Symbolic consumption in

teenagers’ clothing choices

Received in revised form.

Maria Piacentini
is a lecturer in the Department of Marketing at Lancaster University. The focus of her
research is on consumer behaviour, particularly relating to disadvantaged consumer
groups and shopping behaviour.

Greig Mailer
is a researcher associated with the Department of Marketing at the University of
Strathclyde, and his research interests focus on the symbolic consumption of young
people.

Abstract
The importance of the symbolic properties of goods has been explored in depth among adult
consumers, but there has been less attention given to the symbolic consumption of young
people. This study explores the subject of symbolic consumption with specific reference to
clothing in the teenage market. Thirty-eight young people were interviewed, and age, sex
and social position variations were considered. The results of this study suggest that
conspicuous consumption is relevant for young people, and that they are a group which is
adept at reading the signals represented in clothing choices. The authors found that the
Keywords:
clothes choices made by young people are closely bound to their self-concept, and are used
Symbolic both as a means of self-expression and as a way of judging the people and situations they
consumption, face. Evidence was also found that clothing has a function in role fulfilment, making the
teenagers, self- wearer more confident and capable. Overall, clothing can be viewed as an essential social
concept tool in the lives of teenagers.

INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL and Isherwood (1996) call a ‘live

BACKGROUND
Research context
It is generally accepted by marketing
and consumer researchers that
individuals consume products and
brands for their symbolic properties as
much as for functional benefits (Levy,
1959; Elliott, 1999). Individuals use
products and brands as materials with
which to cultivate and preserve their
identities. Consumer goods are capable
Maria Piacentini
Department of of serving consumers in this way
Marketing, because of the symbolic meaning that is
The Management
School, embedded in them (Belk, 1988;
Lancaster University, Solomon, 1983; Leigh and Gabel, 1992).
Lancaster LA1 4YX,
UK Contained within the symbolism are the
Tel: 01524 592399 messages that an individual may wish
e-mail:
m.piacentini@
to transmit to other socially significant
lancaster.ac.uk people. Goods are part of what Douglas
information system’, and their meaning
is grounded in their social context. For
young people, these symbols are
especially pertinent, as they are often in
stages of uncertainty, gathering material
possessions as a way of establishing
their identity and gaining much-needed
prestige (Belk, 1988). The goal of the
current study is to learn more about the
ways in which young people use
clothes, and to develop an
understanding of why they use these
symbols in this way.
Symbolic consumption
Individuals use consumer goods and
practices in a number of ways. First,
individuals use goods as materials with
which to create, foster and develop their

Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 3, 251–262 #Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838 251
Maria Piacentini and Greig Mailer
identity (Elliott and Wattanasuwan,
1998). Here, the symbolic meaning of
goods is used as an outward expression
of their self-concept and connection to
society (Elliott, 1999). Recent research
into self-concept has focused on the
premise that consumers develop a sense
of who they are over time, through a
long, continuous process of self-
examination and observation.
Thompson (1995) described the self-
concept as a ‘symbolic project’ that is
actively constructed and preserved
through symbolic consumption
behaviour. Individuals can develop a
repertoire of symbolic consumption
objects that can be collectively used in
the construction of self-identity.
The use of goods as symbols for
communicating with other consumers is
related to the use of goods in the
development of self-identity. There is
evidence that people use consumption
as a means of encoding messages to
others through their consumption, and
also for decoding messages from others’
consumption practices (Holman, 1980;
Belk et al., 1982). How successfully these
processes are carried out depends upon
the individual’s knowledge of the codes
involved (McCracken and Roth, 1989).
These messages will be successfully
communicated only if the symbolism in
the offering is socially recognised
(Grubb and Grathwohl, 1967).
The degree of product
conspicuousness also influences the
communication of self-identity
messages through consumption
symbols (Hwan Lee, 1990). Socially
consumed products are utilised most
often in instances of symbolic
consumption (Hyatt, 1992), consumers
being more likely to use products that
are socially visible to others to
communicate their identity (Hwan Lee,
1990). Where there is a high degree of
social visibility, perceived risk is also
high. As product conspicuousness
increases, an individual’s own choices
are more likely to be contingent upon
the consumption choices of socially
252 Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 3, 251–262 #Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838
significant others (Hwan Lee, 1990). In
situations of high perceived social risk
individuals are more likely to anticipate
the likely evaluations of others and
make consumption choices accordingly.
It is therefore important for individuals
to determine how other people in their
social group might interpret the
meanings of certain products and
brands (Ligas and Cotte, 1999).
Individuals can then use the symbolic
content of chosen consumption objects
to reflect their affiliation or connection
to a particular social group (Elliott and
Wattanasuwan, 1998). Similarly, they
might reject certain products on the
basis of their symbolic meanings if they
prove to be incongruent with the
consumption choices of significant
referents (Elliott, 1999). In this way,
symbolic purchasing behaviour also
encompasses aspects of aversive
consumer choice (Hogg, 1998).
A final aspect of consumers’ use of
these symbols encompasses both these
earlier facets of the symbolic use of
consumption to signify social
distinction. According to Bourdieu
(1984), people draw on three different
types of resource (economic, social and
cultural capital) to compete for status,
referred to as symbolic capital (Holt,
1998). Economic capital relates to the
financial resources available to the
individual, while social capital covers
the relationships and social networks
that influence individual behaviour
(Trigg, 2001). Bourdieu (1984) wrote
about ‘cultural capital’ as knowledge
that is accumulated through upbringing
and education, which confers social
status. Cultural capital consists of a set
of ‘socially rare and distinctive tastes,
skills, knowledge and practices’ (Holt,
1998). According to Bourdieu, cultural
capital is the lynchpin of a system of
distinction in which cultural and social
hierarchies correspond and people’s
tastes are predominantly a marker of
class. Although an individual may have
economic capital that can be used to
consume certain brands and products

