of children in family purchase decisionmaking and, therefore, misrepresents the reality of family purchasing behaviour, whereby products are purchased and consumed together by the family (Thomson, 2003). Many previous studies have indicated that children were perceived by parents to have influence during the family purchase decision-making process, and that this influence varies due to a number of different factors. These factors include, product type (e.g. Foxman and Tansuhaj, 1988; Jenkins, 1979), the decision stage (e.g. Nelson, 1979; Shoham and Dalakas, 2003) and the childs age (e.g. Nelson, 1979; Atkin, 1978). In this research the impact of these three factors on childrens perceived influence is investigated. Therefore, the following section will present the studies related to these three factors and their impact on childrens perceived influence. Product type Product type is one important source of variation in childrens influence in the family purchase decision-making process (Mangleburg, 1990). Most of the studies in this area found that children were perceived to have more influence on the purchase of products for which they were the primary users (Shoham and Dalakas, 2003). For instance, children are perceived to have substantial influence in the purchase of breakfast cereals, snack foods, toys, childrens clothes and school supplies (Atkin, 1978; Belch et al., 1985; Brody et al., 1981; Foxman and Tansuhaj, 1988; Foxman et al., 1989a; Jenkins, 1979; Mehrotra and Torges, 1977; Moschis and Mitchell, 1986; Holdert and Antonides, 1997; Chavda et al., 2005). The main explanation for the above phenomenon is that children will be more involved in the purchase of products for themselves and in the purchase of those products which are seen by them as being personally relevant to them (Mangleburg, 1990).

On the other hand, children were perceived to have less influence on the purchase decisions regarding products which are used by the entire family (Mangleburg, 1990). For example, children have been found as being perceived to have little influence on the purchase of motor vehicles, life insurance and televisions (Belch et al., 1985; Foxman et al., 1989b; Jenkins, 1979). Parents prefer to make these decisions without permitting the child to influence them, due to the financial risks involved, meanwhile, children are also found to have less motivation in influencing the purchase of those products which have low personal relevance to them (Mangleburg, 1990). Decision stages The other important source of variation in childrens influence is the decision stages during the decision process (Mangleburg, 1990). Most of these studies found that children were perceived as having greater influence on the early stages (problem recognition and information search), with this influence declining as the decisionmaking progresses through the stages (Nelson, 1979; Szybillo and Sosanie, 1977; Swinyard and Sim, 1987; Wimalasiri, 2004). Wimalasiri (2004) found that children were influencers during the family purchase decision stages and used different tactics to influence parental decision-making. Holdert and Antonides (1997) found, however, that children are perceived to have more influence at the stages of alternative evaluation, make choice and make purchase during the family decision-making process, than at the problem recognition stage. Childs age Most studies have found that older children will have more influence than will younger children. For example: Atkin (1978) found that older children were perceived as having more influence on family cereal purchases than were younger children; Nelson (1979) concluded that older children had more influence in choosing the restaurant for the family to eat out at than did younger children; and Ward and Wackman (1972) also pointed out that older children had a stronger influence than younger children in the purchase of relevant foods, less relevant foods, child-durables and toiletries. In other words, based on the previous studies, we could conclude that childrens influence is increase as they grow up.

To sum up, the three variables examined above have all been shown to significantly impact on childrens perceived influence on family purchase decision-making. This research uses the basis of these three factors to test whether cultural assimilation impacts Chinese parents perceptions of childrens influence. To better understand the influence of cultural assimilation it is first necessary to understand the cultural differences between New Zealand and China, and then review the literature regarding cultural assimilation.

The cultural differences between New Zealand and ChinaAccording to Hofstede and Hofstede (2004), the scores of these two countries on three culture dimensions are as presented in Table 1 below. Table 1 Culture index scores of China and New Zealand China 20 30 80 New Zealand 79 49 22

IDV (Individualism Index) UAI (Uncertainty Avoidance Index) PDI (Power Distance Index)

