A lifestyle analysis of young consumers:a study in Italian context

Giuseppe Santisi, Silvia Platania and Zira Hichy

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to identify the life styles of adolescents through a reading of the dimensionswhich are seen in purchasing behavior. The dimensions investigated were: cognitive associations thatadolescents attribute to known and established brands, and the evaluative and emotional attitudestowards the brand, and intentional purchase behavior.

Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in south of Italy (Sicily). The sampleconsisted in 150 participants aged between 15 and 17 (47 Male, 103 Female). The questionnaire wasbased on established scales. Regression linear stepwise, Chi-Squared and T test analysis wasundertaken to test the hypotheses.

Findings – The results showed that there is a good degree of satisfaction towards the use of cash.Therefore, the youths interviewed were able to develop a model on spending and consumption whichcombined personal needs to the financial sphere. The adolescents’ desire to repurchase known andestablished brands is determined by a process of identification the adolescents have with the brand.

Practical implications – The analysis of consumption practices among adolescents can be consideredone of the landmarks aimed at analyzing contemporary society and the universe of youth so as tounderstand and learn how to construct identity, define lifestyles and develop intra and intergenerationalrelations. Consumption, therefore, has become outstandingly striking and obvious in contemporaryculture, as it defines the vision of the world constellated with specific value orientations, behavior,identities, languages and social meanings that emerge through action.

Originality/value – Research proposals are presented which outline theoretical relationships betweenthe socialization and social structural agents and the development of consumption symbolism withadolescents.

Keywords Consumer, Attitude, Identity, Adolescents, Brand, Lifestyles

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

It is universally recognized that today’s consumer makes their own choices on the basis of

unconscious symbolic aspects related to personal history (Solomon et al., 2002). Our

society, in other words, presents itself as a great global in which ‘‘having’’ is more important

than ‘‘being’’. (Fromm et al., 1960). A substantial change has been seen in the relationship

between ‘‘the product’’ and ‘‘the consumer’’, getting to the point where what matters most is

not so much the actual enjoyment that comes from the use of the things you buy, but the

illusory fulfilment that comes from their possession (Hafstrom et al., 2005).

The change of paradigms that were the cornerstones of the modern age has produced a

multiplicity of social identities, where the excess of market opportunities puts the individual in

a position to choose the most appropriate identity model to represent the subject itself. This

allows the model to appear desirable in a multitude of circumstances. The easy accessibility

to the various opportunities of choice, however, is often confusing to the person who, on the

one hand tends to define its own identity, while on the other leads a homologate and

consumption dominant lifestyle. Melucci (1991), in this regard, defines protective mimicry as

PAGE 94 j YOUNG CONSUMERS j VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014, pp. 94-104, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1747-3616 DOI 10.1108/YC-03-2013-00357

Giuseppe Santisi,

Silvia Platania and

Zira Hichy are all based in

the Department of

Educational Sciences,

University of Catania,

Catania, Italy.

Received 28 March 2013Revised 15 July 2013Accepted 27 August 2013

a phenomenon that is characterized by those who tend to conform to on-going trends

(social, cultural, relational), rather than focusing on the exclusively personal definition of their

own life (Simone, 2009). It follows a process of building an individual identity, and the

consequent definition of personality, through the consumption of goods and experiences.

In this process, the dynamics of socialization retain the fundamental function of cognitively

structuring the different pieces of everyday experience in a framed unit. If we look at a young

consumer, he or she gives meaning to material and symbolic resources, values, habits,

lifestyles, and places (physical and virtual), with which it comes in contact with and later

possesses. Loyalty to fashion, having a particular style of expression, and visiting places

and people emerge as signals of building their own vision of the world, and are indicators of

self-image that young people want to convey to the outside world (Mora, 2001; Merico,

2004). About twenty years ago a study on the relationship between adolescents and

consumer items (Frontori, 1992) had already revealed the important meaning that these

particular goods have in adolescence, especially in terms of the construction of new

identities and new representations of reality (Niu et al., 2012). We are in an era where the

demands of self-development make the individual try to seize every possible opportunity

that the world offers and to find more or less stable footholds and meanings and their ever

fluctuating identities. Items clearly play a major part in this game of manipulation that is

reality, that goes from dreams of omnipotence to the reality of their condition.

