Everybody needs help in caring for their children—that just comes with the territory of modern-day parenting. Increasingly that help comes from the marketplace and takes any number of forms, such as birthday party planning or a kiddie cab that takes children to their many activities.
How parents make sense of those options to outsource is the focus of research by Amber Epp, Wilbur Dickson-Bascom Professor in Business and an associate professor in the Department of Marketing at the Wisconsin School of Business. Her research, “Outsourcing Parenthood? How Families Manage Care Assemblages Using Paid Commercial Services,” published by the Journal of Consumer Research, shows that convenience can come with a cost that is more than financial. It can create tensions for parents about what could be gained or lost when tasks are outsourced.
Epp spoke about her research at WSB’s Celebration of Faculty Excellence, an event held for the Business Badger community during Homecoming weekend in October 2018. The event highlighted the accomplishments of WSB’s distinguished faculty and the generosity of the donors who support their work.
[video-caption]Watch as Associate Professor Amber Epp discusses her research on parental decision-making. [/video-caption]
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