Communicating culture: An examination of the buying behaviour of ‘tweenage’ girls and the key societal communicating factors influencing the buying process of fashion clothing

AbstractThis paper examines younger teenage (‘tweenage’) girls' purchasing decisions for fashion clothing and the impact of brands on their behaviour. This group is highly fashion-sensitive. The study utilises purely qualitative methods to explore the role of branding and purchasing influences from the perspective of these young people in order to gain a richer and deeper understanding of their behaviour. The findings, based on four focus groups, show that the key decision factors when buying are parental and peer group approval, together with the fact that purchasing of fashion items is strongly influenced by the brand name and its associations. Further, the findings revealed that the respondents were prepared to pay a premium for a branded product and placed a high emphasis on the product being deemed ‘cool’. The findings provide the basis for further research into older children's and their parents' buying behaviour. In particular, future research will seek to examine the influence of such issues on the complete purchasing process, from problem recognition to post-purchase evaluation in order to ascertain whether age and experience change the buying process and perceptions.