Robert F. Rhone
There are many influences that we receive from our social settings that influence the way we make economic decisions, here are a few. (Apruebo,Roxel,et.al., 2005)
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Culture-It is a way of life that distinguishes a group of people from another. This "way of living" includes attitudes and values, accepted pattern of behavior, language, religion, etc.
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Reference Groups- An individual identifies with a reference group, making the group the standard norm, or point of reference for organizing behavior. A reference group may determine consumption patterns, marketing strategy, and beliefs about a product
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Family- The most immediate and continuous source of group influence on consumer decision making is the family.
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Personality- Each individual has a unique personality that may influence buying behavior. Personality refers to a person's distinguishing psychological characteristics that determine and reflect the person's response to stimuli or the environment.
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This list of social influences shows that a teenager is not really in control of his or her own purchasing power. All four of these influences are particularly strong in a teenager's life. If a teen does not have an influential family source, he or she replaces it with a reference group of friends. They are stuck in a part of life where they are trying to form a personality that is unique yet fits into the status quo. I think that Apruebo shows us that teenagers are the most at risk kinds of consumers for making bad choices.
Apruebo also simplifies the model of consumer decision making into three steps, which are worth looking at again, input (product identification); process (psychological factors); and output (the purchase behavior itself). (Apruebo,Roxel,et.al., 2005) So each of these steps are saturated with social influences. The way we consume media today has become a social event. We see advertisements before watching a movie with friends; we watch sporting events at parties which are loaded with marketing strategies. Our consumption of products and media has been marketed to an extreme.
Psychologists have found that the second step of consumption is also loaded with social context. How do we know what normal behavior is if we don't have a reference group to go by? If everyone I knew punched a person when they first met, that is what I would think is normal, until I came across a person who did not do that. So our social context has much to do with the way we think and act.
The third step of consumption is also a social one. Gender norms aside, my wife shops with her friends often. Shopping in general has long been a social event. Teenagers spend there weekends hanging out at the mall, a Mecca for consumption. We all follow social norms when it comes to consuming.