Teenagers, from the point-of-view of the consumer, lie between two factors; they are

proactive and innovative (to the point where youth tastes are often studied before bringing a

youth product to market), and yet there is the risk of the teenager being overwhelmed by the

desire to consume whatever advertising suggests, following the unfiltered models proposed

by the media (Paltrinieri, 2004). The analysis of consumption practices of adolescents can

therefore be considered one of the keys to analyze contemporary society and universal

youth consumption because it allows a significant enhancement of the way in which

identities are constructed. We define these lifestyles and develop intra-and

inter-generational relationships (Hochschild, 2006; Gunter and Furnham, 1998; Lee,

2009). Consumption thus become a particularly striking and obvious in contemporary

culture (Platania et al., 2012), defining a vision of the world constructed by specific value

orientations, behaviors, identities, languages ??and social meanings that emerge from

social actions (Codeluppi, 2002; Laurent and Kapferer, 1985). The following sections

introduce the relevant literature, methodology, results and discussion, and finally

conclusions, limits and directions for future research.

Relevant literature

Consumer styles

Consumer decision-making styles in literature have a distant origin that dates back to the

first seminal work of Stone (1954). This work, which is equivalent to the cognitive styles in

psychology, is undertaken by Sternberg and Grigorenko in 2000 (Sternberg and

Grigorenko, 2000). Sproles and Kendall (1987, p. 13) define a consumer decision-making

style as ‘‘a mental orientation that characterizes the way of making consumer choices’’. The

vast majority of studies on the consumption patterns of first, Westbrook and Black (1985)

and thereafter Hui et al. (2001) have as their focus the validation and confirmation of the

existence of thinking styles applied to the knowledge of purchase and the segmentation of

consumers within a limited number of groups. As for young consumers in Italy, in 2006 a

study was conducted concerning the attitudes of adolescents towards the universe of

consumption (Marini et al., 2006). The study involved three specific dimensions of analysis:

the orientation of consumption, (i.e. the dichotomy between the function of satisfaction and

gratification inherent in the shopping and savings in favor of a more rational and conscious

consumption), consumer attitudes, (i.e. the propensity for a choice of consumption that

favors the quantity and quality of assets owned and/or purchased). This is contrasted

against the propensity to imitate the behavior of others or, on the contrary, purchasing useful

goods that will be perceived as different from their peers. This is evidence of the ‘‘attitude of

expenditure’’ which ultimately concerns the spending guidelines of adolescents. These are

VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj PAGE 95

twofold; the greater or lesser propensity to save (desire vs savings), and the modalities of

choice (reason/utility vs instinct) of the product bought (Katona, 1962; Marini et al., 2006).

The results of the study led to the construction of three main styles of consumption emerging

among adolescents: the sober, hedonists and selective.

As a result the first work hypothesis is:

H1. Understanding the consumption habits of young people:

H1a. What determines most of the consumer guidelines among young people?

H1b. Prevalent consumption attitudes.

H1c. The buying behavior of young people.

The cognitive associations of consumers: brand equity

Academic research relating to the marketing of brand equity, although heterogeneous, are

essentially due to two main strands (Adams, 1995). One group of authors have the same

definition in terms of ‘‘performance’’ of the brand (Kapferer, 2002). The aim of this strand is to

estimate the economic value of the brand in a financial perspective, accounted for in the

financial statements. A second perspective instead conceptualizes the brand equity in

strategic terms: the focus shifts from the vision of the short-term financial perspective (a

vision of the here and now) to long-term corporate dimensions (vision farsightedness),

relying on variables such as resources and skills. With regard to the latter sense, the

phenomenon is analyzed in reference to the relationships that the company, through certain

brand policies, has established with the consumer, that is to say, through a customer-based

approach (Aaker, 1996). These elements demonstrate the existence of a continuous

relationship between brand and buyer; each of them requires investments to be created

and, if it is not maintained, is destined to decline over time. Hence the need to define two

important issues in the studies on the value of the brand:

1. the factors that make a strong brand; and

2. the factors that allow the building of a strong brand (Keller, 1999).

Shifting the focus on cognitive associations that adolescents attribute to the known and

established brand, we refer to studies that look at the brand as a cognitive tool that inspires

trust, purchase behavior and consumption (Aaker, 1991, 1996, 2001; Keller, 1993, 2001,

2003; Vicari, 1995; Busacca, 2000). For the analysis of the cognitive basis of the consumer’s

buying behavior, which in fact relates to the relationships that the consumer has with the

brand, the main anchor is Keller’s (2001, 2003) CBBE model (customer based brand equity).

