Sumita Vaid
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Indians are indulgent parents; French and Koreans pay a deaf ear

A recent Synovate study indicates that kids just don't decide the colour of your car, they also decide which car you are most likely to buy

When it comes to adult decisions, kids generally exercise little influence. Or at least, that is what we think. Right?

Yes, we are aware of pester-power, but that, we assume, is limited to objects of fancy for kids. Or, at the most, in deciding the colour of the car - when it comes to the family buying automobiles.

A recent study by leading UK-based market research company, Synovate, indicates otherwise. Kids, the research says, just don't decide the colour of your car, they also decide which car you are most likely to buy.

This just shows how parents across nations have begun taking their kids seriously. Indian parents especially stand out in the survey, since they have been particularly indulgent.

Kids are royalty in India, with 42 per cent of Indian respondents agreeing that their choice of car is entirely dependent on their children's and grandchildren's wishes, and a further 46 per cent stating that their kids' inherent needs influenced their choice of car.

Mumbaikars seem to be more influenced by their children and grandchildren than their Dilliwala brethren; 51 per cent of the respondents in Mumbai admitted that they were influenced by children and grandchildren, the corresponding figure was 42 per cent in Delhi.

Jon O'Loughlin, Singapore-based global director of Synovate's specialist automotive division, Synovate Motoresearch, said that there were considerable differences among the nations surveyed.

"The results of the survey indicate that kids' needs appear to be much less of a priority for most French (23.4 per cent) and Korean (33.6 per cent) parents."

To further probe the role of youngsters (aged 17 years and under) in decision-making, respondents were asked how much they involved their kids in the actual process of purchasing a car.

On an average, 60 per cent of respondents agreed to some involvement. However, the greatest involvement was in India, where 92 per cent get their children/grandchildren involved to some degree.

The US is the place where the kids have the least involvement in the decision-making process, where six out of ten parents said their kids were not involved.

Parents, who indicated that they consulted their young family members about car buying, were also asked for information about the areas where the kids influenced.

In India, children in Mumbai influenced an average of 2.2 per cent on the elements (such as air-conditioning, music-system, interiors) of the car, as compared to Delhi where the average was 1.5 per cent.

A global average of 54 per cent of respondents said kids held sway over colour, while 52 per cent said kids influenced size and styling too.

The survey also delved into in-car entertainment. Respondents were asked if their kids or grandchildren had ever requested in-vehicle video entertainment. It seems kids haven't caught on to this concept yet, as three-quarters of parents/grandparents replied with a "no".

The biggest kid car-couch potato hopefuls are in China where 37 per cent of respondents received requests for video from their offsprings. While the Gulf region and India also scored a high,

Fortunately for parents, lack of in-car computer games isn't yet a big problem for most kids (apart from 28 per cent of those in the Gulf Region). Korean and French kids showed a marked lack of concern. Even Germans scored a very low here.

"We also explored the noise coming from the backseat. The survey investigated which vehicle features got the children/grandchildren complaining the most. Overall, 52 per cent of respondents reported complaining kids. The biggest global gripe was temperature, a concern of 16 per cent of respondents. Here the biggest complaints came from China. Seat belts were the next biggest source of moans. Nearly a third of kids in Brazil don't like to be told to belt up.

"Interestingly, kids in China scored above average in most complaint categories -- perhaps a symptom of one-child families," O'Loughlin reasoned. "And Korean children were very accepting with 60 per cent never complaining about the features of their cars."

With all these potential influences in the backseat, the survey also looked at the important question - are car manufacturers doing enough for kids? 60 per cent parents felt car manufacturers are doing enough to accommodate the needs of children today.

The findings are taken from a Synovate Global Omnibus survey of nearly 5,000 qualified respondents, who were either a parent with at least one child (aged 17 years and under), or a grandparent. It was conducted in the US, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, China, Korea, Thailand, India and the Gulf Region (UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait).

Here's a little gospel from O'Loughlin for Indian auto marketers. "He, who throws in a bucket of ice cream with every new car, will be on the path to riches!" © 2004 agencyfaqs!

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