Journal of Business Research 63 (2010) 1342–1348

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Business Research

Adolescent consumption autonomy: A cross-cultural examination
Kay M. Palan a,⁎, Elodie Gentina b,d, Isabelle Muratore c a b c d Iowa State University, College of Business, 2200 Gerdin Business Building, Ames, Iowa 50011-1350, United States Univ Lille Nord de France, F-59000 Lille, France University of Montpellier 2, France LSMRC, France

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Adolescents are an important market segment globally not only for their spending power as adolescents but also for their future spending power as adults. One variable that impacts current and future spending power is the degree to which adolescents are autonomous consumers. This study reports on depth interviews conducted with adolescent girls in France and the United States for the purpose of identifying dimensions of adolescent consumption autonomy based on adolescents' perceptions. Four dimensions of adolescent consumption autonomy are identified, including attitudinal, emotional, functional and financial. Similarities and differences between the two cultures are discussed, and implications for marketing and future research are identified. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 5 May 2009 Accepted 4 January 2010 Keywords: Adolescent consumers Consumption autonomy Cross-cultural Shopping

1. Introduction Many marketers have recognized the benefit of targeting teens and their large discretionary spending power (Quart, 2003). But another important aspect of adolescent consumers is that the teenage years represent a developmental stage in which teens are achieving autonomy (Noom et al., 2001) not only as individuals transitioning to adulthood but also as consumers learning how to navigate the contours of the global market by themselves. Thus, autonomy, which can be defined as being independent or self-governing (Spear and