that may confer social standing, without
the necessary skills associated with high
cultural capital, they will not occupy a
higher social position. Cultural capital is
critical to the communication of social
position through symbolic
consumption.
Young people and consumption
symbolism
When consumers enter new phases of
their lives, or take on new roles, they
tend to be insecure and feel uncertain
about how to behave. Understanding
the important rites of passage in
people’s lives can lead to an improved
understanding of consumer behaviour.
Rites of passage are personal and social
experiences that are partially
constructed through the use of material
objects (Fischer and Gainer, 1993), and
are generally characterised by
separation, transition or reintegration
with former roles (van Gennep, 1960).
As consumers experience these rites of
passage they enter a period of
disequilibrium, and begin to assimilate
a new status and make appropriate role
adaptations (Rosow, 1976; van Gennep,
1960). For consumers in role transition,
there is a reliance on the symbolic
properties of goods to assist them in
performing the desired role (Leigh and
Gabel, 1992). Ambiguity and
uncertainty about their new role leads to
symbolic buying behaviour.
The transition from childhood to
adulthood is a major rite of passage in
all societies, and involves a significant
change in status and behaviour (Hill,
1992). In the absence of initiation rites,
consumption habits take on a greater
role in distinguishing the pre-adult from
the adult (Ozanne, 1992). Young people,
particularly in the West, tend to have a
strong desire to communicate their
maturity and ‘adultness’ to their peers
through their consumption. Gathering
material possessions is a way of
establishing their identity and gaining
much-needed prestige (Belk, 1988),
especially at this time of ‘identity crisis’
Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 3, 251–262 #Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838
Symbolic consumption in teenagers’ clothing choices
for many adolescents. This phenomenon
is not exclusive to young people
immersed in consumer culture. Elliott
and Wattanasuwan (1998) studied the
ways in which young Thai Buddhists
use symbolic consumption in their
construction of self. They found
evidence that these teenagers formed
attachments to material goods in their
endeavours to construct their religious
selves (interestingly, this is contrary to
the central concept of ‘no self’ in this
particular Buddhist sect). Of great
importance in the development of self
and social symbols were social
interactions with others in the religious
sect. Here, the teenagers validated the
symbolic meanings attached to
consumption practices and experiences
through discursive elaboration, ie
through discussion, description and
argument. The communication of
symbolic meaning relies on the shared
knowledge, language and
understanding of others in the
particular social group.
METHODS
The research aimed to discover how
teenagers use the symbolic properties of
clothes and brands, and to develop an
understanding of why they use these
goods in this way. Given the
exploratory nature of the research
questions, a theory-driven qualitative
approach (Smith, 1987) was used.
Clothes are a socially consumed product
category, with strong social norms
affecting individual behaviour. A
number of authors advise that in
research situations where there are
strong social norms surrounding the
subject or when there are a variety of
personal tastes, it is preferable to use
individual interviews for data collection
(Morgan, 1988; Easterby-Smith et al.,
1991). Since both these criteria apply in
the case of fashion choices, the
individual interview was chosen as the
data collection tool.
The sample consisted of teenagers
and the selection criteria for
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Maria Piacentini and Greig Mailer
