Consumer socialization, social structural factors and decision‐making styles: a case study of adolescents in Malaysia

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the process of consumer socialization will determine adolescents’ decision‐making styles. Eight decision‐making styles were conceptualized as outcomes of the socialization process, which is acquired via interaction with socialization agents, namely parents, peers, printed media, television commercials and in‐school education. The study also proposed five social structural variables (social class, gender, ethnicity, residence and religion) as being associated with the socialization agents and decision‐making styles. The study sample consisted of 934 adolescents between the ages of 16 and 19 years. The data were collected using a self‐administered questionnaire and analysed with the SPSS computer program. As a result of regression analyses, significant relationships were found between social structural factors and socialization processes, suggesting that the influence of socialization agents on adolescents may vary according to certain demographic characteristics. Significant relationships were also found between social structural factors and socialization processes. Peers appeared to be the most important agents of consumer socialization, contributing to a variety of desirable as well as undesirable consumer decision styles. Printed media and television commercials were also found to be significant sources of the acquisition of both desirable and undesirable decision‐making styles. Parents and in‐school education, however, were insignificant in the acquisition of any decision‐making styles among adolescents. Information obtained from this study could be useful to government agencies and consumer educators. The most revealing finding of this study is that parents did not contribute to the formulation of decision‐making orientation for adolescents. This points to the need for consumer educators to take steps in designing programmes that will involve parents as primary socialization agents at home; this may be facilitated via printed materials. Apart from this, the information can also be helpful in enabling marketers to be more effective in targeting various adolescent markets by formulating marketing strategies according to demographic factors, socialization process and decision‐making styles.

Psychosocial Factors Correlated with Sufficient Consumption Behavior of Students in Thailand and Malaysia

“…In addition, 33% of the students show personal preferences for expensive clothes and accessories and more than 40% believe that money is the most important factor in life (Sorrooshian & Teck, 2014). The obtained data are in accordance with the study by Kamaruddin and Mokhlis (2003), which indicates that the largest proportion of everyday spending of Malaysian teenagers is on clothes, makeup, food, athletic equipment and entertainment. This goes in the same direction with the research done by Ahmed, Ghingold and Zainurin (2007), who studied Malaysian teenagers' attitudes towards product consumption.…”

Purchasing Designer Label Apparels: The Role of Reference Groups

“…One of the reasons peers are able to influence purchasing decisions emanate from the fact that some young adults often feel less confident to evaluate their buying decisions, and would rather rely on their peers to enhance this process. In another study, peers emerged as the most important reference group in a purchase decision process (Kamaruddin & Mokhlis, 2003), consistent with the findings of Yoh (2005). In addition, the importance of peers is reinforced by the findings of Khan and Khan (2005), which concluded that friends tend to be dominant informational reference group.…”

“…Therefore, it is critical for marketers and managers in charge of designer labels' to focus on the avenues and approaches to prioritize these factors to enhance the success of their marketing campaign to attract young adults in Malaysia. In contrast, previous studies revealed that peers influence tend to be considered as the most important factor in the decision to purchase designer label apparels (Kamaruddin & Mokhlis, 2003;Yoh, 2005). The industry, therefore, should take into account the findings in this study in order to ensure that they gain some insights about the dynamics of the key factors to consider within the designer label apparels market in Malaysia.…”

Determinants of the Financial Literacy among College Students in Malaysia

“…As the standard of living in Malaysia has improved significantly and stimulated changing lifestyles, college students today are granted greater freedom from their parents to make their own shopping and consumption decisions (Kamaruddin & Mokhlis, 2003). Based on this finding, the student must have an adequate financial knowledge in order to make the best possible decisions financially or if not, this will result in a conspicuous consumption and will further lead to poor financial management.…”