| The purposes of this study were to examine the influences of (1) individual characteristics on consumer skills in shopping for apparel products, (2) socialization processes on consumer skills, (3) social structural and developmental variables on socialization processes, and (4) consumer skills on consumers' satisfaction with their skills. A questionnaire was mailed to 1255 White, non-Hispanic and Hispanic undergraduate students randomly drawn from a large southwestern university. Principal factor analysis was performed on the consumer skills and socialization variables to reveal five factors each. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to test each of the hypotheses Results indicated that selected individual characteristics of the respondents had a direct influence on socialization processes, which in turn, influenced consumer skills. Several social structural and developmental variables appeared to indirectly influence consumer skills variables via the socialization processes. |
