ABSTRACT
Socialization is a psychological process that determines the behaviour of a person. It has been described as the process by which individuals are able to acquire knowledge, dispositions and skills, thus enabling them to participate in groups and the society (Brim, 1966). In past research, Ward (1974) investigated the customer behaviour of young people through the conceptual framework of socialization. As per John (1999), the research on behaviour of adolescents prospered in the 1970s, although researchers have been interested in it from 1950. In 1974, Ward highlighted the need for socialization of adolescents into the customer role. Customer socialization is the process in which an adolescent learns knowledge, values and skills related to customer behaviour due to interaction with socialization agents such as parents, media, school and fellows (Shim and Gehrt, 1996). Ward (1974) defined customer socialization as “the process by which young people acquire knowledge, values and skills necessary for their functioning as customers in the marketplace”.
