مقایسه انگیزش اجتماعی مادران با دختران نوجوان خود و اثرات آن بر رفتار مصرف مادر

Whereas prior research has focused on consumer socialisation and intergenerational influence theories to study mother–daughter interactions, this research draws on identity to emphasise the association between mothers’ social comparison and their related clothing consumption behaviors in the presence of adolescent daughters. A survey of 423 adolescent daughters’ mothers shows how personal and relational identities combine to favor mothers’ social comparison process with their adolescent daughter and explain a set of consumption behaviors, including co-consumption practices (common shopping, joint purchases, clothing exchanges) and mothers’ changes in brands, stores and styles. In order to better target adolescent girls’ mothers, retailers could develop more inter-generational practices.

Women and their adolescent daughters are the major spenders of discretionary income on clothing items. Their average annual expenditure on clothing alone is over €800 in an attempt to project a youthful image (Le Figaro, 2011). Researchers (Ruvio et al., 2012) and retailers (New York Times, 2011) have noted this pursuit of a youthful look and the important role of adolescent daughters in constructing such an image. From a theoretical perspective, why do mothers engage in these clothing co-consumption practices with their adolescent daughter? Insights into the motives that drive mothers to adopt co-consumption practices with their adolescent daughter can provide retailers with a set of cues they might use to engage with this attractive segment more effectively. Previous existing theories on consumer socialization and intergenerational influence fall short of answering this question. These studies highlighted the role of mothers as socializing agents for their adolescents in the consumption domain (Carlson et al., 1990). Nevertheless, recent research has shown that adolescent daughters can also exert an influence on their mothers’ consumption practices, such as purchases of fashion items or everyday shopping (Gavish et al., 2010 and Ruvio et al., 2012). Our study takes a closer look at the influence of adolescent daughters on their mothers’ consumption behavior by focusing on the mothers’ point of view. We take a social comparison approach in order to investigate the motivation behind the mothers’ tendencies to engage in consumption practices with their adolescent daughters. Social comparison has been an important concept in the study of how consumers compare themselves to a desirable standard and formulate a self-evaluation (Wills and Suls, 1991). Originally proposed by Festinger (1954), this literature suggests that social comparison occurs when the other person is constructed as part of the self (Gardner et al., 2002). Given that adolescent daughters are considered the most immediate layer of their mothers’ extended self (Kimura and Sakashita, 2010), they may be significant comparison targets for mothers. Whereas extant studies focus on social comparisons with vicarious role models (Martin and Gentry, 1997 and Richins, 1991) or with direct models during adolescence (Chan, 2008), surprisingly little attention has been devoted to mothers’ social comparison with their adolescent daughters. Our basic premise is that mothers’ evaluations of retailing are an output of a social comparison process with co-oriented adolescent daughters. Specifically, we propose that shopping with adolescent daughters provides mothers with information and normative standards by which mothers may evaluate retailing phenomena. This social comparison process with the adolescent daughter, then, shapes the construction of retailing attitudes and behaviors. Of all the transitions that occur in life, a daughter entering adolescence is a significant event in a mother’s life. For the mother, the daughter’s adolescent years represent a period of ambiguity and uncertainty, which may lead the mother to redefine her relationships (shared identity) and, as a result, redefine her own personal identity (Decoopman et al., 2010). This study examines how two variables associated with the development of personal and relational identities – mothers’ self-esteem and mothers’ relational proximity to their adolescent daughters – combine to favor the process of mothers’ comparing themselves socially with their adolescent daughters. In addition, these two variables may help explain the mothers’ consumption practices. Given that clothing express one’s self-image and relationship to others (Piacentini, 2010), this study focuses on the consumption of clothing. This article proceeds as follows. Section 2 builds on co shopping literature and social comparison theory within the field of retailing to describe the theoretical framework and hypotheses. 3 and 4 detail the method and results of a study conducted among the mothers of 423 adolescent girls to test the hypotheses. Finally, the discussion provides practical guidelines for managers who want to target their marketing toward the mothers of adolescent girls.

