Consumer Socialization Framework Research Articles

Learning to be consumers of “smart” retail channels: The baby boomer experience

ABSTRACT A global shift in aging populations points to greying consumers as an important market for retailers and an underserved segment for researchers. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digital expansion in the marketplace, innovated new industries, and encouraged new participants. This acceleration provides significant implications for the greying population whereby the adoption of smart-enabled platforms and channels becomes essential. Most of the digital and smart-consumer socialization research has focused exclusively on younger generations because of their digital nativity. This study aims to expand our understanding of baby boomer consumers’ attitudes and behaviors in the smart retail context using a consumer socialization framework. Findings suggest that perceived usefulness, ease of use, reliability, and fun were significant influences on global attitudes toward shopping in smart retail channels. Global attitudes toward shopping in smart retail channels significantly influenced behavioral intention and digital mass media exposure significantly influenced all dimensions of attitudes toward shopping in smart retail channels suggesting interest and engagement in smart retail channel participation among older adults.

The influence of socialization agents on consumer responses to over-the-counter medicine advertising.

Despite the prevalence of over-the-counter medicine advertising (OTCA) in electronic and print media, scholarly focus has tended to concentrate on direct-to-consumer prescription medicine advertising (DTCA). The purpose of this study is to examine the mechanisms through which attitudes toward OTCA in general and OTCA prompted behaviors are formed based on a consumer socialization framework. An online survey was conducted as part of a larger medicine and pharmaceutical advertising project using the Qualtrics online panel. A total of 819 individuals who had taken a prescription medicine in the last six months participated in the survey and yielded 539 completed questionnaires (Completion rate: 65.8%). Of those, 304 responses from U.S. adults who had taken an OTC medicine and had seen an advertisement for OTC medicines in the past six months were analyzed to test the proposed model. A series of structural equation modeling analyses of the survey data was performed. The study results showed that consumers' use of mass media and professional interpersonal channels directly influenced attitudes toward OTCA and OTCA prompted behaviors. On the other hand, consumers' use of non-professional interpersonal channels indirectly influenced OTCA outcomes through their use of mass media and professional interpersonal channels. Younger respondents were more likely to obtain OTC medicine information from non-professional interpersonal and mass media sources whereas older respondents were more likely to obtain OTC medicine information from physicians and pharmacists. Application of the consumer socialization framework in the context of OTCA provides expanded understanding of the mechanisms through which responses to OTCA are formed. The findings of this study provide implications for pharmaceutical marketers, health professionals, and consumers of OTC medicines.

Understanding Destination Value Co-Creation on Social Media: An Application of Travel Blog Analysis

The sharing of travel experiences through social media platforms reflects contemporary consumer culture, but it is still a phenomenon being researched in tourism literature. In this paper, we theorize that sharing travel experience through social media may operate as a distinct social communication process, and investigate how it contributes to the co-creation of destination value. A qualitative analysis of 97 travel blogs reveals three distinct themes that have the potential for co-creating destination value: motivation, memorable travel experiences, and advice. The results indicate that tourists and destination marketers interpret destination value differently in motivation. The sharing of memorable travel experiences and advice with readers and fellow tourists improves potential tourists’ cognition and emotional connection to the destination, thereby increasing the level of tourist destination engagement. The extension of the consumer socialization framework provides a deeper understanding of the destination value co-creation process, and provides useful insights for destination promotion and management.

Antecedents and consequences of consumers' attitudes toward product placements: evidence from India

PurposeAdvertising clutter has fueled the rise of nontraditional advertising methods. The current study, conducted in India, adopted the consumer socialization framework to assess product placement attitudes and behaviors.Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire-based survey was conducted to gauge consumers' responses to product placements. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to analyze the relationship between different variables.FindingsThe results revealed that young Indian adults are positive about product placements as they believe that incorporating brands into the content adds realism. The authors found that socialization agents significantly impact viewers' attitudes toward product placements which in turn influence their purchase intentions. The authors also found that product acceptability impacts consumers' purchase intentions.Practical implicationsThis paper provides important insights into consumers' perceptions of product placements. Based on the findings, marketers can formulate effective product placement strategies.Originality/valueMost of the studies existing in this area have been conducted in the developed markets except a few which have been conducted in the emerging markets. Hence, the present study is an attempt to fill this research gap. This study is among the first to establish a relationship between product acceptability and consumers' purchase intentions.

