In the digital age, Generation Alpha social media influencers (children aged 1–15 years) are emerging as powerful agents shaping consumer behavior. This qualitative study, adopting a phenomenological approach, explores how working mothers in urban Pakistan perceive and are influenced by these young digital figures in their purchasing decisions. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten university-employed mothers using purposive sampling technique, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis through NVivo software. The findings reveal several recurring themes, including stress buying, theme-based shopping, time constraints, convenience, affordability, trust, visual persuasion, learning, ethical concerns, and future market potential. Collectively, these themes uncover how digital exposure, emotional pressure, and work-life imbalance affect mothers’ shopping behavior. The study offers a comprehensive understanding of the psychological, social, and economic dimensions driving child-related purchases and contributes to the growing literature on influencer marketing by highlighting the emerging role of Gen Alpha influencers in shaping family consumption patterns and identifying avenues for future research in this evolving domain.
Touseef et al. (Mon,) studied this question.