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Marketing Influences
If you were like me, and you grew up in the 80s and 90s, you would see a ton of television ads that focused on toys that did not bring meaning to us. The doll everyone wanted (does anyone remember the “Tickle-Me-Elmo” craze that sold-out overnight?); the next nerf gun or water gun, the scooter everyone wanted to jump in the street? Marketing has come a long way in focusing their attention on the right groups.
Marketers have done a good job in appealing to the crowd in order to sell product of many types. Parents want to give their children the best they can afford, and they began purchasing items with their excess. In turn, these things break easily and become a financial loss for the parents. While losses happen, these hardships exacerbated an endless cycle with a lack of fiscal discipline. Knowing and using the skills to lessen this burden is more effective in repairing than paying somebody else. The best part of learning skills is that you become better the more you practice it.
The ideal marketer will know how to convince you immediately or overtime to make purchases. The skill of researching the item and value is a must for your time, because you should know at what point you will ‘break even’. This crucial point is the determiner in either your consumption, time, and value will make that purchase worthwhile. It also enhances delayed gratification to make the cost analysis of the purchase. So, any item you need to mentally consider the value of great marketing is: when will I see the benefit of this purchase? How long would I use this item? Will it last five years? Will it save me valuable time? Are you buying a brand name item where the off-brand works just as well? Asking yourself the questions of value and longevity will make you question if the product is valuable for your needs.
You learn to best manage with what you have, and make them last as long as possible. This can include the number of times parents would wash clothes of their kids, making sure they have adequate bedding, enough food to eat, and making quick repairs of the home essentials. Parents diligent enough to do these things have learned to cope with broken zippers, hemming pants and skirts, and replacing broken buttons. These days, many parents think that going out to buy the newest item will work, when a few stitches and a replacement cloth on the pants knees will suffice.
Marketing and Children
The job of a marketer is about increasing awareness, driving need, and compelling people to make a purchase. They will use flashy and enticing imagery, sensational music, and a constant need to purchase things. Remember to always ask yourself is this something that I want or is it something that I need? Children are not naturally taught about personal value and making purchases. As a parent, or an adult that takes care of children, you will need to consider how marketing influences you and children. With that in mind, let us take a look at this compiled list of DOs and DON’Ts for Parents and Budgets.
DO:
- Research the appropriate age set toys, some items as meant for younger or older children.
- Review your toys before Holiday Season, it makes for great gift ideas and the next age challenges.
- Observe your children playing with their favorite toys, this will give you clues to their personality and natural talent.
- Cycle through your toys; this will create better focus, make the toy last longer, save it for your next child, and make them seasonally fresh.
- Save and store great toys if you plan on having more, or want to sell to another family.
- Communicate with your spouse and extended family to make sure you purchase appropriate toys, at the right time.
DON’T:
- Buy Toys on a Whim in a Store. You might realize that the toy was a bad purchase and it breaks within 5 minutes, or upon package opening.
- Cave into your child crying for a toy. This is super hard and very embarrassing, but you want them to know you are firm.
- Spend your money on things where you can find it for free, through a consignment, or receive it as a gift.
- Immediately purchase an item that has just one use. Consider items that will provide multiple benefits.
Ways to Have Fun for Cheap
There are plenty of low cost to free experiences you can have with your children that are appropriate for them. Items that you own in your house must have a fundamental value to entertain or as creative output. Anyway, you can craft your own items for outdoor games; you can find local trails that you can go hiking; if your family already owns bikes, you can find a local rail-trail or introduce mountain biking to your family; you can do a scavenger hunt of items throughout your home or local venue; or take your family to a museum, zoo, or aquarium.
Do not forget your local library resources. Local libraries have a vast number of resources available to more and more people. They offer story reading, animal visits, or crafting experiences. They will have tickets to local venues that will get you entrance for either a fraction of the cost, or have seasonal tickets that you can borrow. I mean, my personal library has season baseball tickets to minor league baseball, that’s cool! Memberships also make great Holiday presents from extended family members. If you are at a lack for ideas, make sure you sign up with the library and check out their calendar for upcoming events near you.
Do you Have Healthy Fiscally Sound Habits?
Much of the tips that you receive from other parents and this shortlist is provided to become excellent at maintaining a household budget with your family. The cost of goods and inflation rates are nothing to sneeze at when you hear the value of raising your children to adulthood. This may include making some personal sacrifices to ensure your family can sustain your current living. For example, if you have a personal vice of purchasing a cup of coffee every morning, consider cutting back on the cost. Think about other habits you might have, because health altering habits are not just costly for your wallet, but for your long-term health.
New parents fear the overarching reality of taking care of another human being. If you constantly worry about the money, you will not enjoy the relationships that you build together as a family. Just remember that at some point, every parent was in your shoes learning the same thing you were. So, if you have just become a parent, we will go into the basic needs of comforting and caring for your child. Through personal discipline, you will realize the free events where you can spend time as a family and not worry too much about the next purchase for the family.
In conclusion, you will constantly see different types of marketing, how they influence you, and how they influence your family. You will want to consider the value and longevity for you and your family. We also go through a list of questions that will help you make a determination on how they best suit you for the long-term. So, with asking yourself all of these questions, think through how it will best suit you and your family. If you found this information helpful, please like and share this article to your Facebook, or your Pinterest. Leave a comment below on what helps you make decisions on buying anything new.
