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Konzernspiegel

Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Quengelware

English translation:

pester products

Added to glossary by Jennifer Gruendler
Feb 2, 2011 13:31
13 yrs ago
4 viewers *
German term

Quengelware

German to English Marketing Advertising / Public Relations in-store product placement
Quengelware is apparently the official term used for products (candy, toys, other little items) displayed in the checkout lane at a grocery store which are supposed to prompt us to make an impulse purchase. The idea is that children will start whining to get them. I've done a pretty extensive online search and haven't been able to find a good, catchy equivalent in English - just work-arounds and the (not too common) term "in-aisle merchandising".

Is anybody familiar with this?

Thanks for your help!

Jennifer
Proposed translations (English)
3 +10 pester products
4 impulse buys
4 check-out counter displays/lures
4 till trinkets/till treats
3 whiner's wares

Discussion

Wendy Streitparth Feb 2, 2011:
Will somebody please post pester products? I don't think impulse buy really fits . its more a compulsion buy.
Guido Schenkel Feb 2, 2011:
@Jennifer: As others have pointed out, there seems to be no common term in English which expresses exactly the same idea, but "pester products" does get it across quite nicely, I think, and would cetainly be understood. On that note, despite there being a bona fide Wikipedia entry for "Quengelware", even as a native speaker I had actually never heard this term before, either. Maybe it's just my lack of children, though.
Nicola Wood Feb 2, 2011:
Looking at the responses below I see the point about the behaviour of children being omitted in impulse buys, but I don't think there is a term in English that covers this. Certainly from my years of retailing as a student the normal term would be "impulse buys". We were always being instructed by sales reps to "put your impulse buys close to the till" where they catch people's eyes.
Inge Luus Feb 2, 2011:
Given the sentence, I would go for impulse buys rather than impulse goods. I think everybody can identify with impulse buys. Or, if the rest of your text permits - impulse buys with pester power (@Alison - I love the idea of pester power :))
Jennifer Gruendler (asker) Feb 2, 2011:
I LOVE pester products but it doesn't seem to be a common term.
Jennifer Gruendler (asker) Feb 2, 2011:
The sentence isn't very helpful which is why I didn't include it in the question:

Was ist "Quengelware" und wie sieht ein typischer Tagesablauf im Supermarkt aus?

This is part of a book description. Right now "impulse goods" might fit best.
@Sarah, some of the stores here in Germany still have them, some don't. I know they're still quite common in the US, though.
Kim Metzger Feb 2, 2011:
I like Alison's suggestion. Maybe pester products.

Pester power
A form of marketing in which young children are targeted with advertising that encourages them to pester their parents or guardians into buying specific foods, drinks or other products. It is often used to promote foods and drinks containing high levels of fat, sugar or salt.
http://www.chewonthis.org.uk/glossary.htm#pester
Sarah Appleby (X) Feb 2, 2011:
@ Jennifer. Given campaigns to move chocolate and sweets away from checkouts, a broad term is probably useful. My local Sainsburys only has leaflets and magazines these days, not much worthy of a whine from kids there!
Inge Luus Feb 2, 2011:
What's the sentence this must fit into?
Alison MacG Feb 2, 2011:
Something with pester power? - natürlich voll mit sogenannten Impulswaren. Eltern kleiner Kinder
kennen diese Artikel besser als "Quengelwaren".
http://www.presseportal.de/print.htx?nr=457083

Pester Power
If you've seen children demanding sweets beside supermarket check-outs ... you'll know something about pester power. This is the process whereby goods are carefully targeted at children so that they, in turn, will nag adults to buy them. The adults don't need to be particularly impressed by the items - eventually they'll give in just to keep the children quiet.
When you're a small business you're unlikely to be able to publicise anything highly enough to make children see it as a must-have item. However you may still find pester power useful, especially with smaller, lower cost items. Accessories kept near your tills can sell well on this basis, and offering small free toys with larger purchases - toys kept where children can see them - can increase you chances of making a sale.
http://www.startafashionbusiness.co.uk/marketing-children-pa...
Norbert Hohl Feb 2, 2011:
impulse goods/items Not sure if this is of much help as the term may be too general, and not what you are looking for. Waiting at the checkout counter in the company of a whinging child though usually leads to excellent impulse buying. ;-)
http://www.proz.com/kudoz/german_to_english/retail/2665822-m...

