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What is your first conscious memory? If you were born in previous generations, it is probably your parents, siblings, or maybe a favorite pet. However if you are part of Generation Y your first memory is more likely to be a heavily marketed toy from The Lion King or Little Mermaid, or perhaps your first pair of Nike shoes or designer jeans. Why? Children are a legitimate and powerful consumer group, particularly in the areas of toys, back-to-school products, candy and snacks, apparel, and to some degree, health and beauty care items.

Young people these days are so wealthy that children 4 to 12 years old have a combined annual income of nearly $15 billion, $11 billion of which they spend. The remaining $4 billion they save. Furthermore, this same group directly influences more than $160 billion in family household purchases, said Dr. James McNeal, professor of marketing at Texas A&M University, an expert on kids' marketing. McNeal, who noted that his estimate - which was just raised from $150 billion - is 'conservative,' further estimated that children indirectly influence between $350 billion and $400 billion worth of purchases a year. 'I don't think there is enough respect for this consumer group, given that they have more market potential than any other,' McNeal said. The wealth of these 34 million children, he noted, has been growing at the rate of 20% a year for the past five to seven years.

Recognition of this wealthy consumer group has been slow in coming, but it is gaining attention. McNeal estimated that as much as 40% of retailers currently have some sort of in-store program aimed at children, and more suppliers than ever before are conducting research specifically geared to learning the buying behavior and product needs of this young consumer group.

Current retailer programs include kids meals in the food/snack area of stores,

credit cards (with parental consent), colorful and...