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The purpose of this paper is to revitalize consumer socialization as a topic of study by presenting a critical review of the concept. The aim is to advance our current understanding of conceptual issues and to outline issues and directions for future research. Consumer socialization can be better understood by studying its multidisciplinary roots and by critically reviewing its definition and meanings. It is suggested that the scope of consumer socialization be expanded to encompass life-long consumer socialization, different life events and spheres of consumption, dialogs, negotiations, and translations, as well as the socio-cultural context in which socialization occurs. In order to capture the complexity of consumer socialization and to maintain the field of consumer socialization as a vital research area, there is a need to rethink both the theories and the methods used. Researchers are encouraged to expand the use of socio-cultural theories and ethnographic methods. Interdisciplinary research is also recommended, allowing a multifaceted pluralism in the study of consumer socialization.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between financial socialisation experiences, socio-economic factors, demographic characteristics and the financial knowledge of first year undergraduate students.

Using a questionnaire, data were collected from a sample of 450 first year university students from both private and public universities. A multivariate regression method was adopted to examine the influence of financial socialisation among respondents of different ethnic groups and their social backgrounds on the individual's financial knowledge.

The findings indicate that: firstly, financial knowledge is low among first-year university students in Sarawak. Secondly, male respondents outperform female counterparts in terms of financial knowledge. Thirdly, parental financial socialisation remains the main source of financial knowledge among the students. Fourthly, there are significant differences in financial knowledge across ethnic groups.

It is paramount to implement financial education programmes to elevate the financial literacy for both youth and parents since parents remain the primary source of financial socialisation for young adults.

The study suggests that financial knowledge varies according to gender and ethnicity. Hence, financial education programmes should be designed to accommodate the differences between groups based on ethnicity and gender to achieve the best outcome.

This is the first study that draws a representative sample of university students in Sarawak that examines the effects of ethnicity, gender and parental financial socialisation on financial knowledge among first year university students.

Several hundred German parents completed a questionnaire to assess their attitudes towards pocket money and economic socialisation. In addition trait competitiveness and occupational stress were measured. Demographic variables were less predictive of competitiveness compared to psychological/attitudinal factors. The more competitive oriented parents displayed a distinct monetary attitude profile: they were less liberal, more structured and budget‐oriented. They used money significantly more as a reinforcer for educational purposes, e.g. educational or scholarly success, and as an instrument to teach autonomy. Subjectively perceived occupational stress was determined by diverse socio‐demographic variables, although the stress‐demographic relationship was moderated by gender. Older fathers and men from a poor social‐economic background (as children) tended to show greater job‐related stress. Conversely, mothers from “superior” SES, with more siblings, and fewer children of their own, reported more occupational stress.

The consumer competence concept is loaded with ambiguity in the academic as well as in the public use of the term. The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept theoretically and empirically.

Consumer socialization theories were compared and combined for the theoretical background, and a mixed‐methods methodology was applied for the empirical part. The study included young adults aged 18‐25, who had recently established their first household. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used to explore the way in which young consumers establish their first household, particularly with respect to how new, complex buying decisions are managed.

Guidance from family and friends was found to be of major significance as regards complex consumer decisions made in the transition period from home to first household. The young adults did not display very high levels of consumer competence in actual consumption decisions, however, more competent approaches were reported when respondents were faced with hypothetical purchase situations. The young consumers' own understanding of what consumer competence requires showed some degree of correspondence with traditional notions of “desirable consumer socialization,” but also added a fundamental consumer competence to the list: to carefully consider one's need to make a purchase.

The study included only a certain segment of young consumers. Future studies of consumer competence may include consumers of other age groups, consumers at different transitional life stages, or consumers with other cultural backgrounds to make comparative studies of the consumer competence of different segments of the population and across nations.

The study highlights a concept of importance to both consumers and marketers, which has previously been largely overlooked or only implicitly referred to.

Examines how French teenagers have reacted to the replacement of France’s national currency by the euro, comparing their attitudes six months before the change with those afterwards. Aims to show how a new social representation is built up from individual attitudes shared by many, referring to the work of Durkheim, Moscovici, and more recent theoretical approaches. Concludes that the introduction of the euro in France and simultaneously in 11 other member countries of the European Union has produced a much wider feeling of territoriality, a change in socialisation which appears as a European feeling of belonging.

The authors use experiential learning theories to examine college students’ acquisition of tax knowledge and tax literacy. Tax knowledge is important because taxation affects virtually all adults, college students are often employed and subject to individual taxation, and understanding taxation and tax planning has both current and future implications for individuals’ financial well-being. Further, taxation is a key policy issue, and college student voters have the potential to impact tax policy choices. The results of this study show that real-world experiences improve college students’ understanding of tax concepts; this relationship holds for overall understanding and for understanding both current tax issues and tax issues that will have an impact in the future. The authors predict and find that a student’s socioeconomic status is positively related to understanding of tax concepts. The authors also find that the level of understanding of tax concepts is still limited; many students do not have a strong knowledge of tax concepts. The relatively low levels of understanding may have implications for structuring college curricula to improve tax literacy.

This study aims to focus on the possibility of promoting saving behaviors in children by activating a future time perspective (TP) in their thinking.

An experimental study of 8- to 11-year-old children (N = 212) was conducted in which future and present hedonistic TPs were induced.

The results suggest that inducing a future TP can modify children’s financial behavior, making them more inclined to save their money. However, the induction of a present hedonistic TP had no significant effect on children’s financial decisions.

This study improves current theoretical knowledge concerning the effectiveness of psychological interventions in fostering saving behaviors in children and answers the question posed of how the economically desirable behavior of saving may be enhanced in children. Thus, inducing a future TP in children by showing them the benefits of focusing on the future might constitute a useful means of strengthening children’s saving abilities.

What are children’s responses to storybook characters portrayed as socioeconomically disadvantaged? Do these responses vary by gender, race, socioeconomic status, and setting? Sixty-two 8-year-old-children individually listened and responded to a story about a soup kitchen using two different communication systems: drawings and words. Categories generated from the data were analyzed using chi-square analyses, yielding statistically significant findings for each of the variables of interest. Results offer a unique, detailed picture of the conceptual schemas of 8-year-old children about poverty.