How Good A Shopper Am I? Conceptualizing Teenage Girls' Perceived Shopping Competence

Academy of Marketing Science Review,  2006  by Palan, Kay M

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Carli's quote indicates that peer influence is a factor that affects decision-making among this age group. Teens' susceptibility to peer influence has been documented previously (Bachmann, John and Rao 1993); thus Carli's quote comes as no great surprise. What is interesting, however, is that certain previous quotes, e.g., from Claire and Courtney, demonstrate an ability to resist peer influence, indicating that at least some teens are able to make independent judgments at a younger age than was perhaps previously thought.

A second aspect of decision making that informants believed needed improvement was being able to make decisions with which they were happy and in which they had confidence. As the excerpts below show, for some informants this is related to being confident with their decisions; sometimes it is related to just knowing what looks good on them or what fits them properly.

"I think I need to improve on a few things, because sometimes I pick the wrong things, like bad sandals, like those ones right there (pointed to sandals on floor). I get red marks on my feet like right there (pointed to feet)." (Lucy, 13)

"Yeah, sometimes I do (have trouble making decisions) cause I like buy something and I think I have something that matches it but when I get home I realize that I don't and I get mad and I just throw it on the ground." (Stephanie, 14)

"I bought an ugly shirt that I don't wear but it's in my closet. I don't want to give it to my sister 'cause, well, I paid for it." (Gwen, 14)

face=+Italic; Dealing with Salespeopleface=-Italic; - The third area of improvement noted by the informants, dealing with salespeople, captures informants' sense of discomfort interacting with salespeople. In part, discomfort appears to be related to informants' lack of self-confidence with respect to making independent decisions and being content with their decisions, as seen in the quotes in the previous section. Clearly, other informants also perceive pressure from salespeople.

"Really, I don't like it when they (salespeople) try to pressure you or tell you that something is just right for you. How do they know? It really isn't fair of them to pressure kids because we feel like we have to treat them with respect at least a little because they are usually older than we are." (Debbie, 14)

"Sometimes I feel like I'm forced to buy something when I don't want to." (Samantha 13)

Whether or not it is a matter of self-confidence, informants clearly try to avoid interacting with salespeople. "I don't really like to return things. It just makes me feel weird, so I ask my mom to do it." (Kelly, 13)

"Like, I just won't look at them (salespeople), and if they ask me if I need help, even if I do I'll say no." (Leah, 14)

One informant reported that she and several of her friends actually play a game of 'dare' in one particular store in order to try to avoid salespeople because they know they will be put under pressure to make a purchase. They want to avoid this so they have made a challenge out of it.