Cognitively and perceptually based judgments in children's brand discriminations and preferences

This paper reports on a study in which 52 children age four to five (mostly pre-operational) and 52 children age eight to nine (mostly concrete operational) made discrimination and preference judgments among 14 brands of cereals and beverages using a multidimensional scaling procedure. It was hypothesized that concrete-operational children are more likely to use cognitive attributes while pre-operational children are more likely to use perceptual/affective attributes in discriminating among brands and in making preference judgments. The results were consistent with respect to preference judgments but not with respect to discrimination judgments. Managerial and public policy implications were discussed.