The Need for Consumer Literacy Education among Children in India

The Need for Consumer Literacy Education among Children in India

Benison Bennet,

Research Scholar,

Bharathiar School of Management and Entrepreneur Development, Bharathiar University.

Dr. K. Malar Mathi,

Professor,

Bharathiar School of Management and Entrepreneur Development, Bharathiar University.

ABSTRACT

Children in countries like India are experiencing obesity as a disease during their childhood, due to the intake of processed foods in a large quantity. The role of marketing plays a vital part in persuading children towards such food habits and leads to greater consequences both physical and mental wellbeing. The term consumer literacy is the needed antidote for children to cultivate within them during their childhood so that, they can safeguard themselves from the marketing tactics of businesses. This study focuses on the attributes that determine the consumer literacy knowledge of children and differentiates the attributes that need improvement among children before they get influenced by the marketing efforts targeted towards them. The results show that children were finding it difficult to critically understand advertisements and tend to believe blindly to it. And also, they were more allowed to do impulse buying during shopping. Parents, teachers and government should teach and educate children about the marketing nuances so that the forthcoming generation can develop wise consumption habit and contributes towards sustainable future.

Keywords: consumer literacy, Children, wise shopping, literate consumers, advertisements.