The size of reference that Keller uses identifies the value that consumers attach to the brand

and at the same time gives it meaning and identity. Keller develops a model of brand equity

(CBBE) aimed at measuring the areas that are useful to investigate the value that consumers

attach to the brand at the time of purchase, and which will form the basis of the investigation

model in the present research (brand building blocks).

On this basis, Keller (2003) indicates six factors or meaningful dimensions: the salience,

which indicates the ability of the brand to imprint on the memory; performance, which relates

to the performance of the brand, and the image, which is the mode through which the target

perceives the brand. Appraisals are based on opinions that consumers provide about the

brand and develop into further sub-dimensions such as credibility, quality, consideration

and superiority. The other dimensions are the connection to the brand, which is built on the

basis of emotional responses that consumers give the brand, and the resonance, which

focuses on the relationship of identification that the customer has with the brand, and this is

constructed by four further dimensions: loyalty, attachment, and community commitment.

Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:

H2. Identify what are the factors of brand equity that have a cognitive link and greater

with young people who have been interviewed.

PAGE 96 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014

The behavioral intention of purchase: self-regulation of behaviour

A regulation of behavior occurs when people pursue an aim to support their ‘‘regulatory

guidance’’ (Perez et al., 2012). Previous research has shown that the regulation of behavior

increases individuals’ perception that a decision made by them is correct (Higgins, 1997,

2000). Several factors affect the value of a decision. The most common is the perception by

the individual is the perceived outcome of their decision (Abelson and Levi, 1985; Ajzen,

1996; Dawes, 1998). In this direction, an example is the evaluation of the success through a

model used in economics and management that associates a numerical value to each

alternative by defining, in this way, the best choice as the one that maximizes the value of the

result (Shafir et al., 1993). Various researches have shown that the desire for a particular

outcome, as well as the levels of expectation, may be correlated with a series of positive or

negative experiences (Barrel and Neimeyer, 1986; Price and Barrell, 1984). Often people

find the idea of making a decision fascinating, but do not intend to act until ‘‘there is social

pressure or until they feel they can act’’ (Bagozzi, 1999, p. 181).

According to the theory of self-control, attitudes and intentions are linked by the ‘‘desire’’ that

the person has to perform a particular behavior. Although attitudes influence the intention to

act in person, you need a specific emotional component: ‘‘desire’’. The latter, however,

should not be confused with a specific attitude because a characteristic of desire is to strive

for future action; instead attitude implies a reference to the past and the present. In order for

the desire to influence the intention to act on it, not only behavior, attitudes, subjective norms

are necessary, but also the so-called goal efficacy. Goal efficacy is the fundamental

antecedent to all outlets of the decision of man, on which in turn influence the attitude and

behavior control.

This leads to the next hypothesis:

H3. Detect the behavioural intention of purchases by young people towards the brand.

Methodology

Sample and data collection

The research participants were 150 students in the second year of higher education

institutions which were given a two-part questionnaire. 47 (31.3 percent) of the subjects were

male and 103 (68.7 percent) were female and the average age was 16.4 (SD ¼ 0:76). To

detect the knowledge base of buying behavior, young consumers were asked to answer a

total of 64 items that represent the six factors proposed by Keller (2003):

1. Salience (four items; alpha ¼ 0:69).

2. Image (six items, alpha ¼ 0:70).

3. Performance (nine items, alpha ¼ 0:80).

4. Emotions (seven items, alpha ¼ 0:90).

5. Ratings (alpha ¼ 0:94), which is further divided into four sub-dimensions:

B quality (four items, alpha ¼ 0:77),

B credibility (ten items, alpha ¼ 0:88),

B consideration (three items, alpha ¼ 0:84),

B superiority (two items, alpha ¼ 0:88Þ.6. Resonance, (alpha ¼ 0:94) which is divided into four sub-dimensions:

B loyalty (six items, alpha ¼ 0:85),

B attachment (four items, alpha ¼ 0:78),

B community (four items, alpha ¼ 0:88),

B commitment (five items, alpha ¼ 0:85).

VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj PAGE 97

Some examples of these items are:

B ‘‘The people who I admire and respect who use accessories and clothing brands’’ (image

factor); and

B ‘‘Wearing accessories and clothing brands gives me the feeling of being respected by

others’’ factor (emotions factor).

For each item the participants responded on a five-point scale, where 1 means strongly

disagree and 5 strongly agree. The five-point Likert scale was used with the assumption that

the psychometric distances between the categories are equal. To identify the behavioral

bases of purchase behavioral intentions were detected and the variables that influence them

i.e. the sentimental and evaluative attitude (measured through a semantic differential

(Osgood, 1957) that consists of 17 seven-point bipolar couples: ten couples to measure the

evaluative attitude (e.g. reliable-unreliable), and seven pairs to measure the affective

attitude (e.g. fine-despicable). Consumers were asked to express the concept as ‘‘The

Brand is . . . ’’. The alpha for the evaluative attitude is 0.75, while the alpha for the sentimental

attitude is 0.73. (Bagozzi, 1999; Bagozzi, 2002; Bagozzi and Heatherton, 1994).

Social identity

The subjects were asked to indicate the relationship between two identities (‘‘Who buys

known and established brands’’ and ‘‘Themselves’’). By showing their approval on a

seven-point scale (‘‘Widely separated’’ to ‘‘complete overlap’’) (Bergami and Bagozzi,

2000).

Subjective norms

To detect this construct we asked young participants to answer the question ‘‘The most

important people to me approve my decision to buy accessories and clothing brands,’’ on a

four-point scale (from ‘‘completely true for me’’ to ‘‘completely untrue for me ‘‘).

Desire

The amount of the desire was measured by asking the teenage consumers to express an

opinion on a four-point scale (from ‘‘completely true for me’’ to ‘‘completely untrue for me’’)

relating to the affirmation ‘‘I’d buy accessories and clothing brands again’’.

Perceived behavioral control

This variable was measured through the statement ‘‘If I wanted to, it would be easy for me to

buy accessories and clothing brands again.’’ Participants responded on a 4-point scale,

from ‘‘completely true for me’’ to ‘‘completely untrue for me.’’

Finally, in order to detect the consumption patterns and identify adolescent consumer

profiles, the study took into account three specific dimensions:

The orientation of the consumer

This dimension, measured if the orientation of the adolescent consumer we interviewed

leads to a consumption which aims at satisfaction and gratification, or hedonistic, or if it is

kind of rational-utilitarian. To detect this, we asked young participants to make a judgment on

seven items placed in the form of Likert scale from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree).

Examples of items are: ‘‘I’m careful about what I buy, I prefer to save’’ and ‘‘I love to spend

my free time shopping.’’ The alpha of the total scale is equal to 0.67.

The attitude of the consumer

The attitude of the consumer was measured by two pairs of statements ‘‘I’d rather have a few

quality things’’/’’I love to have a lot of objects regardless of their quality’’ and ‘‘I want objects

that my friends and companions also have ‘‘/’’I’m looking for exclusive items that few people

have.’’ For each pair respondents indicate which statement they felt more or less drawn to,

with 1 indicating a positive response and 0 a negative response.

PAGE 98 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014

The attitude of expenditure

The attitude of expenditure was also measured by two pairs of statements where

participants interviewed stated whether they agree with the proposals: ‘‘I save my money’’/’’I

satisfy my buying needs’’ and ‘‘I choose rationally’’/’’I go with my instinct.’’ The responses

were indicated by the value 1 when the statement was responded to positively and the value

0 when it was responded to negatively.

Perceived social status

The perceived social status by adolescents interviewed was measured by the item ‘‘Does

the money available to you (in relation to your parent’s profession) allow you to have what you

think is necessary?’’ Respondents could answer ‘‘yes ‘‘or’’ no ‘‘to the question posed.

