Children are influencing Millennial parents’ purchasing decisions, and more brands are recruiting kids to help produce products. 

Children are influencing Millennial parents’ purchasing decisions, and more brands are recruiting kids to help produce products. While parents are usually the ones who have the final say over household and purchasing decisions, more families are creating a “balance of power” and considering the opinions of their children. Millennial parents are starting to act as “meditators,” who weigh the needs and opinions of all family members, while kids are seen as “arbiters” of what’s cool, and keeping up with the latest trends and advocating for specific brands. In Europe, 82% of parents with kids ages 6-10-year-olds say that their kid influences what toys they buy. We told you about how companies are creating dream jobs for Gen Z, and companies are starting to hire kids to get the opinions of young consumers directly: IKEA UK and Toys R Us Canada have recruited kids under the age of 12 as their “chief play officer,” tasked with testing new products before they’re officially released, while Microsoft have a division solely for game testing and is full of kids ages 12-18-year-olds. This signals that “leading brands are placing kids at the center of the production process.” (The Drum)