Children also exert substantial indirect influence on parental purchases when they suggest a retail outlet, such as 'Let's go to McDonald's.' In a study of after-school behavior, we found another indirect influence. Many children adjust the central air-conditioning to make the house cooler when they get home from school. This action results in increased expenditures by parents, even though the child never directly asked for something. The dollar value of the 'kidfluence' market is more difficult to track than spending by children themselves.

Because of Disney's particular position in the marketplace, it has become an analyzer and advocate of "Kidfluence," Disney's term for the power kids hold over purchasing patterns.

"Kidfluence definitely influences Disney's business," says Tanya Steele, a Disney spokesperson. "Kids do influence video purchases. We talk to moms. We want to know every single thing that mom thinks about when she's making her purchasing decision. We also advertise direct to kids for many of our video titles. Jungle Book (a recent movie release) and Duck Tales are good examples of where we had layered, targeted advertising, and an entire layer was in children's publications."