Impact of self on attitudes toward luxury brands among teens

The main purpose of this study is to increase understanding of teenagers' self perception on attitudes toward luxury brands. The study investigates how social consumption motivations affect teenagers' attitudes toward luxury brands, how teens' self concepts can influence social consumption motivations, and whether peer pressure affects this relationship. The study also examines the effects of materialism on teenagers' social consumption motivations and attitudes toward luxury brands. The total sample consisted of 558 teenagers between the ages of 12 and 19 (grades 7 through 12). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. This study demonstrates that materialistic orientation is a powerful force in developing positive attitudes toward luxury brands. Teenagers who have clear versus cloudy self-beliefs have a strong tendency to resist social motivations to consume because the clearer they are about themselves, the less they attend to external sources and stimuli. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.