Examination of children’s consumer behavior and consumer psychology

Abstract: This article combines questionnaire survey and interview methods to examine the current consumer behavior and consumer psychology of teenagers. The survey results show that because teenagers have a stable source of pocket money and a considerable amount, they do not consider price when consuming, pursue individuality, and satisfy higher material needs to enjoy life. In the process of forming the consumer psychology of teenagers, social culture, social fashion, and family are the three main factors that influence them.

1. The purpose and significance of the topic

Since the reform and opening up, China has moved from a planned economy to a market economy. When goods transform from a seller's market to a buyer's market, the goods participating in the competition must meet two conditions: first, they must have product quality and functions that meet the needs of consumers; second, they must have packaging that attracts consumers. As a result, people began to value brand and packaging. When people go shopping, they buy not only a physical object, but also a concept that the product can embody—fashion, status, and personality.

Teenagers who grow up in such an economic atmosphere are also very concerned about the underlying concept expressed by commodities. They hope to own brand-name clothing and brand-name living and learning supplies. Some of them have their own pagers and mobile phones. They will follow the pace of fashion to dress themselves up to show their unique side.

We choose to examine the consumer behavior and consumer psychology of teenagers for the following two purposes: first, what are the characteristics of teenagers’ consumer psychology; second, what factors affect teenagers’ consumer behavior and consumer psychology. From the perspective of teenagers themselves, conducting such surveys can help them understand themselves so that they can regulate their behavior; from the perspective of educators, they can and should be guided to moderate consumption and help them correctly deal with external factors. Thus forming their own value standards.

2. Research Methods

In the process of investigating teenagers’ consumption behavior and consumer psychology, two research methods, questionnaire survey and interview, were mainly used.

1. Questionnaire survey

(1) Survey objects: Three grades of junior high school, junior high school, and senior high school were randomly selected from two ordinary middle schools in Gulou and Xuanwu Districts of Nanjing City. There are 42 students, including 27 boys and 15 girls.

(2) Questionnaire arrangement: There are 9 multiple-choice questions and 2 open-ended questions in the questionnaire. In terms of language, pay attention to concise, neutral, and clear wording.

(3) Questionnaire content: The 11 questions in the questionnaire mainly involve three aspects. The first aspect involves pocket money, including the source, quantity, degree of discretion, whether it is used in a planned manner and what it is mainly used for; the second aspect involves consumer behavior and consumer psychology, including consumption standards, places, replacement frequency, What factors influence them and their opinions on the use of communication products by middle school students; the third aspect involves teenagers’ expectations for consumption.

2. Interviews

Due to the small number of questions in the questionnaire and the small number of survey subjects, interviews were conducted on individual issues after data statistics to make up for the shortcomings of the questionnaire. The interviews mainly covered the following questions:

(1) What can be associated with the word "consumption";

(2) What are the special features of different shopping places;< /p>

(3) Does following fashion and imitating celebrities’ dressing conflict with showing your own style?

(4) What is the reason for changing clothes?

(5) What is the special significance of using communication products?

Combining the two research methods of questionnaire survey and interview, we can look at the data more objectively and analyze the reasons, so as to understand the real thoughts and practices of young people and achieve the purpose of the research.

3. Statistical results and analysis

It is generally believed that human behavior is a reflection of psychology. Therefore, in order to understand the consumer psychology of teenagers, we must first understand their consumer behavior.

1. Survey on pocket money

Teenagers generally have pocket money, but the amount of pocket money is different, the source is different, the degree of free disposal is different, and the use is also different. Therefore, by investigating the pocket money situation of teenagers, we can understand what the material basis of teenagers' consumption is, and whether factors such as the amount of pocket money affect their consumption behavior and consumption psychology.