participation in the study were age,
social class and sex. The study included
two age groups: young teenagers (aged
12–13) and older teenagers (aged 15–
17). Young teenagers, in the transition
from childhood to adolescence, are
known to be insecure about their
appearance and identity, and
preoccupied with issues relating to how
they compare with others (Odlum,
1978). Older teenagers, on the cusp of
adulthood, have additional concerns
related to leaving school and the
responsibilities of entering the adult
world.
The second selection criteria used in
this study was social status. As
discussed earlier, one function of the
consumption of the product symbols is
as an indicator of social position, and
this is something the authors were
interested to explore in this context.
Teenagers were recruited to participate
from two schools in Glasgow: a state
comprehensive school and a fee-paying
school. The comprehensive school was
in a predominantly working class area,
housing families in the C1, C2 and D
social class groupings. The fee-paying
school had pupils attending from a
wide catchment area and, although
scholarships for less privileged children
are available, the majority of the pupils
come from families in the A and B social
groups.
Finally, there is some limited
evidence that boys and girls differ in the
way in which they form their self-
concept. Boys primarily want to achieve
and maintain a high position in a status
hierarchy (the emphasis is on doing,
achievement and success). Girls place
greater emphasis on forming and
preserving relationships and this is the
main impact on their self-esteem (Rose
et al., 1998). Given these differences, it
was thought that there might be
significant differences between the
groups in terms of how they consumed
clothing symbols.
Within the schools, several teachers
took responsibility for recruiting the
254 Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 3, 251–262 #Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838
sample (quota guidelines were given by
researchers), and all participants
volunteered. All children participating
in the study completed written consent
forms. In total, 38 in-depth interviews
were conducted between 22nd January
and 20th February, 2001. Participants
were interviewed in their school, and
were assured of the anonymity and
confidentiality of the interviews. A topic
guide was used, developed from the
literature review and covering the main
themes. These main areas of interest
were noted and sub-divided, a list of
possible questions was identified to
explore each sub-topic and this formed
the basis of the research interview.
During each interview the interviewer
adopted an active listening approach,
reacting and responding to the
particular issues raised. (The second
author conducted all the interviews).
Prompts and probing were used, to
encourage elaboration. Third-person
projective techniques were also used in
an attempt to prompt the participant
into projecting their feelings into the
situation (Proctor, 1997).
For data analysis a systematic coding
via content analysis was used (Morgan,
1988). A coding scheme was created
from the conceptual framework and
research questions stemming from the
literature. This scheme was expanded as
the analysis progressed, with emergent
concepts coded and included (Coolican,
1994). This systematic approach to
coding, combined with an inductive
element, led to a comprehensive coding
scheme, which was context sensitive
(Miles and Huberman, 1994).
RESULTS
The research aimed to discover how
teenagers use the symbolic properties of
clothes and brands. The authors found
that the clothes choices made by young
people are closely bound to their self-
concept, and are used both as a means
of self-expression and as a way of
judging the people and situations they
face. There are a number of aspects to

