Family conflicts and conflict resolution regarding food choices

Previous studies on family decision-making show that not only parents but also children participate actively in and achieve influence on the decision process, for instance during food buying. When decision-making includes several active participants, conflicts may occur, but not much research deals with food-related conflicts, conflict resolutions or specific influence techniques with a focus on parents and tweens in family decision-making. This article focuses on parents and tweens' joint decision processes in evaluation and choice of food, specifically conflicts and conflict resolution. Assumptions are explored in an empirical study of Danish families with children. The main results show that during food buying family communication is open for opinion statements and discussions between parents and their tweens. However, not everything is that overt in family communication. One of the most interesting findings and a new insight is tweens' use of the help technique with the aim of easing family life. It is unclear whether parents are aware of this 'under cover' influence and just accept tacitly or whether this method of influence is unrealised. Copyright (C) 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.