Children's Purchasing Self-Control in a Computer-Based Simulated Supermarket

Children's self-control was investigated as an important subdomain of their purchasing literacy using a computer-based supermarket simulation. Behavioral indicators of self-control were extracted from the log data and confirmed by factor analysis. Self-control was significantly correlated with task success, distrust of advertising, and monitoring at the point of sale. Market demands with their multitude of stimuli and information can be particularly overwhelming for children, whose cognitive abilities and skills are not yet fully developed and who lack market experience and knowledge. Purchasing literacy refers to the skill to cope with problem situations that occur during the purchasing process and to successfully implement a (self-)set purchasing intention. Our research illustrates how theory-based factors can be extracted from log data of computer-based tasks and their diagnostic potential, which can be used to improve the quality and richness of psychological assessments and consumer research.