Development of a marketing strategy for newspaper designed for kids. Entwicklung einer Marketingstrategie für Kinderzeitungen

Apart from the educational value of a newspaper designed for kids, marketing activities play an important part in marketing the product. A newspaper for children has two target groups - readers (children) and buyers (adults) that can also be described as families. This study highlights the challenging target groups by contrasting findings from literature with the statements of experts and families gathered in interviews, based on a case study in Upper Austria. The results show interesting insights into the role of children in purchasing decisions, which can also be transferred to products with similar characteristics. As identified by Acuff (2010, p.1) and Kline (1993) buying power of kids and their role within the buying decisions (Gunter and Furnham, 1998, p. 1f.) have gained importance in research.
This study follows the approach of outlining the buying process in families as a buying centre, where kids can take over roles of influencer and consumer, whereas parents oversee roles such as initiator, decision-maker, and buyer. Attractiveness factors identified are empowering and disempowering factors, social responsibility, reduction of screen time of their kids, brand trust, age-appropriate content and elements, simple language, and the value for the family as a whole. Additionally, frequency of publication, price-strategy, family background and the media behaviour of parents are relevant for the purchase decision of buyers of newspapers designed for kids (Sharma and Sonwaney, 2014, p.44).