Table 1 Statistical results of the survey on teenagers’ pocket money

Question options All girls and boys

Pocket money sources New Year’s money 53.5% 40.7% 45.2%

40% given by other elders 22.2% 28.6%

Earned by oneself/

11.1% 7.1%

The amount of pocket money is less than 50 yuan 53.5% 44.4% 47.6%

50-100 yuan 20% 37% 31%

100-200 yuan 20% 18.5% 19%

More than 200 yuan 6.7% 11.1% 9.5%

Pocket money for food 20% 33.3% 28.6%

Various accessories 13.3% 18.5% 16.7%

School supplies 73.3% 63% 66.7%

Internet or entertainment 13.3% 48.1% 35.7%

Able to use pocket money independently 20% 25.9 % 23.8%

Mostly 26.7% 59.1% 47.6%

Occasionally 13.3% 11.1% 11.9%

Not 6.7% 7.4% 7.1%

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Use of pocket money

Have a plan 46.7% 33.3% 38.1%

Do not stick to the plan/

3.7% 2.4%

Unplanned but measured 46.7% 33.3% 38.1%

Unplanned 6.7% 29.6% 21.4%

As can be seen from Table 1, 71.4% of students have monthly All receive pocket money from their parents, and 11.1% of boys can earn their own money. It can be seen that the source of their pocket money is stable, which provides a material basis for their consumption. 47.6% of students have monthly pocket money of less than 50 yuan, 31% of students have pocket money between 50 and 100 yuan, 19% of students have pocket money between 100 and 200 yuan, and 9.5% of students have pocket money of 200 yuan. Yuan and above. If the average monthly income of a family is 2,500 yuan, and 59.5% of students have monthly pocket money ranging from 50 to 200 yuan, this expenditure is not small. If having pocket money is a stable foundation for consumption, then having a certain amount of pocket money is a solid foundation for consumption. 71.4% of students can or mostly use their pocket money freely, and 38.1% of students use their pocket money in a planned way. There are also 38.1% of students who have no plan but can use their pocket money in a controlled way. It can be seen that many parents now give their children greater control over their children's use of pocket money without interfering too much. This also reflects the flexibility and casualness of teenagers in consumption. Table 1 also reflects that 66.7% of people use their pocket money to buy school supplies, and 35.7% use it for Internet access or entertainment. It can be seen from the two largest consumption items that purchasing school supplies is still the most important consumption for students, while online entertainment may be an inevitable product of the e-era. Perhaps this number will increase as information channels increase. Fast and rising.

The survey results on the pocket money situation of teenagers show two characteristics: stable economic source; considerable amount. It is precisely because of these two characteristics that teenagers can freely control and do whatever they want when consuming. The characteristics reflected in various aspects of pocket money greatly affect the consumption behavior of teenagers.

2. Survey on consumer behavior

Table 2 Statistical results of survey on consumer behavior of teenagers

Question options: All girls and boys

Purchase Location specialty stores 26.7% 48.1% 40.4%

Various specialty stores 6.7% 25.9% 19%

Department stores 46.7% 37% 40.1%

General small Store 20% 7.4% 11.9%

Choose standard comfort 66.7% 51.9% 57.1%

Difference/33.3% 21.4%

Famous brand 6.7% 11.1% 9.5%

It doesn’t matter 26.7% 25.9% 26.2%

Influencing factors Recommendation from friends 6.7% 11.1% 9.5%

Attractiveness of the product 6.7% 18.5% 14.3%

Idol’s image/3.7% 2.4%

My own hobbies 86.7% 77.8% 81%

Change frequency in half a year 53.3% 63% 59.5%

1 year 13.3% 25.9% 21.4%

1~2 years 13.3% 7.4% 9.5%

2 years or more 20 11.1% 14.3%

(1) Where to buy. Table 2 has shown that among girls, 46.7% choose department stores, 26.7% choose specialty stores, 20% choose general small stores, and 6.7% choose specialty stores. Among boys, 48.1% choose specialty stores, 37% choose department stores, 25.9% choose specialty stores, and only 7.4% choose general small stores. Generally speaking, teenagers mainly buy clothes in specialty stores, department stores, and various specialty stores. It is understood that the styles and colors of products in specialty stores are at the forefront of fashion. They are fine in workmanship and comfortable and elegant to wear, but the prices are relatively high. Each specialty store has a special counter in a department store, and some products are sourced by the store itself. The prices of these products are slightly lower, but the styles and colors still follow the fashion, but the workmanship and fabric selection are slightly inferior to those in specialty stores. The products in various specialty stores do not pay attention to the brand, but the new styles, bright colors, and the layout of the store attract many young people. It can be seen from the product characteristics of the above three types of shopping places and the choice tendencies of teenagers that these shopping places can meet their needs - comfort and fashion, but it also reflects that teenagers generally do not consider price factors when shopping.