Results

With regard to the first hypothesis (H1), i.e. the measurement of the consumption patterns of

adolescents contacted and interviewed by us, it appears that the orientation relative to

consumption (H1a) (Evidence is visible in Figure 1), the item that has the highest average

value is ‘‘Sometimes I let myself go’’. The purchase for these young people should be

primarily rewarding. For those guidelines through the Student’s t test for independent

samples, differences have emerged in perceived social status and gender variables. With

regard to the perceived social status, it is believed that those who answered positively to the

statement ‘‘the money that the family provides enables them to have what they deem

necessary’’ are more careful in purchasing and prefer to save (M ¼ 3:44 SD ¼ 0:985) than

those who think that the money that the parents provide is not sufficient (M ¼ 2:88

SD ¼ 0:641, tð148Þ ¼ 2:33, p , 0:05). The latter instead are happy to spend more than they

can afford (M ¼ 3:25 SD ¼ 1:753) compared to the first (M ¼ 1:95 SD ¼ 7:1, tð148Þ ¼ 2:08,

p , 0:01). Finally, as regards gender, females (M ¼ 2:13 SD ¼ 1:250) prefer to spend their

free time shopping than males do. (M ¼ 1:79 SD ¼ 0:907, tð148Þ ¼ 5:58, p , 0:01).

As for the attitudes of consumption (H1b) there are four profiles that are based on the

cross-evaluating two factors: on the one hand we have the quantity and quality of assets

owned and/or purchased, while on the other we have the behavior of "purchase in respect of

goods which results in a process of imitation-differentiation’’, useful affirmation of their

identity and individuality. From the analysis of the intersection of the variables it is shown that

46.6 percent of participants in the research has an attitude of elitist consumption type,

following a 32.7 percent of young people who fall into the category exhibitionists (see

Table I). In addition, the Chi2 value indicates that there is a significant relationship between

those who want objects that friends and companions also have and those who have a good

disposable household income (x2ð1Þ ¼ 3:86, p , 0:05). The results regarding the attitudes

of expenditure (H1c) result from the intersection of two dimensions: the greater or lesser

propensity to save and the resulting determinant of choice and the attitude towards the

expenditure of rationale or instinct. They show us that young people we interviewed are

mostly content and savers (48 percent). Those who fall into this category reveal that they are

Figure 1 Means of scale orientation consumption

VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj PAGE 99

fully aware of the instrumental value of money. Nevertheless this category is followed by 20.7

percent of consumers who show a selective attitude towards consumer goods (see Table II).

With respect to our second hypothesis (H2), the results of the cognitive associations that

adolescents attribute to the known and established brands (as measured by Keller’s (2001,

2003) CBBE Model, indicate that there is a strong link between the adolescent and the brand

(see Figure 2) because the mean values are not high. The highest average value is given by

the factor ‘‘Performance’’, followed by the salience, quality and superiority. Respondents

indicate that in this way the competitiveness factor is better provided by a well-known and

established brand and this comes mainly from its performance, the ability to imprint on the

minds of the consumer and its quality and superiority. The student’s t for independent

samples showed no statistically significant differences with the gender variable. Males

(M ¼ 2:38 SD ¼ 0:517) felt more strongly than females about the link with the image factor

(M ¼ 2:34 SD ¼ 0:750, tð148Þ ¼ 0:296 p , 0:01). The same goes for emotions (M ¼ 2:10

SD ¼ 0:711, tð148Þ ¼ 0:253 p , 0:01). Females (M ¼ 2:09 SD ¼ 0:818), however, reveal a

significantly greater attachment with the known and established brands in respect to the

males (M ¼ 2:07 SD ¼ 0:530, tð148Þ ¼ 20:016 p , 0:01).

The stepwise linear regression (Barbaranelli, 2003), showed that the variables that influence

the behavioral intention (H3) (see Table III) are as follows: the first variable to enter the

Table I For each pair of sentences, which statement do you feel closer and which further?

Quantity and quality of the goods

Imitation-differentiationI love possessing a lot of

object no matter the qualityI’d rather have few object as long

as they’re high quality

I desire objects that also myfriends and mates possess

Conformists 10 percent Selective imitators 10.7 percent

I search for unique object thatonly few people possess

Show-offs 32.7 percent Elitarians 46.6 percent

Note: n ¼ 150

Table II For each pair of sentences, which statement do you feel closer to you and which

further?

Savings-consumptionRationality-impulse I’m careful to how much I can save I satisfy my desire/needs

I choose rationally Sober 48 percent Selective 20.7 percentI’m driven by impulse Practical 14.7 percent Hedonists 16.6 percent

Note: n ¼ 150

Figure 2 Means of Keller’s factors for young consumers

PAGE 100 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014

equation is our model of social identity (step 1), followed by the desire to buy back the

product (step 2) and perceived behavioral control (step 3). The greater the identification with

the known and consolidated brand, and the desire to buy such products and perceived

control, the greater the intention to buy the product again.

