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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Consequently, a primary direction for future research is to further examine perceived shopping competence across different samples of teens and adults. Furthermore, future research should attempt to specify and test a model of shopping competence, based on the conceptualization of perceived shopping competence developed in this study as a foundation on which to specify a testable model. The resources identified as being associated with shopping competence may not represent an exhaustive list of environmental and individual resources that are available to shoppers. Future research should examine each behavior associated with competent shoppers more thoroughly in an attempt to specify a complete model of shopping competence that encompasses all of the unique resources that are associated with shopping competence.

Research has shown that girls who participate in sports have higher self-confidence and are better able to engage in deferred gratification than their non-athletic counterparts (Goldberg and Chandler 1991; Perry-Burney and Takyi 2001). Since at least one-third of the sample in this study were girls who played on soccer teams, and, therefore, were potentially high on self-confidence, another limitation of this study may be that the results are somewhat conservative. That is, if girls with a high degree of self-confidence still expressed a lot of concern in dealing with salespeople and engaging in impulsive shopping behavior, how much more serious might the problem actually be with a random sample of teenage girls? This would be an interesting area for further research.

Specific facets of competence would also benefit from further research; for example, exploring how teenagers interact with salespeople in more detail would not only deepen our understanding of this aspect of competence but also would help to inform retailers about a crucial resource in the shopping environment. Another intriguing facet to explore is seeking advice from "others," in particular, siblings, on the purchase decision process. Recent research (Cotte and Wood 2004) noted that birth order was a significant covariate when examining the influence of siblings on innovative consumer behavior. Although we did not specifically collect data on the number and birth order of siblings, there was some evidence in our sample of older sibling influence on purchase influence (see, e.g., quote from Alice on p. 21).

The data in this study were collected with respect to the bricks-and-mortar mall retailing environment but, of course, teens and adults shop via the Internet, catalogues, and non-mall retail settings. Thus, future research might examine the robustness of the conceptual model in other retail settings and shopping modes. Other interesting avenues for future research include examining how much of an influence parents have had in terms of contributing to the shopping behaviors of their children? Do parents set children up for future problems at an early age by spoiling children with the latest gadgets, fashions, accessories and so forth? How much of a role does increased marketing toward children play in terms of their inability to exercise self-control? These issues are all worthy of future research.