this, each of which will be looked at in
turn below.
First, clothes act as signals that the
wearer is similar to other people who
wear similar clothes, which is an
important issue when meeting new
people. Throughout the interviews,
participants consistently returned to the
link between clothing symbols and the
personality and interests of individuals,
and the fact that they relied on these
‘stereotypes’ when meeting people for
the first time. In this respect, clothes
have a particular importance when
meeting others and trying to establish
friendships. While nearly all involved in
this study were uncomfortable with the
idea that clothes were the main
determinant when choosing friends,
they did agree that clothing was a good
initial indicator of the personality and
interests of potential friends.
Interviewer: Do you think you pick
your friends on the basis of what they
wear?
Participant: I wouldn’t say I did, I’d
say it was more on personality but in
a way I think that goes with what
they wear. But I wouldn’t say ‘Oh my
goodness, I’m not speaking to her’
because she’s wearing a certain thing.
(Female, 15 years old, comprehensive
school)
Interviewer: Do people at school form
groups on the basis of their tastes,
lifestyles or what they wear?
Participant: Yes, I would say
definitely but I think that lifestyles,
what you wear and tastes all kind of
go together as one. There are people
who like certain bands who dress a
certain way and they all stick
together. There’s the academics and
they tend to stick together. (Female,
17 years old, private school)
In this context, young people use clothes
to identify those who may have
something in common with them.
Clothes are important as they signify
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Symbolic consumption in teenagers’ clothing choices
many different aspects of the character
of the individual wearing them. Musical
taste, social roles, occupation, social
class, lifestyle, group membership, past
times and personality were all cited to a
greater or lesser extent. While there is a
wide variety of factors that influence the
way people dress, music in particular
emerged as an important factor. The
importance of music is unsurprising,
given the central role of music to youth
culture. One boy, who early on in the
discussion stated that he did not choose
friends based on their clothes, agreed
that he did make judgments about
musical taste (which was important to
him) on the basis of clothes.
Interviewer: What would you think
about a new bass guitarist who joined
your band who was wearing a
tracksuit?
Participant: (Laughs) I’d tell him to
go home! You can tell an awful lot
about someone’s taste in music from
what they wear. It may seem as if I’m
generalising here, but the simple fact
of the matter is, I’ve never met
anyone who wears Kappa tracksuits
all the time who is into good music or
could ever play the bass. (Male, 17
years old, private school)
This was a fairly typical position for the
young people in this study to take.
While they would play down the
importance of clothing symbols in
relation to meeting new people, many
conceded later on in the discussion that
these material symbols did occupy a
central role in their social judgments.
Clothes are also used as a way of
signalling that individuals ‘fitted in’ to
the broad social group, as a means of
ensuring that they are wearing clothing
that is socially acceptable to their wider
community, and not just in terms of
their immediate friendship group.
Interviewer: Do you think your
attitudes towards clothes have
changed since first or second year?
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Maria Piacentini and Greig Mailer
Participant: Yes, definitely. I think
back in first or second year you were
more concerned with making an
impression and the way you could do
that was through clothes. You wanted
to conform to what others thought
was nice, rather than what you
yourself wanted.
Interviewer: Why do you think this
has changed?
Participant: I think now you are more
independent and you’re more stable
with what you think and you don’t
feel as influenced by other people.
(Female, 17 years old, private school)
Interviewer: Do you think different
groups of people tend to all wear the
same clothes?
Participant: Yes, I was talking to my
friends about this. There’s the group
of people that are draped in gold, and
they’ve got all the gold bangles and
the gold earrings. I mean I like gold
but not that much of it. And the big
name tags and everything. And
there’s people in ‘joggies’ and
‘trackies’ and then there’s people in
the school uniform who have other
things they wear outside of school.
But there is groups and they’re all
going about with duffle coats, dolly
shoes and draw string bags and me
and my friends just look at them and
think, ‘I’m glad I’m not like them’.
(Female, 12 years old, comprehensive
school)
Within the interviews there was
extensive discussion of the issues
associated with conforming to the
expectations of the wider community,
and the importance of wearing clothes
that were deemed to be acceptable.
Clothes are used as material symbols of
economic, social and cultural role in
society, and evidence was found of
Veblen’s (1899) snob effect and some
use of clothes as a symbol of rejection of
mainstream society.
The use of clothes to indicate
affluence was mainly observed among
256 Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 3, 251–262 #Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838
children at the private school — which
is unsurprising given the typically
higher social and economic status of
their families. There were two strands to
this: first, clothes were used as a way in
which to compete socially, where it was
important to be an ‘early adopter’ of
elite and scarce brands.
Interviewer: You say you play a lot of
football. Why did you buy the boots
you have now?
Participant: I bought my boots
because I loved them and someone
else wore them. Silver Predators, I got
them in Italy and they did cost a lot of
money and I did buy them because
someone else had them.
Interviewer: So who had them?
Participant: Del Piero. He had the
boots. Barthez has them and so does
Beckham. So I thought, ‘they’ll do
me’.
Interviewer: So how do you feel
when you wear them?
Participant: They actually are the
comfiest shoes in the world.
Interviewer: Is comfort more
important than the brand name?
Participant: I think it’s less important.
Even if they weren’t comfortable I’d
still have bought them.
Interviewer: Do they make you more
confident when you’re playing?
Participant: It does in a way. If you
play against someone that you’ve not
played against and they see you with
these boots on they think, ‘he’s going
to be a good player’ and you tend to
get more people watching you or
looking at you. (Male, 17 years old,
private school)
As this quote reveals, consumption of
elite brands demonstrates wealth and
shows commitment to the purpose for
which the brand was purchased (in this
case, football). There is also an
associated ‘halo effect’, where
individuals who are seen as wealthy
and successful are also assumed to be
clever and attractive, and better at