Proposed translations

+10
4 hrs
Selected

pester products

Marketers harness pester power
Little kids don't get much pocket money, so what's the point marketing to them? They don't buy the products.
Here's the trick. If you market to little kids, then they will learn to recognise the product and nag their mums to buy the food. It's called Pester Power.
Only a few food companies admit that they use Pester Power, even though a lot of them do it. This advert was published by a meat product company, which says it makes meat products in wacky shapes so that little kids will pester their mums to buy them. The advert says, "Over the years, we have continuously innovated [invented new products], successfully harnessing pester power."
http://www.chewonthis.org.uk/marketing/impulse_home.htm

Pester power
A form of marketing in which young children are targeted with advertising that encourages them to pester their parents or guardians into buying specific foods, drinks or other products. It is often used to promote foods and drinks containing high levels of fat, sugar or salt.
http://www.chewonthis.org.uk/glossary.htm#pester
Peer comment(s):
agree adamgajlewicz : connotes pester power
1 hr
agree Guido Schenkel
1 hr
agree Textklick : UK ref: http://www.chewonthis.org.uk/marketing/impulse_home.htm
5 hrs
Grüssi, Chris.
agree Nicole Schnell
6 hrs
agree Horst Huber (X) : Certainly conveys the idea of "quengeln" ( not an option when I was little). Would "pester items" work?
9 hrs
agree Beatrice A. : I would stick with 'pester power' - context permitting.
13 hrs
agree Alison MacG : How can I not agree? Although this specific term may not be too common in EN, it seems quite a reasonable way of referring to this particular type of impulse buy, i.e. products aiming to encourage pester power and purchased as a result of pester power.
15 hrs
agree Teresa Reinhardt : This is UK usage only (might have to be "trantrum" in the US from what I see going on sometimes - just kidding)
1 day 3 hrs
agree Cilian O'Tuama : A German marketing friend immediately said "pester power" when I asked if she had heard of Q-ware. She immediately understood but was not familiar with this German expression.
5 days
agree Robin Ward : OK, so this is over 6 years old now, but I might have given "pester items" slight preference over "pester products".
2266 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I ended up going with this - it's just too perfect to discard! Thanks for the extremely interesting discussion and thanks to Alison for mentioning pester power which then led up to pester products!"
16 mins

impulse buys

Or "impulse buy items". You could add at the point of sale too but this seems to be used extensively to refer to chocolate, chewing gum and magazines, etc at the checkout.
Example sentence:

Checkout displays are the ultimate medium for creating impulse purchases.

Reference:

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/news/229539/POP-Snack-attack/

Note from asker:
You might be right - I saw that but initially considered it much too broad. I make my impulse buys all over the store - not just at the register! Actually, I rarely buy anything by the register. Looking at the google hits it generates, a good percentage seem to refer to checkout lanes. Of course it doesn't sound as catchy as Quengelware (which is a brilliant construction, if you ask me!) but we can't always expect that, can we? I actually looked up whineware in the hopes that it might fit, but that's something entirely different!
Peer comment(s):
agree Melanie Meyer : or just 'impulse items' as in http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/SelfCheckou...
26 mins
Thanks Melanie
neutral Michael Sieger : "Quengelware" especially refers to the behaviour of children, this aspect is totally missing. Furthermore "Quengelware" is found *only* at the check out lane next to the till where people have to wait (with their children).
38 mins
You're right Michael, but adults buy these products at the checkout too, they are not just aimed at children... Reference to checkout displays/POS can be added for clarity.
agree Inge Luus
1 hr
Thanks Inge
disagree Lonnie Legg : see Michael (who is too lenient).
1 hr
disagree Helen Shiner : Sorry to disagree, but impulse buys also include that expensive coat you didn't set out to purchase but just did on impulse. It is not specific to this situation with children.
1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

whiner's wares

sort of direct translations
Example sentence:

Please remove whiner's wares from ALL checkout lines in the universe!

Something went wrong...
5 hrs

check-out counter displays/lures

UK or US?
you might use a descriptive "check-out counter displays/lures"
or check-out temptation wares...

Something went wrong...
2 hrs

till trinkets/till treats

Let's invent a new term as there doesn't seem to be one!
As Helen rightly says, impulse buys might be expensive goods for adults which "Quengelwaren" definitely aren't.
The whole point is that they are cheap enough for parents or grandparents etc to give in to the children's whining or entreating in spite of their upbringing principles.

"Till treats" is another alliteration and offered in case it can be construed that the items are given to the children because they have survived the boring shopping expedition until then.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 hrs (2011-02-03 09:23:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or what about begging buys ?
Peer comment(s):
neutral Kim Metzger : But I think the German marketing people have based their term on the English pester power.
10 mins
You might be right, however your examples are to do with a different type of influence exerted by children on their parents - to buy certain foodstuffs bec they appeal to the children. Here we have small items at the checkout which the kids beg for.
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