The gifts we buy for children

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the topic of gift‐giving to children, highlighting some of the issues that provide insight into how consumers might be making their choices. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 285 personal interviews were conducted using a structured questionnaire. All participants were aged 18 or over, and had purchased a gift for a child aged under‐13 within the previous three months. Findings – The findings of this study are that kinship, gender of the buyer, and the presence of siblings are related to the type of gift bought, including how traditional or contemporary it is, how educational it is, and whether the gift is reflective of the child's personality. Practical implications – Understanding the purchasing behavior of shoppers giving gifts to children allows marketers to participate in important stages in societal development. Originality/value – This paper provides insight into the purchasing behavior of consumers when buying gifts for children.