performing their role in a specific
context.
The second aspect of this effect is the
use of clothing to indicate affluence;
however, the private school children
sought to distance themselves from this.
Interviewer: Why do you think some
people want to show off how
expensive their clothes are?
Participant: Some people think that it
shows they have money and that that
makes them a better person.
Interviewer: Would it impress you if
someone came into school with a
brand new pair of expensive trainers
or a top of the range jacket?
Participant: In my opinion, I think it
makes them look quite sad that
they’ve went to all that trouble just to
come to school. (Female, 12 years old,
private school)
Participant: . . . I think there’s an
alternative fashion going on with all
these skate-punks being anti-fashion
and it’s become a fashion itself. I
think that’s very funny. I do try and
shy away from brands and what not,
it’s just advertising how much money
you’ve got, which I don’t think is
necessary. (Male, 17 years old, private
school)
These views suggest respondents’
confidence in their social and economic
position, where they do not believe that
it is necessary to use the material
symbols attached to clothes to
demonstrate their wealth. These are
teenagers in a position where they have
economic capital, but they also have
cultural capital that leads them to
believe that such displays of economic
wealth are distasteful, and
inappropriate for them. A different
picture emerged at the comprehensive
school, where most of the children came
from families in a lower socio-economic
position. Here, there was evidence of a
‘bandwagon effect’, where clothing was
used as a way of keeping up with others
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Symbolic consumption in teenagers’ clothing choices
in the school. Buying branded clothes
was important to demonstrate that they
were not poor. These participants were
aware of the symbolic value of their
clothes and, while unable or unwilling
to purchase the most expensive clothes,
they did look for acceptable and
affordable high-street brands.
Interviewer: Is it important for you to
have branded clothes?
Participant: Not really but I’d prefer
to have it because it makes you mix
in. You don’t want to be any worse
than what your friends have got and
you don’t want to be any better so
you just get the same logos as your
friends just to keep up with them . . . I
wouldn’t want to stand out of the
crowd; I just want to be part of it. I
wouldn’t want to be the big man.
(Male, 15 years old, comprehensive
school)
Interviewer: Why do you think so
many people are into brand names?
Participant: I’m not like that. But I
think it does have an influence on
people. I know from talking to people
that if you say ‘I bought a top from
Matalan’ they go ‘Oh, cheapskate!’.
Interviewer: Do a lot of people pay
more attention to the price than what
it looks like?
Participant: Yes, definitely.
Interviewer: Do you think people are
impressed with expensive clothing?
Participant: Yes. If I do buy
something from a cheaper shop I try
not to tell them (my friends) about it
so that people won’t start slagging*
me off. (Female, 15 years old,
comprehensive school)
*A colloquial term to refer to
continuous teasing, often quite
hurtful.
Buying branded clothes was an
important aspect of conforming to
group norms. The discussion around
this topic showed that it is not
acceptable to these young people to be
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Maria Piacentini and Greig Mailer
wearing cheap clothes. If the choice was
made to wear these clothes, then the
consensual view was that the child
could expect to be teased by the others
in the group, and it was unlikely that
they would ‘fit in’ with the group. In
this context, brands are important as
signals to others of social position, but
this is primarily indicated in terms of
economic capital (ie that child was not
too poor to purchase the latest brands/
clothes). In addition, the brands
signalled product knowledge (ie you
know what brands are acceptable and
fashionable). Buying these branded
goods helped prevent the child from
being the focus of any social
punishment such as bullying or name-
calling.
Finally, clothes were used to enhance
role performance. Careful consideration
was clearly given to clothes in different
situations, dependent on the message
that the individual wished to
communicate. This relates closely to the
different roles that the young people are
performing, and the associated
identities developed to coincide with
those roles. The ‘school disco’, a
separate event occurring at both
schools, exemplifies this. The disco was
an infrequent occurrence, where pupils
had the chance to socialise with each
other, free from the restrictions of school
and its dress code. For some, this was a
fraught time, requiring a great deal of
thought and preparation regarding the
clothing choices made.
Interviewer: Can you think of any
special occasions that you really think
a lot about what you wear?
Participant: If I’m going to a school
disco or anything like that I think, ‘I
better put something nice on’ because
I don’t want people staring at me.
There’s nice girls going to the disco as
well.
Interviewer: Do you want to try and
impress them?
Participant: Yes. (Male, 12 years old,
private school)
258 Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 3, 251–262 #Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838
Participant: A lot of people are going
to see you and if they see you looking
like a complete state then they’re not
going to think a lot of you. (Female, 12
years old, private school)
This new and unfamiliar social situation
presents challenges and those
interviewed emphasised the importance
of clothes in impression management.
Clothes have the dual function of
ensuring that young people are dressed
in a socially acceptable way (often
conforming to the group norms), but
also in marking their individuality in
order that they may be attractive to
others. In more familiar situations, the
symbols are not so important.
The study also provided evidence of
clothing being used to facilitate fluent
role transition. One example is the girl
who felt her clothing tastes change as
her time to start university drew near,
with her attire becoming more
‘studenty’. Clothing was also used to
mark the dissolution of certain life
stages or roles.
Interviewer: What kind of clothes do
you wear? Do you wear sports
clothes?
Participant: I did when I was
younger, wearing trainers, joggies,
sweatshirts, it’s not really me any
more.
Interviewer: What do you mean ‘it’s
not me any more’?
Participant: I don’t know, I can’t say
that they are kids clothes but if I was
going out and I was going to spend
money, I’d rather spend it on a nice
shirt or coat than a football top. My
tastes have changed. It’s the same as
most of my friends. I think as you get
older you tend to wear less sports
clothes unless you’re involved in that
sort of area with your employment or
hobbies. (Male, 17 years old,
comprehensive school)
Participant: I’ve noticed that recently,
because I’m going to uni next year,

