ADOLESCENT CONSUMER DECISION-MAKING STYLES - THE CONSUMER SOCIALIZATION PERSPECTIVE

This study has attempted to conceptualize the distinct factors that ma y be said to characterize an adolescent's consumer decisionmaking styl e from the perspective of consumer socialization. Eight consumer decis ion-making styles were proposed to be associated with the influence of socialization agents and antecedent variables (e.g., social structura l and developmental variables). Influence of socialization agents was also proposed to be associated with antecedent variables. Survey data (N = 1954) collected from 29 high schools in a southwestern state were examined with the use of a series of stepwise multiple regression ana lyses. Influence of socialization agents-peers, parents, printed media , TV commercials, and consumer education-clearly played an important r ole in influencing adolescent consumer decision-making styles. Anteced ent variables, especially social structural variables such as gender, ethnicity, main reason for working, and the amount of parental allowan ce, demonstrated significant correlations with consumer decision-makin g styles. Antecedent variables, however, were in general found to be o nly distantly related to the influence of socialization agents. (C) 19 96 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.