Grandparents and EdTech: the unexpected demographic driving home learning subscriptions
Grandparents are buying educational technology subscriptions for their grandchildren in growing numbers. What they buy, why they buy it, and what it reveals about how consumer EdTech is actually marketed.
By Wistl Editorial · · At Home
Consumer EdTech subscription data from several platforms shows that a meaningful proportion of purchases are made by adults who are not the parents of the children using the products. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family friends purchasing subscriptions as gifts account for a segment of the market that receives little attention in industry marketing strategy, which is oriented almost entirely toward anxious parents rather than extended family members. The purchasing behaviour of grandparents in this context follows a pattern consistent with gift-giving more broadly. Products are chosen b