Purchasing decisions and choices of Polish mothers of children aged 0-6 : the role of providing opinions on products by scientific units

Abstract

PURPOSE: The research aimed to identify shopping motivations and to determine the sources of knowledge and the degree of confidence in the sources of knowledge that mothers have when selecting products.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The main research method was a statistical survey on a group of Polish mothers of children aged 0-6 years. It was a nationwide study group, a territorially representative sample for the Polish population, a weighted sample on the basis of the following parameters, size of the place of residence, and voivodeship.

FINDINGS: The main conclusion that more than half (54%) of mothers of children aged 0-6 years look for products recommended by a scientific institution. In the age of information overload and problems with assessing its reliability, such a recommendation is tantamount to a guarantee of safety, especially in the area of such sensitive products as food and cosmetics for the youngest children. Nearly 70% of Polish mothers of children have confidence in scientific and medical institutions issuing recommendations for products.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: This research has practical implications in three main fields: first, it is relevant for companies to find adequate information about family purchasing agents, second to indicate to official bodies, such as medical and scientific bodies, the need to guarantee reliable information and third the issue of safety of the youngest children and the implementation of an appropriate quality policy for products and information about them.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The value of the research is to find relationships between the motives for purchase decisions made by a group of mother-consumers aged 0-6 years and the sources of knowledge from which the shoppers draw their information. This is the first study of its type in terms of research volume. It is an indication for the advancement of some concrete actions, both marketing and institutional in terms of taking care of trustworthy information.