A consumer socialization approach to understanding advertising avoidance on social media

The past five years have seen a rapid growth of advertising on social media platforms (SMPs). The current study adopts the consumer socialization framework to investigate predictors of advertising avoidance on SMPs (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) via an online survey of 693 U.S. adults. Results show that the effects of SMP usage, susceptibility to social media influence, and susceptibility to peer influence on SMP ad avoidance are all mediated by attitude toward social media advertising in general. Greater SMP usage and higher susceptibility to social media influence are positively related with SMP advertising attitudes, while greater peer influence susceptibility is negatively related. The data also show no differences by demographics for avoidance or attitudes.

An empirical study on Chinese adolescents' fashion involvement

AbstractChinese adolescents are growing up with China's rapid economic growth and they represent the up and coming group of China's fashionistas. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of consumer socialization on Chinese adolescents' fashion involvement. Using the data collected from 169 Chinese adolescents, the research provides empirical results about the impacts of different consumer socialization agents on Chinese adolescents' fashion involvement. The study results reveal the positive and significant impacts of fashion magazines, fashion websites and peers on Chinese adolescents' fashion involvement, but a negative and significant impact of Internet on adolescents' fashion involvement. In addition, parents and TV were found to have no significant impact on Chinese adolescents' fashion involvement. Such empirical research not only deepens our understanding of the nature and strength of the relationships between the consumer socialization agents and Chinese adolescents' fashion consumer behaviour, but also makes a meaningful contribution to improving the consumer socialization framework. We believe these findings will be useful to update current consumer socialization frameworks and make it more relevant and useful for studying the new generation of consumers in the emerging market context.

The influence of electronic word of mouth on Instagram users: An emphasis on consumer socialization framework

The present study aimed at exploring the extent to which users model their behavior—as well as their brand attitudes, their perception of relationship quality, their use of Instagram, and the number of brands they follow—on other users. This distinction can help marketers and social media experts discover the most likely perspectives of brand management. The statistical population was composed of the users of the Instagram social network, out of which 384 individuals were sampled by convenience non-probable technique. The hypotheses were tested by the logistic regression analysis. The results show that peer communications, brand attitude, brand relationship quality, and Instagram usage influence the manifestation of eWOM in the Instagram social network. The paper is concluded with some recommendations to marketers in the context of the Instagram social network.

Advertising Avoidance: A Consumer Socialization Perspective

The current study adopts the consumer socialization framework to assess the socio-economic factors influencing advertising avoidance across newspapers, magazines, radio, and television via an online survey of 2,002 U.S.adults. Results show that attitude toward advertising in general is the strongest predictor of advertising avoidance, and that greater peer communication about consumption and amount of media usage are overall inversely related with this behavior. The data also demonstrates no gender differences, but that AngloAmericans and those of higher age, income, and education avoid the most advertising across all four media.

All in the Family? Parental Roles in the Epidemic of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a serious global health challenge. Families and consumption are at the nexus of the problem, as childhood weight issues depend significantly on family-related influences (genetic predispositions, physical activities, and household food consumption practices). This article focuses on how a family socializes a child toward or away from obesity. It advances a family consumer socialization framework to characterize key elements and processes. Biological predispositions, parent/family inputs, elements of child development, parent-child interactions, and intergenerational transfer are all major contributors to weight status and life course potentials. Time is also a crucial component, here represented in two forms -- linear and cyclical. Drawing on extensive research from other disciplines and related consumer research, five “Foundational Properties” are distilled, representing fundamental tenets underpinning the family’s role in this problem. Each property is then used to chart promising opportunities for consumer researchers and others interested in advancing knowledge on this pressing concern.