There is no doubt that having an adolescent daughter effects the mother consumption behavior (Decoopman et al., 2010 and Ruvio et al., 2012). In this study we took a social comparison perspective and demonstrated that adolescent daughters can serve as significant comparison targets for the mother, which ultimately affects her consumption behaviors. In addition, we showed that two main determinants related to identity affect the mother’s social comparison orientation: self-esteem (which is related to individual identity) and relational proximity to their adolescent daughters (which is related to the emergence of relational identity). Finally, we found that the mothers’ social comparison orientation affects their consumption behaviors: their inclination to engage in clothing co-consumption practices with their adolescent daughters and their inclination to change their clothing styles, brands and stores. As such, our findings revealed the existence of the mothers’ social comparison orientation as a mediator of the relationships previously described. 5.1. Social comparison: A central mechanism underlying mothers’ co-consumption practices with their adolescent daughters From a theoretical perspective, this paper contributes to the retailer literature by showing that a mother’s inclination to compare herself with her adolescent daughter is a major motivator for engaging in clothing co-consumption practices and modifying the mother’s clothing consumption behaviors. An interesting challenge for retailers is to respond to the existence of inter-generational practices between mothers and adolescent daughters with regard to clothing. Retailers should look at their clothing brands from the inter-generational standpoint by providing unique offerings intended for mothers and adolescent daughters. We also recommend that retailers create collective loyalty programs that incorporate the mother and her adolescent daughter in one account. The development of commercial friendships in promoting loyalty can offer insights into strengthening the relationships with brands (Schau et al., 2009). Moreover, retailers can position clothing consumption as an activity that the mother and her adolescent daughter engage in as a couple by designing campaigns communicating the idea that such sharing may enable mothers to develop and maintain a relational identity with their adolescent daughters. Marketers should even turn to viral marketing on Internet sites such as Facebook to enable mothers to remain constantly virtually connected with their daughter. In terms of store design, retailers should be encouraged to open clothing stores or departments specifically set aside for mothers and their adolescent daughters in order to enable them to interact and shop together. Such departments might include a photography area in which mothers and adolescent daughters could take pictures of themselves in new lines of clothing. Such pictures can immortalize a special, unique and precious moment of sharing spent together. For those marketers targeting adolescent girls’ mothers, this research clearly points out the need to understand how adolescent girls can be fashion initiators for their mothers. As this study shows, beyond discovering new clothing brands or stores, mothers may modify their preferences toward brands and stores based on advice from their daughters. Marketers should take into account that the presence of adolescent daughters may have a strong impact on a mother’s consumption behaviors including the brands they consider buying. Mothers may choose particular brands because both they and their daughters see them as acceptable. Our findings can help fashion brand managers better understand the evolution of a woman’s consideration set when she has face to her adolescent daughter. 5.2. The importance of the interplay of individual and social motives to target mother consumers According to Epp and Price (2011), many companies fall short of what customer networks envision primarily because they focus on individual motives as the central organizing framework for segmentation, which can and does undermine a focus on social motives. Our findings imply a shift in managerial thinking from an individual to a more social perspective. In line with Epp and Price’s (2011) results, we recognize the importance of understanding both personal and relational identities when it comes to serving the consumer needs of mothers. Whereas personal identity is derived from an individual sense of self (Brewer, 1991), relational identity is operationalized in this study as the extent to which mothers perceive themselves as being close to their adolescent daughters by sharing intimate and privileged moments together. Our findings suggest that mothers’ personal (e.g., self-esteem) and relational identities (e.g., relational proximity to their adolescent daughters) coexist and affect clothing consumption practices through social comparison processes. Therefore, efforts should be made to satisfy the mothers’ need to develop close relationships with their adolescent daughters. For instance, their communication campaign may highlight the importance of everyday interactions between mothers and adolescent daughters, which are the basis of relational identity (Epp and Price, 2008). Everyday interactions may include mundane clothing consumption situations such as sharing clothes, shopping together or exchanging information on clothes. We also encourage fashion companies to develop the mother–daughter concept in all directions (e.g., mother–daughter team tournaments, cooking and writing competitions …). Marketers should also stress how mothers can redefine their personal identity by selecting a particular clothing product. 5.3. Limitations and future research As with any study, there are some limitations in the current research that offer opportunities for further investigation. First, our research focused on one source of information: the adolescent daughter’s mother. Future research should take into consideration responses from both the mother and the adolescent daughter to assess the extent to which they agree or disagree on the structure of the relationships and their mutual influence on the consumption behaviors arising from the findings reported here. Moreover, for more generalized findings, it may be necessary for researchers to extend this study to other small family groups such as father–adolescent son, brother–sister and even the mother–daughter–grandmother trio. Given that mothers and adolescent daughters develop specific relationships, it would be fruitful to know if similar identity mechanisms emerge for these other family sub-groups. Second, this study was limited to one product category, clothing. Although clothing is particularly relevant to the study of adolescent girls’ mothers because it is tied to the construction of individual and relational identities (Piacentini, 2010), additional research should attempt to extend our findings to other product fields (e.g., cooking or sports) and thereby improve the generalizability of the results. Third, our study is restricted to one country, which raises another generalizability issue. More data need to be collected in other countries to understand the nature of the mother–adolescent daughter relationship. For instance, previous psychological research suggests that the definition of a mother’s closeness with her daughter may differ across cultures (Boyd, 1989) and may be reflected in clothing consumption behaviors. According to Belk (2010), given that sharing is part of culture, sharing may differ across cultures according to different emphases on the extended family and the degree of individualism. All of these issues offer rich avenues for further research.