Purpose

Despite years of research into consumer socialization, little research examines men’s roles in consumer socialization processes. The purpose of this paper is to attend to this gap and to investigate consumer socialization processes in single-father households.

Design/methodology/approach

To study consumer socialization processes, this paper develops its insights using grounded theory, deploying qualitative data to develop theory. The data include long interviews with both fathers and their children used to understand the processes of consumer socialization.

Findings

This paper finds six socialization processes: entrustment, entrainment, education, emprise, estrangement and elevation. These processes emerge based on different types of household resource gaps or aspects of men’s gender identity.

Research limitations/implications

The main implications are to study the roles played by cultural context and family type in socialization processes. Studies could examine whether the processes uncovered here occur in other family settings, as well as whether they vary based on children’s age and gender.

Practical implications

Household brands, products and services could target resource-scarce households using appeals that portray offerings as a means to develop children’s responsibilities, independence and involvement in household management. Marketers could also use advertising appeals that depict playful product usage and learning situations or more broadly position brands as identity brands making them more appealing to men who are striving to be better fathers.

Originality/value

This paper uniquely identifies a number of previously uncovered consumer socialization processes, as well as factors that influence them.

中文翻译：

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消费者社会化过程：单亲家庭研究

目的

尽管对消费者社会化进行了多年研究，但很少有研究考察男性在消费者社会化过程中的作用。本文的目的是关注这一差距并调查单亲家庭中的消费者社会化过程。

设计/方法/方法

为了研究消费者社会化过程，本文使用扎根理论发展其见解，部署定性数据来发展理论。数据包括对父亲和他们的孩子的长时间访谈，用于了解消费者社会化的过程。

发现

本文发现了六个社会化过程：委托、夹带、教育、创业、疏远和提升。这些过程是基于不同类型的家庭资源差距或男性性别认同的各个方面而出现的。

研究限制/影响

主要意义是研究文化背景和家庭类型在社会化过程中的作用。研究可以检查这里揭示的过程是否发生在其他家庭环境中，以及它们是否因儿童的年龄和性别而异。

实际影响

家庭品牌、产品和服务可以针对资源稀缺的家庭，将产品描绘成培养儿童责任感、独立性和参与家庭管理的一种手段。营销人员还可以使用描述有趣的产品使用和学习情况的广告吸引力，或者更广泛地将品牌定位为身份品牌，使它们对努力成为更好父亲的男性更具吸引力。

原创性/价值

本文独特地确定了许多以前未发现的消费者社会化过程，以及影响它们的因素。