A Study on Attitudes of Adolescent Consumer toward Consumerism and Marketing

Kee Hyeon Yee

Major in Home Economics Education, Graduate School of Education
Chugnam National University
Taejon, Korea

This study attempts to identify the attitudes of consumerism and marketing of adolescent consumer and related variables and to provide a basis for the development of consumer education programs and consumer policy.

The characteristics of adolescent consumer, marketing and consumer welfare, the concept of consumerism and theoretical backgrounds for empirical analysis are reviewed.

The objectives of this study are as for folows:
1. To clarify the concept and the theoretical consumerism and marketing by consumerism and marketing by reviewing the literatures.
2. To identify the consumer attitudes of consumerism and marketing of adolescent consumer.
3. To analyze the related variables on the consumerism and marketing of adolescent consumer.
4. To suggest consumer protection policy and consumer education Programs on the basis of empirical analysis result.

In this study the related variables on attitudes of consumerism and marketing are socio-demographic variables, consumer-related variables. The socio-demographic veriables are sex, the school grade, residence, income, age of mother, job of father, allowance. The consumer-related variables are consumer knowledge, consumer experience, allowance management obility.

Hall test was given to the 588 students of junior and senior high school s in Taejon and Chungnam area.

Some conclusions from the above investigations and discussions are as follows :
1. The more consumer knowledge the adolescent consumer have, the more desirable consumer attitudes they have. So consumer education provided should be provided for secondary schools in order to improve the level of the consume Knowledge. For this, educational materials about consumer education should be discovered. And experts for consumer education should be trained.
According as consumer education proceeds, consume Knowledge is improved, desirable consumer attitudes formed, fair consumer behavior carried out, and at last the maximum satisfaction will be able to made.
2 Compared with female. male were round to hart·e negative attitudes This shows that more consumer education Is necessary for male than for female. So, development of education system for male should be required.
3. As their mothers are youger, so the attitudes of adolescent consumer become more positive. This race tells us chat they are taught the consumer education by their Parents who have mordern consumer knowledge. And to build up reasonable attitudes of adolescent consumer, consumer education at home as well as in school should be performed For which, in the first Place, consumer education for parents should be done.
4. In the consumer attitudes according to the school grade, junior high school students are more positive than senior high school students about business philosophy and marketing. That is not only because consumer knowledge level of junior high school students is lower than that of senior high school students. but also because junior high school students have less understanding on business responsibilities to consumers and society than senior high school students.
So, consumer education for consumer knowledge is very necessary.
For further studies and practices. several implications are suggested.
Key ford : Consumer attitude, Consumerism, marketing, consumer knowledge, adolescent consumer, consumer experience, allowance management ability.