Effect of popularity and peer pressure on attitudes toward luxury among teens

Purpose - Peer pressure and popularity are important issues for teenagers, potentially affecting teenagers' attitudes toward luxury products. In turn, peer pressure and popularity can potentially be affected by self-concept clarity (how clearly teens view themselves). The authors empirically aim to investigate these relationships using data from a sample of Brazilian teens and find that self-concept clarity has a significant effect on peer pressure, popularity and social consumption motivation, which, by itself, directly affects attitudes toward luxury items. Design/methodology/approach - The total sample consisted of 558 teenagers between the ages of 12 and 19 (grades 7 through 12). Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings - The results of the study suggest that teenagers' social consumption motivations positively affect attitudes toward luxury. Originality/value - The paper first explicitly examines the impact of peer pressure and popularity on attitude toward luxury among teenagers.