Source: Hofstede and Hofstede (2004) Hofstedes (1993, p.89) definition of Individualism (IDV) is, the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups. From the index of individualism, China scored 20 points, which is much lower than New Zealand. This indicates that individual initiative is more strongly discouraged in China than in New Zealand, and that the Chinese culture places more emphases on the group than on the individual. Therefore, children in New Zealand more actively make individual decisions, with their parents more likely to respect these individual decisions. On the other hand, children in China are expected to have more faith in their family, to be more obedient and to follow their parents, or familys, decision, and not make individual decisions themselves. Therefore, in regards to this dimension, it can be summarized that children in China are expected to have less influence on family purchase decision-making than children in New Zealand. Uncertainty avoidance (UAI) is defined as, the degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations (Hofstede, 1993, p.90). From the index of

uncertainty avoidance, it can be seen that China scored 30 and New Zealand scored 49 points. New Zealands higher index of 49 points means that people in this kind of culture do not like change, they avoid risk, and that younger people tend to be suspicious of change (Hofstede, 1980). Therefore, it can be said that New Zealand parents are likely to doubt their childrens ideas and decisions, since they believe that their children are not mature enough to make their own decisions. On the other hand, New Zealand children are likely to strive to avoid conflict with their parents and to seek consensus more than are Chinese children (Shoham and Dalakas, 2003). As a result, children living in New Zealand will be expected to have less influence in family purchase decision-making than will Chinese children. The definition of Power distance (PDI) is, the degree of inequality among people, which the population of a country considers as normal; from relatively equal to extremely unequal (Hofstede, 1993, p.89). Based on Hofstede (1993), it can be concluded that New Zealand has a much lower power distance than China. This means that New Zealand parents value their childrens obedience less in comparison to parents in cultures with a high power distance. Therefore, New Zealand parents are more likely to encourage, and be more open to, their childrens involvement in family decisionmaking. As shown, the index of Power distance (PDI) in New Zealand is 22, which means that children in New Zealand will be more likely to be encouraged to become involved in family decision-making than will children in China. In other words, the parental perception of childrens influence on family purchase decisions in New Zealand is expected to be stronger than for their counterparts living in China.

Cultural AssimilationAs previously indicated, there are huge cultural differences between China and New Zealand. This means that Chinese families who immigrate to New Zealand will experience a process of changing their existing cultural values in order to adapt to New Zealand cultural values. This process is called cultural assimilation. The most widely accepted definition of assimilation is from Park and Burgess (1921, p.735): Assimilation is a process of inter-penetration and fusion in which persons and groups acquire the memories, sentiments and attitudes of other persons or groups and by sharing their experience and history, are incorporated with them in a

common cultural life. In this research, the subculture is the Chinese (PRC) families who have immigrated to New Zealand, and the dominant culture is the New Zealand culture. To become more involved in New Zealand society, or to achieve a better lifestyle, or a good career, Chinese immigrants have to assimilate into the New Zealand culture. During, or after, this process, the cultural values of the Chinese immigrants will change, which means that, to some extent, the Chinese parents perceptions of their childrens influence on family purchase decision-making will also change. By reviewing the literature, it is found that there are a few studies regarding the influence of cultural assimilation on parents perceptions of their childrens impacts on family purchase decision-making. Ganeshs (1997) found that spousal consumer behaviuor is significant different in decision-making stages when compared with Asian-Indians living in India, AsianIndians living in the US and American nationals. He concluded that, for immigrants, while there are large culture differences between host country and home country, there must be an Americanisation process. Wallendorf and Reilly (1983) found that MexicanAmericans experience a cultural assimilation process toward their internalised conception of American life, and this acculturation could influences their food consumption behavior. Therefore, it can be seen that changes in cultural background will definitely impact consumer behaviour. Since the cultural differences between China and New Zealand are large, when a Chinese family moves to New Zealand, cultural assimilation is necessary. As a result, parents will develop a different view of their childrens influence on family purchase decision-making, compared with the view of parents living in China. The review of the literature shows, however, that there are no studies which focus on the influence of cultural assimilation on childrens perceived influence on family purchase decision-making. This is a research gap which the current research intends to fill. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The more specific objectives of this study are listed below:

1. To investigate whether parents have the same perceptions of their childrens

influence in regards to different products and family purchase decision-making stages in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and Chinese families living in China. 2. To investigate whether parents perceptions of childrens influence on family purchase decision-making will have any significant difference as the children grow up in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and in Chinese families living in China. Based upon above research objectives, following hypotheses have been fromed to be tested in this research: H1: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children have a significantly different level of influence on family purchases of different products, when compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China. H2: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children have a higher level of influence on family purchases of different products, when compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China. H3: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children have a significantly different level of influence on family purchase decision-making stages, when compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China. H4: Parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children have a higher level of influence on family purchase decision-making stages, when compared with the parental perception in Chinese families living in China. H5: As a child grows up, there will be a significantly different trend in parents perception of the childs influence on family purchases of different products in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and Chinese families living in China. H6: As a child grows up, there will be a significantly different trend in parents perception of the childs influence on family purchase decision-making stages in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, and Chinese families living in China.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Population The target population of the research is defined as urban middle-class (defined as having pre-tax income from NZ$2500 monthly to NZ$8333 monthly; as per Barker, 1996), with childrens ages being from thirteen to nineteen years for Chinese immigrant families in the study who have been residing in New Zealand for between two to five