(2) Selection criteria. The purpose of designing the survey selection criteria question is to understand whether the shopping behavior of teenagers is directly related to the pursuit of fashion and highlighting individuality. From the statistical results in Table 2, the selection criteria for girls, from most to least, are comfort, indifferent, and famous brand; for boys, the selection criteria are comfortable, different, indifferent, and famous brand. From the comparison of data, we can see that there are some differences in the selection criteria for boys and girls. By sorting out the interview records, we learned that girls don’t care whether they are famous brands, but their understanding of “comfort” includes “wearing their own style.” In their words, buying a famous brand is equivalent to buying the same style, which may not necessarily suit you or reflect your own style. Boys have high requirements for "comfort" because it is not only convenient for exercise, but also reflects vitality. They hope to show their own characteristics through being "different" and experience the feeling of "coolness". For “name brand” products, they value good quality and comfort. Although boys and girls have different understandings of each standard, the following conclusion can be drawn from their understanding: they want to be different, they seek novelty and change. The findings on selection criteria were largely correlated with the findings on choice of shopping location. Because teenagers pursue novelty and uniqueness, they go to specialty stores, department stores and various specialty stores that can meet their needs to buy clothes that can express their style.

(3) Factors affecting teenagers’ choice of clothing. People generally agree that the biggest influence on young people in today's society is the propaganda of celebrities, idols and mass media, but the survey results are not like this.

According to the data in Table 2: 81% of people believe that they choose clothing based on their own hobbies, 14.3% of people believe that the attractiveness of the product itself affects their consumption, 9.5% of people believe in the recommendations of friends, and only 2.4% of people choose clothing influenced by idols. It is understood that most teenagers only admire and like the images of their idols, but do not deliberately imitate them. They think that the image that suits a certain star may not necessarily suit themselves in real life. Dressing themselves up in other people's ways is not who they are. It can be seen that their worship of celebrities is rational. They do not imitate blindly, but choose the ones that suit them according to their own characteristics and preferences. Today's teenagers can be described as "personalized". This kind of personality is reflected in: 1. Although their understanding of "cool" is not complete, they at least realize that it is a kind of "cool" that suits a certain person; 2. The "difference" they pursue is not imitation. What others get, but what you create and match yourself, is a kind of "distinctiveness" that suits you and can show yourself; 3. Their pursuit of "cool" is relatively rational, because they still care about social culture and the times. factors such as background and other people’s evaluations. In short, their pursuit of beauty and understanding of "difference" include the following three sentences - "suits me", "shows me", and "I am who I am". Therefore, the "personality" pursued by teenagers cannot be equated with being alternative or weird. Their "personality" is a unique self. ?

(4) Frequency of changing clothes. Do teenagers change their clothes to replace the "shabby ones" or to discard the "outdated ones"? The data in Table 2 shows that: 59.5% of people change their clothes every six months, 21.4% of people change them once a year, 14.3% of people usually change them once every two years, and 9.5% of people change them once every 1 to 2 years. . In other words, 80.9% of people almost always wear a piece of clothing for one season and then put it aside. This is in great contrast to "three years of new wear, three years of old wear, and another three years of mending." The survey on replacement time reflects that teenagers are still affected by fashion trends, but they can wear new and old clothes together, and can distinguish and find what suits them, rather than blindly following them. Combining the factors affecting teenagers and the frequency of clothing replacement, we can see that fashion has an impact on teenagers, and teenagers cannot resist the temptation of new styles and colors that are changing with each passing day. It should be said that their pursuit of fashion has both an emotional and a rational side. Emotionally speaking, they are the easiest to express their desire to pursue fashion. Intellectually speaking, while they appreciate fashion, they can find out what suits them. While they pursue fashion, they can grasp the vitality of fashion changes and dress up with a "personalized" self.

