Consumer goals/skills that mothers want their children to learn

The study purpose was to assess consumer practices and attitudes of mothers (n= 117), and consumer goals/skills that their children were to learn. Mothers with at least one child aged 5–9 years were recruited from an ongoing study and through posters, flyers and referrals. Mail‐out surveys included a validated consumer questionnaire and requests for information related to socioeconomic status (SES), age, paid‐employment and gender/age of children. Responses were analysed using SAS, Cronbach’s alpha and qualitative analyses. Results indicated that mothers were of middle/upper SES and had 2.3 children/family, and 64% were in paid‐employment. Mother–child co‐shopping and mothers’ role modelling were major means of teaching consumer goals/skills. Children were to learn about getting the best buy and quality for the money, cost/unit comparison, being knowledgeable about products and avoidance of impulse buying. Mothers were consciously consumer training their children.