Personal networks as a precursor to a green future: a study of “green” consumer socialization among young millennials from India and China

PurposeMillennials, an understudied segment of the sustainable market, are enthusiastic about adopting greener lifestyles but fail to translate pro-environmental attitudes to actual behavior, thus understanding factors that motivate their actual purchase of green products is imperative. Using the consumer socialization framework, the researchers studied the impacts of social structural variables (i.e. age, gender, education and family structure), socialization agents (i.e. family, peers and mass media) and environmental concern on the buying behaviors of millennials from two of the world’s most populous nations: India and China.Design/methodology/approachUsing online panels (Amazon M-Turk and sojump.com), online surveys were administered to an online sample of millennials aged 18-24 years from India (n= 253) and China (n= 255).FindingsHierarchical regressions showed that peer communication predominantly influenced green buying behavior of millennials from India, while family communication was most important to Chinese millennials. Environmental concern, an attitudinal outcome, directly impacted behavior and also mediated the relationship between significant socialization agents and buying behavior in both countries.Practical implicationsConsidering the importance given to peers (India) and family (China), green marketers have to use specialized strategies when marketing their products to millennials in India and China. Instead of focusing on mass media campaigns, the study highlights the importance of “personal” social networks to curb the environmental issues plaguing their respective countries.Originality/valueThe current study extends the literature on millennials’ green consumer behavior by exploring millennials in India and China. The consumer socialization framework has not been applied to countries like India and China, and to understand green consumerism, the role played by influential agents such as family and peers in these collectivistic cultures and their potential to change green attitudes and behavior warrants further exploration. The possibility of mediating effects has been represented by weak correlations between socio-demographic and psychological factors. Using the consumer socialization framework, the current study explores environmental concern (EC) as a mediator in the model.

Understanding the green buying behavior of younger Millennials from India and the United States: A structural equation modeling approach

ABSTRACTA majority of past studies have used the consumer socialization framework to study children and adolescents in the U.S. but there is a dearth in academic articles that focuses on Millennials. Furthermore, there is a large, understudied Millennial population in India. The purpose of this study was (1) to propose an integrative theoretical model for determining the relative importance of socialization factors on Millennials' green buying behavior and (2) to study the impact of culture in selecting socialization agents as sources of green product information. An online survey was administered to a sample of younger Millennials from India and the U.S. For both countries, results showed that interpersonal sources were more important in elevating environmental concerns and promoting green buying behavior than mass media. Environmental concern was found to play a mediating role in the socialization process and differences between and within genders in each country were found. Implications are discussed.

Using a consumer socialization framework to understand electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) group membership among brand followers on Twitter

With the real-time brand communications prevalent in Twitter, it has emerged as an increasingly important social technology that facilitates brand-focused electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) activities. The objective of the current research is to examine the factors which discriminate between Twitter brand followers’ decisions to engage in eWOM behaviors on the site. Specifically, this study proposes that peer communication, brand-related factors, and Twitter usage motivate brand followers to share eWOM messages on Twitter. Results from an online survey showed that brand followers who serve as role-models to others, those with positive attitudes toward and relationships with brands on Twitter, those who most heavily use Twitter and follow many brands, were most likely to tweet brands. Similar patterns were found in terms of retweeting the links of brands. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that Twitter is a socialization agent that facilitates eWOM and provides useful insights for social media marketers.

Product Placement in TV Shows: The Effect of Consumer Socialization Agents on Product Placement Attitude and Purchase Intention

In recent years, many studies have investigated consumers‟ attitudes toward product placement in media content, such as movies and TV shows. However, few studies have explored the influence of peer communication and media consumption on product placement attitudes and purchase intention of products that displayed in TV shows. Drawing on the consumer socialization framework, the current study investigates product placement attitudes and behavioral intentions via online survey. Moreover, this research examined the impact of reading online consumer review of placed products as an extended socialization variable. Results show that peer communication, a socialization agent, is strongly related to both product placement-related attitudes and purchase intentions. Findings also indicate that reading online consumer reviews of placed products is a good predictor of consumers‟ purchase intentions.

Social Media Peer Communication and Impacts on Purchase Intentions: A Consumer Socialization Framework

Abstract Consumer socialization through peer communication using social media websites has become an important marketing issue through the development and increasing popularity of social media. Guided by a socialization framework, this article investigates peer communication through social media websites; individual-level tie strength and group-level identification with the peer group as antecedents; and product attitudes and purchase decisions as outcomes. Survey data from 292 participants who engaged in peer communications about products through social media confirm that the two antecedents have positive influences on peer communication outcomes. Online consumer socialization through peer communication also affects purchasing decisions in two ways: directly (conformity with peers) and indirectly by reinforcing product involvement. In addition, consumer's need for uniqueness has a moderating effect on the influence of peer communication on product attitudes. These findings have significant theoretical and managerial implications.