While investigating the consumer behavior of teenagers, open-ended questions were used to understand teenagers’ attitudes towards the use of communication products by middle school students. Although the prices of mobile phones and pagers have dropped again and again, for middle school students, a pure consumer group, the meaning of mobile phones and pagers has exceeded the concept of "communication products" even if their parents bear all the costs. So what does it represent? Through the survey, it was found that 43.2% of people each have a positive or negative attitude towards the use of mobile phones and pagers by middle school students, and 13.5% have a neutral attitude. There are two main reasons for people who hold a neutral attitude: first, personal needs are different; second, personal paying abilities are different. People who hold a positive attitude generally believe that there are four reasons: first, as a technological product or communication device, it is indispensable in people's lives; second, using mobile phones and pagers is a trend; third, using mobile phones and pagers is in line with the psychology of new mankind ; Fourth, using communication products makes communication convenient and saves time. Those who hold a negative attitude believe that the use of mobile phones and pagers by middle school students is easily distracting; they are expensive and too luxurious; and the use of communication products is to express themselves and has no practical purpose. Judging from the various reasons provided by the respondents, mobile phones and pagers are no longer as simple as "communication products" for middle school students, but a kind of decoration and a kind of show-off. First, middle school students spend most of their time at school and home. It is very easy for parents, teachers or classmates to find a certain student, so using communication products has no practical significance and is not a necessity for middle school students. Secondly, the so-called use of mobile phones and pagers is a trend and conforms to the new human psychology. In fact, it is to express oneself and show the specialness of "I have it but you don't".

Moreover, the cost of using mobile phones and pagers is very high, and they are luxuries for middle school students, especially when using them while attracting the attention of others, which can easily lead to violence caused by an unbalanced mentality. In short, the consumption behavior of teenagers is not only to satisfy the needs of survival and seeking knowledge, but also to satisfy the need of respect. After the average family can meet the necessary material needs of their children, pursuing higher material enjoyment and gaining the envy of others is a motivation for young people's consumption.

3. Survey on consumption expectations

There is an open-ended question at the end of the questionnaire, "If you had a large amount of money, how would you like to use it?" This question was designed to Understand what teenagers most want to spend their money on and for what purpose. Judging from the compiled data, 53.2% of people want to use this money for consumption, of which 90.2% want to buy things they like, including houses, cars, computers, etc.; the remaining 9.8% want to travel around The world or treat people to dinner. 14.3% want to donate money to charity, Project Hope or leave it to their parents. There are also 14.3% of people who want to use money to make money, mainly to open their own computer companies, clothing stores or bars and teahouses, while others want to speculate in stocks, real estate and buy lottery tickets. Another 18.2% of people want to save this money until needed. It is understood that people who spend money believe that people live to make themselves happy and enjoy life, so if they have money, they should satisfy their wishes. People who want to use this money to help society or others feel that many people still live a hard life, and there are many school-age children in remote areas who cannot go to school. If everyone contributes their part, tomorrow will be better. Those who want to use money to invest and run businesses believe that young people should have the awareness to participate in competition. Earning more money by opening a store and trading in the stock market will benefit themselves and others, and promote economic development. People who want to save money feel that there are too many places to use money. Spending money lavishly may not accomplish anything. The money has bottomed out, so it is better to save it and use it wisely. Although their answers vary, 57.5% of people still directly link money with enjoying life, and do not consider using money to do things that are beneficial to society and others. On the one hand, adolescents' choices are related to their personal growth experiences, their parents and their own values. On the other hand, they are also influenced by society. We have to admit that in economic society, people value money more than they need money, and they even only care about the result of getting money regardless of the way to get it. Teenagers are immature social beings. They have not yet formed their own judgments, and sometimes they can only use social phenomena as the standard to measure things. So they only see the colorful life, and they pursue such a life, thinking that this is the meaning of life.

Combining the statistical results of the questionnaire survey with the analysis and compilation of interview records, in summary, the consumption behavior of teenagers shows four major characteristics: First, they are financially dependent on their parents and elders, rarely consider price factors, and buy whatever they want. Buy; second, follow the pace of fashion, but hate the sameness, and show uniqueness in fashion; third, the purpose of teenagers' consumption is no longer just to eat and clothe themselves, but to eat well, dress well, and enjoy life , and this enjoyment comes at the cost of money; fourth, there is greater autonomy in the control and consumption of money.