I’ve changed the way I dress. I buy
more cheaper things than I used to . . .
I don’t like names showing, it looks
tacky. (Female, 17 years old, private
school).
By adapting the clothing symbols they
consume, teenagers can and do
compensate for the uncertainty that
comes with a role transition. The
symbols are used both internally, to
make the individual more comfortable,
and externally, to tell others who they
are and what group they belong to. The
other main examples of clothes
impacting on role performance come
from sports. For those who were active
in sports, comments were made about
the role of the football strip and club
tracksuit as an aid to performance.
Interviewer: How do you feel when
you have your club uniform on?
Participant: You’ve got to represent
the club. You look smart, you look
like a team. You look the part.
Interviewer: What about the first time
you put it on?
Participant: I felt good. It was the first
time I had put on a strip before and I
felt as if I was part of a team, that I
was actually good at the sport.
Especially if you had new boots, I
always got new boots if I was starting
a team.
Interviewer: Do you think you play
better with new boots on?
Participant: I always thought inside
before the game that I was going to
play better, but it just really depends
on how good you are and how fit you
are. (Male, 16 years old,
comprehensive school)
There were also a few examples where
the participants felt that wearing certain
clothes improved their sporting
performance, for example, wearing the
karate training outfit gi as quoted below.
Interviewer: Do you think that you
perform your moves better with the
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Symbolic consumption in teenagers’ clothing choices
proper outfit on?
Participant: Yes, I think it’s a
psychological thing. When you’re in
normal clothes you don’t feel as
important. It does give you a wee
edge.
Interviewer: Can you think back to
the first time you put it on? How did
you feel?
Participant: Great, I just felt I was
really getting into it, it was a way of
clarifying that I was a karate person.
Whereas before I was just doing it in
my joggies and it didn’t feel as if I
was doing it properly. (Female, 15
years old, comprehensive school)
Wearing her gi had a positive effect on
how successful she was in carrying out
her moves. The outfit also had a
symbolism attached beyond that
relating to performance, where this girl
felt the outfit symbolised to others her
commitment to the sport.
DISCUSSION
This research found that young people
symbolically use clothing in many
different ways. The level of importance
attached to the symbolic qualities of
clothes by each respondent varied,
which affected how they consumed
clothes. Factors such as their knowledge
of clothing codes (McCracken and Roth,
1989), their level of self-monitoring
(Auty and Elliott, 1998) and their
attitudes towards materialism (Browne
and Kaldenberg, 1997) all influenced
this to some extent. Despite the
variations among the sample,
adolescents used clothes as symbols for
many different purposes, and the extent
to which they did this depended on
both the individual and the situation.
Clothing was found to be useful as an
aid for managing first impressions
(Holman, 1980), and acted as a signal
that the wearer is like other people who
wear similar clothes. While some
teenagers were more judgmental than
others, most felt that clothes provided
useful information about a person in
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Maria Piacentini and Greig Mailer
some way or another. Consumer
stereotyping was the term given to this
finding by Hyatt (1992) and many
individuals felt that they were relatively
successful at being able to base their
judgments on this process.
Clothing symbols are also a useful
mechanism for conforming, a theme
which is repeated throughout these
discussions. A key dilemma for an
adolescent is weighing up the costs and
benefits of either conforming to social
norms or expressing individuality. The
findings suggest that ‘fitting in’ with the
peer group is still of great importance to
many adolescents and clothing is used
to symbolise the link between the
individual and the group they wish to
be accepted by. In some cases
displaying the appropriate symbols