years; and urban, middle-class (defined as having pre-tax income from 5,000 monthly to 41,667 monthly; as per Statistics China, 2005), with childrens ages being from thirteen to nineteen years for the Chinese families residing in China. The reason for choosing this income level is that, these families are more easily to find to collect the data. In New Zealand the respondents were selected from Auckland, as Auckland has the largest immigrant population in New Zealand. In China, the respondents were from nine different cities. The reason for choosing these respondents is that they are all known to the researchers relatives, which increased the ease of finding suitable families for the research

Sample Size Due to the constraints of time and budget, 260 families (135 families in China and 125 families in New Zealand) were approached for this research. Most of the families in New Zealand are familiar with the researcher; and the families in China are known to the researchers relatives. They were also asked to provide referrals of middle-class families with teenage children to the researcher and the researchers relatives. Questionnaire design Questions in the questionnaire were taken from Swinyard and Sim (1987) and Shoham and Dalakas (2005). Questions relating to five family use products and six children use products were included in the questionnaire. Questionnaire was divided into three parts. In the first part, respondents were asked to rate the childrens influence using a five point scale for the eleven products (Foxman et al., 1989a; 1989b). The second part tested the general influence of children on family decision-making stages (Swinyard and Sim, 1987; and Shoham and Dalaka, 2005). The last part included the demographics such as family income and the age of the child. Data collection methods Snowball sampling was adopted to collect the data. A self-administered questionnaire was developed to collect the data in New Zealand and China. Participant families were

known to the researcher and they were asked to provide referrals of other middle-class families with teenage children. Both parents were asked to complete the questionnaire together, and it took approximately five to ten minutes to complete the questionnaire. All respondents were informed as to the purpose of the research. Approximately 260 potential couples were approached (135 families in China and 125 families in New Zealand). Of the total sample, 100 respondents from each country who matched the criteria (middle-class income family and childs age 13-19 years) were chosen for the study. Reliability of questionnaire The reliability test of the questionnaire showed Cronbachs Alpha larger than 0.7 which proved the questionnaire has an acceptable level of reliability. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Sample profile The demographic information regarding the respondents includes family income and the childrens ages. This is presented in Table 2 in order to describe the characteristics of the sample used in the research

Table 2 Respondent profileChinese immigrant families Categories Frequency Percentage $3000-$3999 30 30% $4000-4999 61 61% More than $5000 9 9% Total 100 100% 13 14 14% 14 14 14% 15 22 22% 16 12 12% 17 19 19% 18 10 10% 19 9 9% Total 100 100% 15.74 Chinese families Categories Frequency Percentage 5000-5999 68 68% 6000-6999 8 8% More than 7000 24 24% Total 100 100% 13 20 20% 14 10 10% 15 23 23% 16 17 17% 17 10 10% 18 7 7% 19 13 13% Total 100 100% 15.60

Demographics Family income (pre tax monthly)

Children's age

Average age

child

Parents perceptions of childrens influence on productsThe answers of the parents were analysed across the eleven products (see Table 3). These results indicate that, except for childrens records/CDs, the parental perception of childrens influence has significant difference in the two types of families. For childrens records/CDs, children were perceived as having similar influence in both types of families.Table 3 Means of influence ratings on different products by parents Products Chinese immigrant Chinese Difference families families Child's record/ CD 3.67 3.75 -0.08 Child's PC 3.65 3.12 0.53 Family PC 1.99 1.66 0.33 Groceries 2.87 2.14 0.73 Living room furniture 1.45 1.79 -0.34 Child's toothpaste 4.41 3.80 0.61 Family toothpaste 1.98 1.64 0.34 Child's dress clothes 4.52 3.74 0.78 Child's bicycle 3.62 4.17 -0.55 Family car 2.04 1.60 0.44 Child's magazine 4.91 4.33 0.58 Average influence 3.19 2.89 0.30Notes: Scale anchors were 1= decision solely by parents and 5= decision solely by child.

