Title: Influence of socialisation agents on the materialism of Indian teenagers

Authors: Sartaj Chaudhary; Ajoy Kumar Dey

Addresses: Birla Institute of Management Technology, Plot No. 5, Knowledge Park II, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh-201306, India ' Birla Institute of Management Technology, Plot No. 5, Knowledge Park II, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh-201306, India

Abstract: Teenagers are rapidly becoming an important market segment for consumer products in India, but relatively little is known about the development of their materialistic consumption values. By applying a social learning perspective, the influence of socialisation agents on materialism is probed. In addition, this study unveils the latent constructs of materialism and checks if materialistic tendencies differ among boys and girls. This survey-based research uses exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses; t-test and stepwise multiple regressions for analyses. Results reveal that materialism is portrayed by three values: luxury orientation, happiness seeking and acquisition centrality seeking. Among the six socialisation agents: mother, father, peers, celebrity, athlete and internet, celebrity emerged as the highest predictor of materialism. Boys were more materialistic than girls. The theoretical and practical implications of the research have been discussed with suggestions for future research.

Keywords: Indian teenagers; materialism; socialisation agents; confirmatory factor analysis; CFA; exploratory factor analysis; EFA; multiple regression; luxury orientation; happiness seeking; acquisition centrality; materialist values; gender; India; youth; young people; social learning; parents; peers; celebrities; athletes; internet.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2016.078040

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2016 Vol.13 No.2, pp.182 - 204

Received: 18 May 2015
Accepted: 19 Sep 2015
Published online: 31 Jul 2016 *

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