Environmentalism at home: The process of ecological resocialization by teenagers

Abstract

Both family decision making and consumer socialization studies have been focused largely on the influence of parents on children. However, because family communication is not unidirectional, studying teenagers' influence on their parents can provide a fuller understanding of consumers' resocialization processes. This study reports on 26 depth interviews conducted with teenagers and their mothers, designed to investigate how parental styles and frequency of communication between a teenager and parent affect parental ecological resocialization. Parental styles and the frequency of communication both have notable impacts on teenagers' influence on their mothers' pro-environmental behaviors. Moreover, whereas bilateral strategies (bargaining and reasoning) are the most effective strategies used with warmer mothers, unilateral strategies (persuasion and nagging) are the least effective strategies used with cooler mothers.

How National Culture and Parental Style Affect the Process of Adolescents’ Ecological Resocialization

“…While teenage consumer socialization [13,15] and reverse socialization [16,17] have been extensively addressed in consumer behavior literature, the topic of ecological resocialization has been less frequently considered [7,18]. Ecological resocialization refers to adolescents' influence over their parents' behavior with specific reference to environmental actions, e.g., reducing domestic electricity or water consumption, not littering, using modes of transportation other than cars, buying green items, and so on [9].…”

“…Despite the important role of culture in consumer socialization [26,27], it is surprising to note the large gap in the literature on the ecological resocialization process in different cultures. Recently, studies on ecological resocialization have been centered on singular nations (e.g., [8,9,28,29]), but such studies offer mixed results. Grønhøj [29] found no evidence that Danish adolescents directly influence their parents to purchase green products or decrease energy consumption.…”

“…Grønhøj [29] found no evidence that Danish adolescents directly influence their parents to purchase green products or decrease energy consumption. In contrast, research from the US [30,31], Europe [9,32], Australia [8] and Asia [10] have shown some effects of intergenerational learning and influence from children to their parents related to environmental issues. Twenty years ago, a cross-cultural study between Denmark, France, Portugal and the UK found that adolescents have a limited influence on their parents' pro-environmental behaviors [33].…”

“…Palan and Wilkes [43] produced seven influence strategies, which have been used in subsequent research studies [9,22]: bargaining, persuasion, emotional, request, expert, legitimate and directive. Literature suggests that these strategies can be classified into two categories: unilateral and bilateral strategies [44].…”

“…Prior research on adolescents' environmental behaviors focused largely on the United States (e.g., [7]), with additional studies beginning to emerge in other cultures, including Australia [8], Europe [9], and Asia [10]. This focus on teenage pro-environmental behaviors within singular nations has left issues regarding the impact of national culture on environmental behaviors largely unaddressed.…”