P-value 0.594 0.001 0.015 0.000 0.001 0.000 0.010 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

Regarding the parents perceptions of childrens influence, those of Chinese immigrant families living in New Zealand exceeded those of Chinese families in eight out of the eleven products. With the exception of childs bicycle, childs record/CD and living room furniture, teens in Chinese immigrant families were all perceived as having a higher level of influence than their peers in Chinese families living in China. The largest difference between the two types of families is in the category of childs dress clothes. The lowest difference relates to childs record/CD. On the other hand, for those three product categories it was perceived that children in Chinese families had a higher level of influence than children in Chinese immigrant families. The largest difference of the three products was for the childs bicycle. Overall children in Chinese immigrant families were perceived as having a higher level of influence than children in Chinese families. Therefore, Hypothesis 1 and Hypothesis 2 are both supported, in that parents in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand perceive that their children have significantly different and higher levels of influence on family purchasing of different products, when compared with the parents in the Chinese families in China.

Parents perceptions of childrens influence on decision-making stagesTable 4 presents the means of childrens influence across the decision-making stages in both types of families. From the result, the overall means of the influence showed that children in Chinese immigrant families were perceived as having higher influence than their peers in Chinese families living in China but this mean difference is not significant. Thus, Hypothesis 3 was not supported. On the other hand, even though no overall significant difference is found, the higher average childrens influence in Chinese immigrant families indicates that children in Chinese immigrant families were perceived as having higher levels of influence during family decision-making stages than their peers in Chinese families. Therefore, Hypothesis 4 is supported.

Table 4 Means of influence ratings on decision-making stages by parents Decision-making stages Chinese Chinese Difference immigrant families families Notices family needs (stage one) 2.42 2.63 -0.21 Search information (stage two) 2.40 2.76 -0.36 Makes final choice (stage three) 3.07 3.19 -0.12 Makes purchase (stage four) 3.45 3.19 0.26 Overall influence 2.84 2.94 -0.10

P-value 0.100 0.004 0.289 0.020 0.246

Notes: Scale anchors were 1 = strongly agree that child has influence and 5 = strongly disagree that child has influence.

Influence of childrens age on products and decision-making stages. From Table 5, regarding product types, all the product coefficients in Chinese immigrant families are positive and significant whereas in Chinese families 3 coefficients are negative and 6 coefficients are not significant at 95% significant levels. This means that the relationship between childrens age and the eleven products are positive or, put differently, the childrens influence will increase as the childrens ages increase. On the other hand, for the Chinese families, three products have negative coefficients (groceries, childs toothpaste and family toothpaste), which means that, for these three products, the childrens influence will decrease as they become older. These results show that parents of these two families perceive that as children grow, they have different influence on products in two family types. Thus Hypothesis 5 is supported. Regarding decision-making stages, all 4 coefficients of the decision-making stages of Chinese immigrant families are negative and significant whereas for Chinese families they are all positive but only one is significant. It indicates the childrens influence in Chinese immigrant families decreases as children grow. On the other hand, in Chinese families the influence of children on family purchase decision increases as they grow older. These results indicate that parents do have different perceptions of childrens influence in Chinese immigrant families and in Chinese families living in China. Therefore, Hypothesis 6 is supported.

Table 5 The GLM of childrens age influence on products and decision-making stages in both types of family. Chinese immigrant families Chinese families Child age Child age Products Coefficient F P Coefficient F P Music records/CD 0.200 19.824 0.000 0.120 3.956 0.049 Child's PC 0.260 35.170 0.000 0.160 6.160 0.015 Family's PC 0.160 9.491 0.003 0.100 4.940 0.029 Groceries 0.100 13.710 0.000 -0.020 0.283 0.596 Living room furniture 0.090 7.343 0.008 0.040 1.073 0.303 Child's Toothpaste 0.170 32.539 0.000 -0.110 2.950 0.089 Family's Toothpaste 0.150 7.398 0.008 -0.060 2.310 0.132 Child's clothes 0.160 30.689 0.000 0.170 13.147 0.000 Child's bicycle 0.210 25.987 0.000 0.070 2.063 0.154 Family's Car 0.120 10.448 0.002 0.070 2.960 0.088 Child's magazines 0.090 9.549 0.003 0.050 4.362 0.039 Decision Stages Notices -0.170 18.772 0.000 0.150 9.825 0.002 Searches -0.190 27.642 0.000 0.090 3.406 0.068 Final choice -0.160 15.854 0.000 0.060 2.112 0.149 Purchases -0.100 7.092 0.009 0.000 0.001 0.980

