THE INFLUENCE OF SOCIALIZATION AGENTS AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES ON BRAND CONSCIOUSNESS

The objective of this study was to investigate how socialization agents—media, parents, and peers—influence on students’ brand consciousness in apparel and influences differ according to students demographic characteristics. Participants were 230 students in second semester, who undertaking Bachelor of Business Administration in Universiti Utara Malaysia. Overall, peers exert the greatest influence. The results by using Pearson correlation coefficients analyses suggested that, the students’ brand consciousness is, significantly correlated to each socialization factor. However, of the media related analysis, only movie viewing shows a significant correlation. The other two have significant correlation with parental influence and peer influence. Moreover, significant differences were found for socializations agents and brand consciousness across gender and ethnicity. Family and consumer educators should consider findings of this study as a guide to give better education to students as consumers.