A study of food buying behavior among Chinese children

Abstract

The paper reports a study on food buying behaviour among Chinese children aged between 10-13 years old. There are two important findings. Firstly, the growing influence of commercial environment. During the learning of consumer behaviour by Chinese children, the parental role of guidance remains prominent, and their recommendations have a decisive impact on children’s food choices. Secondly, the perceived importance of product attributes. Chinese children tend to pay more attention to nutrition, hygienic conditions and food safety, which shows that children seem to be mature early at this stage and start to behave in a more adult-like fashion when making purchase comparisons.