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

ConclusionsThis research has proved that parents under different cultural backgrounds do have different perceptions of childrens influence on family purchase decision-making. When parents immigrate to New Zealand, their social values and purchase perceptions change in comparison to their counterparts living in China. Chinese immigrant parents adapt to New Zealand culture, which means that they more likely to give increased rights and power to their children to attend to family purchase decision-making. This is a result of cultural assimilation. The specific results were evidenced across eleven products and four decision making stages, with children in Chinese immigrant families being perceived by parents to have a higher average influence than their peers in Chinese families living in China. Parents in Chinese immigrant families are more open, and encourage children to attend to family decision-making more than do parents in Chinese families living in China. The high Individualistic (IDV) and low Power Distance (PDI) culture leads Chinese immigrant parents in New Zealand to be more likely to trust and listen to their children, than are the parents under high Collectivism (IDV) and high Power Distance (PDI) cultures in China.

This research also found that parents believed that childrens influence across three products (familys and childrens toothpaste, and groceries) and the first three decisionmaking stages (noticing family needs, searching information and making final choice) will decrease as childrens age increases in Chinese families, with no increase or decrease trend in stage four (making purchase from store). On the other hand, in Chinese immigrant families, for all eleven products and four decision-making stages, parents perceive that childrens influence increases as they grow up. Again, the influence of cultural assimilation was also proved by this result. Even though children from both types of families grow up and face more pressure from study, Chinese immigrant parents give their children more power to attend to family purchase decisionmaking than do Chinese parents in China. This is due to the adaptation to more Individualistic (IDV) and low Power Distance (PDI) cultural values in New Zealand. To sum up, 5 hypotheses, out of 6, have been supported by this research, with the finding that cultural assimilation influences parents perceptions of childrens influence on family purchase decision-making.

ImplicationsThe findings of this research have some implications for marketing practitioners. For example, it was found that teenagers in Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand are perceived by their parents to have higher levels of influence in family purchase decision-making than are teenagers in Chinese families living in China. This means that the former group of teenagers have more power to influence their parents decision. Therefore, marketing practitioners could use specific advertising and other promotion marketing strategies to attract the attention of these teenagers to products and services, as it is an effective way to reach the Chinese immigrant families market. Similarly, Chinese immigrant families in New Zealand, or in other countries with highly Individualistic and low Power Distance cultures, develop different cultural values to their counterparts in China. Therefore, marketers could use more Western promotional methods to reach this market segment. Furthermore, this research has also proved that children do have an influence on family

decision-making and that they have more influence in terms of child-products, for which they are the primary users. Therefore, marketing practitioners can use the findings of this research in determining that they should appeal to children as much as to their parents. Marketers could improve, or create, the direct relevance between their products/services and teens, which will make the products/services become more like a child-product/service (not just being relevant to the family, or being parentsproducts/services) in order to increase childrens involvement. The research also found that childrens age would significantly influence childrens influence on family decision-making, especially in Chinese immigrant families. Therefore, marketers should target children as they grow, in order to effectively influence family purchase decision-making. For example, marketers could advertise, or promote, products/services targeting late teen children.

CONTRIBUTION OF THIS RESEARCHThe main contribution of this research is the finding that cultural assimilation does have an influence on parents perceptions of childrens influence. This research fills a gap in the existing literature as there is no research that focused to investigate the impact of cultural assimilation on childrens influence on family purchase decision making. The influence of cultural assimilation was reflected from two aspects. One aspect is that parents in Chinese immigrant families are influenced by New Zealands culture, and they perceive that their children have more influence on family purchase decisionmaking than their counterparts in Chinese families living in China. The second aspect is that there are some significant differences in parents perceptions of childrens influence as children grow. This finding holds true for both types of families.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCHThe primary limitation of this research is the fact the Chinese immigrant families sample has only been chosen from Auckland, which might not accurately represent the whole Chinese immigrant population in New Zealand. Similarly, even though the Chinese families sample was drawn from nine different cities in China, because China is such a large country, the sample might still not accurately represent Chinese parents

perceptions of childrens influence. So further research should focus on wider selection of cities from both countries. Secondly, a snowball sampling method was used to gather the data, meaning that most families in the sample were recommended by others in the sample. This means that the sample used in this research may produce results which are difficult to generalise to the Chinese immigrant population in New Zealand and the Chinese population in China. So an attempt should be made to use random sample, if possible, from both countries. Lastly, the research focused on middle-class families with children aged from thirteen to nineteen. A sample including families with other income levels and/or families with younger children might produce different perceptions of culture assimilation. So future research should target different income levels and age groups.

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