Does Having Kids Make You More Brand Loyal?

survey of US internet users found that those with kids are more likely to buy something from a retailer they're loyal to than seek out a cheaper option. 

Indeed, a February 2018 survey conducted by the National Retail Federation (NRF) found that, overall, respondents with kids were more loyal—whether it was by visiting their favorite retailer before looking at a competitor or by doing so and forgoing a more convenient option. 

For example, nearly half of millennial parents—and NRF defines millennials as those born between 1981 and 1994—said they choose a retailer they're loyal to above looking for a cheaper option. By comparison, 19% of millennials without kids agreed. 

Millennial parents were also more likely to be brand loyal across the board than their older counterparts who also had kids. 

These findings from NRF are interesting because millennials, in general, are very price-conscious. According to a RetailMeNot survey, millennials have better saving habits than baby boomers. Some 53% of US internet users ages 18 to 34 said they “always” look for sales or promos before buying online. By contrast, 40% of those ages 55 and older agreed.

And “The eMarketer Ecommerce Insights Report,” conducted by Bizrate Insights in March 2018, found 81.7% of US millennial internet users said coupons were important or very important to their digital purchase decisions, vs. 73.0% for total respondents. 

But when it comes to millennial parents, seeking a discount may no longer be a top priority. 

"Some of what looks like brand loyalty might be better understood as brand inertia, as parents with young kids are too worn out by parenting to have the time and energy to hunt around for different brands," said eMarketer analyst Mark Dolliver. "In the case of retailers, parents with young kids—which is the stage millennials are mostly at—don’t want the hassle of hauling their kids around to different stores and getting them in and out of car seats for the sake of finding bargains at stores they don’t usually patronize."