IV. Characteristics and influencing factors of adolescents’ consumer psychology

In general families, especially in only-child families, teenagers have a high consumer status and can be described as “parents making money” , children spend money”. During the growth and development stage, they need more food to meet their physiological needs; in order to cooperate with school education, they need a variety of school supplies, including books, learning machines, Wenquxing, computers and various brain-boosting drinks; in order to improve learning Efficiency, to achieve a balance between work and rest, they need a variety of sporting goods, audio and video products, CD players, DVDs, they also need to visit stores, Internet cafes, class reunions, and travel; with frequent contact with society, most of them value personal Appearance, the pursuit of external and internal beauty, so they are very interested in fashion, literary and artistic works, and things in the entertainment industry. In such a growing environment, the consumer psychology of teenagers has the following characteristics:

First, they pursue novelty and fashion. Most teenagers are liberated in their minds, full of fantasy, easy to accept new things, and like to hunt for novelties. The goods they buy are required to be "new, strange and beautiful" before being practical. They are often the first buyers and consumption leaders of some new products.

In order to pursue fashion, they will also imitate the stars they admire. They will also observe, discuss and imitate each other, so as to stay ahead of the consumer trends.

Second, pursue personalization. Teenagers have enhanced self-awareness and have their own personalities, ambitions, interests, etc. They will express their particularity intentionally or unintentionally in various activities. Therefore, teenagers not only pursue novelty, but also demand that their personalities be reflected in their consumption, and like to buy products that reflect their personalities. Of course, it is difficult for a single product to reflect the different personalities of various types of teenagers, so teenagers express their personalities in all their consumption activities. In order to reflect their own personalities in consumption activities, they not only imitate celebrities or simply hunt for novelties, but must also be original. Therefore, their learning methods in consumption are diverse.

Third, pay attention to emotion and intuition, and have strong impulse buying. Although teenagers already have strong thinking and decision-making abilities, they are still prone to being emotional. They pay special attention to the appearance, style, color, brand, and trademark of the product. When their intuition tells them that the product is good, they will have positive feelings and quickly make a purchase decision. They must buy it. As for the inherent quality of the product, its price, and whether it will become obsolete soon, there is less consideration.

Why do current teenagers produce the above-mentioned consumption behaviors and form their unique consumption psychological characteristics?

The first is the subjective factor. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, the order of appearance according to the strength of needs is: physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Physiological needs and safety needs are low-level needs, a kind of scarcity need, which can be satisfied under normal circumstances. So people have advanced needs. As teenagers enter middle school and their self-awareness continues to increase, they need friends and need to establish deep friendships with classmates in groups. This is the need for belonging and love. Teenagers often become friends because of "similarity", and "similarity" here can be similar age, family, or the same interests and hobbies. Therefore, teenagers strive to maintain this "similarity" when consuming to become a member of a small group. Teenagers not only have belonging and love needs, they also have self-esteem needs. Not only do they hope to be strong, accomplished, independent and free, but they also long for care, attention, high evaluation and respect from others. Getting an envious look or an envious exclamation because you are fashionably dressed, have the same brand name, or are generous in entertainment can be regarded as a kind of "getting respect." So this "envy" series of actions and expressions become positive reinforcers, increasing the frequency of this consumption behavior. Of course, teenagers also have the need for self-actualization, but the need they want to express is just to show themselves and show some aspect of themselves that is different from others or higher than others, so as to gain appreciation from their peers.

Secondly, there are objective factors. In the process of human growth, especially teenagers, they are very susceptible to external factors.

First, social culture. Culture in a broad sense refers to the sum of material wealth and spiritual wealth created by human beings in the process of social and historical development. It consists of material culture, social culture, spiritual culture, etc. As the song "A Chic Walk" resounds all over the country, "cool" is getting closer and closer to people. Chicness is a behavioral style and psychological experience of social subjects, and is a symbol of socio-economic, cultural and other development. It not only refers to the subject's appearance and body beauty, but also refers to the subject's life attitude, life pursuit and high level; it is not only an enviable behavior, but also a comfortable and pleasant psychological experience; not only a The short-term beautiful behavior and style are a process and a grand goal. However, many people’s understanding of chic is to wear famous brands, hold mobile phones, and spend lavishly. They do not understand the deeper meaning of chic. As a result, a "chic" atmosphere and phenomenon quickly penetrated into the air, and then young people accepted this influence, accepted and imitated this "chic" behavior.

The second is social popularity. Social fashion is something that spreads in society for a while. It can break out, expand, spread, or disappear in a short period of time. It is most easily accepted by young people. On the one hand, the continuous upgrading of consumer goods is the material basis of popularity; on the other hand, seeking novelty, self-expression and conformity are the psychological basis of popularity.

