What Kids Buy and Why: The Psychology of Marketing to Kids

By Robert H. Reiher, Daniel Acuff, Robert H Reiher

Examines the cognitive, emotional, and social needs of different age groups to see why kids are attracted to certain toys and activities at different stages of life. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684834480
• ISBN13: 9780684834481
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 0.8" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Just what I was looking for

I've been on a quest to figure out of the optimal youth age breaks based on cognitive abilities, and this book gave me exactly what I was looking for. I was fascinated by the content on both a professional and personal level...I would love to see the authors update the book with some more current product examples (it was published in 1997) and to see what further impact the growth of Internet usage since 1997 has had on the market.

Excellent book (even for software developers)!

I finished this book last night without regrets. It lit up many ideas that could be realized into revenue generating opportunities. Although the book doesn't encourage the sales of 'disempowering' products, services and programs for 0-19 year kids, it does give you insights as to why kids love 'bad' stuff too. I would have wanted more info on the 16-19 year olds though. But the author did state that these 'kids' consider themselves as adults and recommended marketing to adult books. Perhaps, the books The $100 Billion Allowance and Wise Up to Teens would help expand on what this book already taught me.

refreshing responsibility

Although this book approaches the child marketing area from a unique view (developmentally), what I found refreshing was the attention to responsible marketing according to children's ages (chpt. 2!

A must read for people in or around the kids business

Acuff and Reiher are two of the best practitioners in the kids market today. They combine tremendous experience across a number of kid categories with a discipline and method that are unique. Their book What Kids Buy and Why offers many of their important insights and trends about kids. Their approach is developmental and psychological. Their perspective is grounded in brain development with a sound underpinning of why kids behave as they do at specific ages and across gender. This is stuff that is critical to marketers in understanding how kids behave. Their work offers the long view of child development brought up to date with important marketplace developments that are showing how kids are changing even as the biology that shapes behavior has a constancy. There are too few books -- let along quality ones -- in the kids market today. Acuff and Reiher's offering is a must read for anyone interested in kids marketing. Paul Kurnit, President, Griffin Bacal Advertising, Kid Think Inc. and LiveWire: Today's Families Online.

A breakthrough in developing products/programs for kids!

This book is a milestone in guiding those interested in developing products and programs for kids. Not only does in cover the nuts and bolts of marketing/promoting/advertising products for kids, but provides the reader with solid psychological reasons why and how products can be created that are matched to the child's developmental level. This in an of itself is fascinating reading and fundamentally important to understand if you are serious about maximizing your product's effectiveness. This book is loaded with age range breakdowns and vital target information, gender specific similarities and differences and other important information. Additionally, there are many actual product examples to help the reader understand the points the author is making. I strongly recommend this book if you want to understand your target audience, create and develop, powerful products and finally, watch your product succeed in the marketplace!