What Kids Buy and Why

List price, $30; Now $15

by Dan Acuff, Ph.D. with Robert H. Reiher, Ph.D.

This classic book belongs in your office if you are in the business of marketing or developing products and programs for kids.

The system for developing and marketing youth products described in this book ensures that you won't miss the market whether you are trying to reach young children or teens, boys or girls, or whether you're selling toys, sports equipment, snacks, school supplies, or software.

Based on the best child development research, What Kids Buy and Why is chock-full of provocative information about the cognitive, emotional, and social needs of each age group. This book tells you, among other things, why 3-through-7-year-olds love things that transform, why 8-through-12-year-olds love to collect stuff, how the play patterns of boys and girls differ, and why kids of all ages love slapstick.

Special features include:

• an innovative matrix for speedy, accurate product analysis and program development
• a clear, step-by-step process for making decisions that increase your product's appeal to kids
• tools and techniques for creating characters that kids love.

(208 pp., paperback, ISBN 978-0684871172; 1999)