Influence of parents, peers, and media on adolescents' consumer knowledge, attitudes, and purchase behavior: A meta-analysis

Adolescents are considered a critical consumer segment due to their huge spending power and significant influence in family purchase decisions. Parents, peers, and media are the three essential socialization agents that significantly influence adolescents' consumer knowledge (awareness), attitudes (attitude toward ad, brand, and price), and purchase behavior via the process of consumer socialization. This meta-analysis investigates the impact of these agents by integrating findings from 36 studies, including 194 relationships among 29,209 adolescent respondents. The study examines the moderating role of various cultural dimensions (individualistic, power distance, and masculinity), publication year, and age. The findings reveal that peers have the maximum number of significant effects, followed by media and parents. Parents and peers have a stronger impact on adolescents' attitudes toward brand in cultures that are high in individualism and power distance. The effects for many focal relationships are stronger in recent publications, which confirms the critical influence of the external environment, including access to the Internet and social media. Age, culture, and publication year moderate key relationships. The study contributes to consumer socialization literature and has practical implications for marketers interested in teenage consumers.