O mercado de decoração infantil como agente de socialização: novos estilos para velhas hierarquias

Abstract

This article presents partial results of a Doctoral research that analyzed upper-class children’s socialization based on their bedrooms. The main objective was to analyze the participation of the children’s décor market in this process, and its specific objective was to identify practices and discourses about children’s bedrooms, connecting them with the demands of parents-consumers. The investigation used three methodological tools: a) market research conducted by the School of Economics of the Federal University of Minas Gerais; b) interviews with salespeople from children’s décor stores; c) content analysis of a childcare and children’s décor site. The data analysis demonstrated a predominant discourse that invites an “escape from the traditional”, while the site images and the salespersons’ practices showed that purchase decision is limited by an offer guided toward the maintenance of traditional social hierarchies.