Indeed, social popularity conveys a message to people, and when people follow it, it creates a kind of group pressure. The well-known Asch "triple vertical line experiment" shows that information pressure and group norm pressure are the reasons for the phenomenon of conformity. Just imagine, a teenager is faced with a large amount of information but lacks objective judgment standards. When they are not sure about their own judgment, they feel that the majority of people's opinions are more likely to be correct. So it is better to follow the crowd than to make mistakes. In particular, teenagers generally use classmates and friends as direct tangible reference groups, and the figures they admire, such as celebrities and outstanding athletes, as invisible reference groups. The normative and comparative functions of reference groups affect young people's consumption patterns and motivations, and stimulate certain needs. Therefore, teenagers are always at the forefront of social trends and assume the role of communicators.

The third is family. As a basic consumption unit, the family's culture, social status, life stage, composition, investment willingness, etc. will affect the consumption behavior of family members. However, the influence of family on teenagers mainly focuses on two aspects. One is the status of children in the family. In most one-child families, the child is the centerpiece, and everything from diet, work and rest time to entertainment time and activity items are determined according to the child's time and needs. Financially, apart from the general expenses of the family, the rest is for the children to eat well, wear well, use well and learn well. As a result, the child's status in the family is gradually established, and the child develops the habit of buying whatever he wants without considering the price or whether his parents can afford it. This is the result of excessive material satisfaction and indulgence. The second is parents’ concern for their children. Most parents attach great importance to their children's grades and strive to create conditions for their children to improve their learning quality. Therefore, they ignore the strict demands on their children in terms of material life, and do not care about the financial contribution to their children. In other words, as long as their academic performance is good, they will be satisfied with the rest.

5. Issues that require further research

Through this survey, the expected purpose was basically achieved. It not only understands the source and use of teenagers' pocket money, but also understands teenagers' consumption behavior, summarizes their consumer psychology characteristics, and analyzes the subjective and objective factors that affect teenagers' consumption behavior and consumption psychology.

However, due to the small number of questions in the questionnaire, the survey respondents were limited to 42 students from two middle schools in Gulou District and Xuanwu District. Therefore, whether the results of this survey can reflect the overall situation of current teenagers requires further research. Ground inspection. In particular, the cultural and economic levels of Gulou and Xuanwu districts are higher than other areas. Therefore, whether cultural atmosphere and economic development level are the main factors affecting young people also needs further research. In the process of preparing the questionnaire, no background information such as the students’ family environment was involved. When analyzing the impact of family on teenagers, there is still a lack of sufficient data on whether factors such as parents’ cultural level, nature of work, economic level, and parenting methods of children affect teenagers’ consumption behavior and consumer psychology. It is necessary to do some further research on this point.

In short, because the questionnaire was hastily designed and the content is a bit rough, more information can still be mined according to the purpose of the survey to enrich the results of this survey.

Reference materials

1. "Consumer Psychology" by Luo Ziming, August 1994 edition of Central Compilation and Translation Press

2. "Consumption" edited by Yu Guohua, He Tongshan and Zhou Xueqing Psychology" China Science and Technology Press, March 1996 edition

3. "Consumer Behavior" edited by Shi Youchun, Nanjing University Press, March 1997 edition

4. "Introduction to Psychology" by Huang Xiting, March 1997 edition by People's Education Press

5. "The Only Child Declaration" edited by Chen Danyan, July 1998 edition by Hainan Publishing Company.

6. "Psychology of Child Development" edited by Liu Jinhua, East China Normal University Press, July 1999 edition

7. "Personality Psychology" edited by Ye Yiqian and Kong Keqin, East China Normal University Press March 1998 edition

8. "Modern Social Psychology" by Zhou Xiaohong Shanghai People's Publishing House, September 1997 edition

9. Wang Yin'e "The Social Psychological Foundation and Characteristics of Xiaosu" 》 Journal of Shaanxi Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition) Issue 2, 1998

10. "Perspective on the Causes of Distorted Consumption Behavior of Contemporary Youth" Journal of Qinghai University for Nationalities (Social Science Edition) Issue 3, 2000< /p>

For reference only, please learn from it yourself.

Hope this helps.