Conclusion, limitations, and implications

The results of the analysis took into account several considerations. With regard to the

cognitive associations that young people have with known and established brands (H2), the

strongest bond is given by the performance characteristics that young people attribute to

them, the positive opinion of the brand and the ability to imprint on the memory and to be

recognized in other contexts (Keller, 2003). With regard to the intention of adolescents to

repurchase known and established brands (H3), this will be provided by the process of

identification that young people establish with the brand, from the desire to develop more

and more the ‘‘belief that they will develop the possibility of whether to execute the behavior

‘‘(Bagozzi, 1999 p. 174). Regarding instead the most relevant hypothesis, namely the

identification of the main profiles of adolescents (H1), this shows that the orientation relative

to the consumption of teenagers likely to indulge themselves, as regards the attitude of

consumption there are two main profiles: the ‘‘elitist’’ and the ‘‘exhibitionist’’. And finally in the

attitude of spending the profile of the consumer revealing a sober judgment against the

family spending is shown to be in line with the profile of the selective consumer. In summary,

the teenagers we interviewed have a propensity to consume. In reference to the lifestyle led

by the young people, we can define on two fronts: on the one hand this study reveals a sober

and pragmatic attitude given by the account of the style of family life and on the other hand

we have the desire to buy quality products, to meet their social needs through the

performance of a selected product and quality (Baudrillard, 1976; Besozzi, 1997). With

regard to the latter aspect, therefore, dynamics and styles emerge that recall socio-cultural

processes that create a far more extensive and complex consumer behavior (Douglas and

Isherwood, 1994; Fazio et al., 1986).

The limitations of the study presented certainly relate to the small number of teenagers we

interviewed that does not allow us to assert if our findings are true within a national context or

if there is an orientation towards the consumption of the type indicated in the results, or if

other indications emerge. In this sense, we intend in the future to overcome this limitation by

expanding the research sample size, involving other Italian regions. It might be interesting to

also introduce other variables of study such as the relationship that adolescents have with

various sectors related to the brand (Keller, 2003), and alongside descriptive studies, case

analysis based on qualitative research methods (projective, visual, etc..), in order to better

understand the phenomenon (Belk, 2013).

The implications of that research paper are related to the analysis of dynamics such as

membership, the construction of identity, the relationship with otherness, the intentional and

reactive behaviors and choices that affect the youth. They refer to the complex link between

the individual and the social context, particularly relevant to the analysis of adolescents and

Table III Stepwise linear regression for young consumers

Intention to repurchase brand by young consumerStep Beta R2 R2 change

1 Social identity 0.52*** 0.27*** –2 Social identity 0.36***

Desire 0.28** 0.31*** 0.05***3 Social identity 0.31***

Desire 0.29**Perceived behavioral control 0.19* 0.34** 0.03**

Notes: * p , 0:05; ** p , 0:01; *** p , 0:001; Betas are standardized coefficients; Dependentvariable: intention

VOL. 15 NO. 1 2014 jYOUNG CONSUMERSj PAGE 101

youth in a phase of growth and maturity, and that, therefore, it is appropriate to investigate

properly (Durvasula et al., 2005; Hafstrom et al., 2005; Santagati, 2006).

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About the authors

Giuseppe Santisi (PhD in Political Science) is Associate Professor of Work andOrganizational Psychology and Personnel Psychology at the Department of EducationalSciences (University of Catania). His research interests include: organizational theory;organizational well-being; consumer behavior and economic process.

Silvia Platania (PhD in Educational Science) is Adjunct Lecturer in Work and OrganizationalPsychology at University of Catania. Her research interests include: consumer behavior andeconomic process, determinants choice of brands, brand identity, organizational climateand professional value.

Zira Hichy obtained the degree in Psychology and the PhD in Social and PersonalityPsychology at the University of Padua. Currently she is Lecturer of Social Psychology at theUniversity of Catania. Her research interests include: determinants of discrimination andprejudice, prejudice reduction, acculturation, methodological and statistical problems ofpsychosocial research, values, consumer behavior, political psychology, and psychology ofreligion. Zira Hichy is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: z.hichy@unict.it

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