shields the insecure teenager from
teasing and name-calling. Equally, by
rejecting the symbols worn and
recognised by the majority, clothing can
be used to express someone’s
individuality. In this study, second-
hand clothing was consumed for its
symbolic qualities in a similar way to
how high-fashion clothing is consumed.
The desired message being transmitted
is very different, however, as often sub-
groups within a school are formed by
like-minded individuals who ironically
conform by not conforming.
Different perspectives also emerged
about the role of clothes in
communication about social position.
For these young people, clothing choices
are clearly distinctive and reflect their
social position, in terms of economic
and cultural capital (as anticipated from
Bourdieu’s (1984) work in this area). It
was found that the participants at the
two schools had quite different
understandings of the role of clothing in
signifying their social position. For
those attending the comprehensive
school there was evidence that clothing
choices were made to demonstrate
economic competence. Buying branded
clothes was important to demonstrate
that they were not poor, and brands
260 Journal of Consumer Behaviour Vol. 3, 3, 251–262 #Henry Stewart Publications 1479-1838
were a useful way of ‘keeping up’ with
others in the school. In contrast, those
participants attending the private school
expressed distaste for heavily branded
clothes, and generally distanced
themselves from such clothes. These
perspectives are the product of social
conditioning, and will be determined by
family, school and neighbourhood,
reflecting the material conditions that
are experienced as a result of one’s
position in society (Allen and Anderson,
1994). Taste in clothing and ways of
dressing are based on distinctions, and
enable people to judge and classify one
another (Holt, 1998). This echoes
Bourdieu’s ideas about the cultural elite,
where ‘aesthetic distancing’ occurs as a
way of marking an elite grouping
(1984). The high aesthetic ideal is
defined as ‘against the popular’ and
informs the tastes and preferences of
those in this group. In the context of the
current study, adopting an ‘anti-brand’
position in their clothing choices (and
therefore not making ‘popular’ clothing
choices), demonstrated the private
school pupils’ higher level of cultural,
rather than economic, capital. There was
evidence of a confidence underpinning
these participants’ tastes and
preferences, learned effortlessly and
unconsciously through their social
world. For the participants in the
comprehensive school (where clothing
as a display of ‘economic capital’ was an
important theme) the emphasis was on
acceptance by peers, and social learning
occurred via friends, through the media
and popular culture.
A final task that clothing is required
to perform is making the wearer feel
more confident, and better equipped to
fulfil certain roles. Wearing certain
clothes can have the psychological effect
of reducing insecurities. Some authors
(Jensen and Ostergaard, 1998) suggest
that the more insecure an individual is
the more conscious they will be
concerning their dress. The findings of
this study suggest that this may be the
case, especially for teenagers.

Respondents from both schools
admitted that they ‘enjoyed’ wearing
branded clothes, and that they benefit in
a private and personal sense rather than
benefiting from the consumption
socially. This was apparent in the
discussions indicating that branded
goods are often preferred even when
others will not see them. Here the
symbols are not only used to
communicate with others but also for
the purposes of conversing with oneself,
to reinforce self-identity or the
‘symbolic self-completion’ (Solomon,
1996), which tends to occur after a role
transition has taken place. Adolescents,
who are in the process of change, are
expected to show these signs and this
was verified by the research.
It is clear that the clothes young
people wear have many functions.
Teenagers are trying to satisfy many
(often conflicting) goals through their
consumption of clothes. This study has
shown how complicated this process
can be and highlights some of the
decisions that have to be weighed up by
the average teenager. The findings also
provide evidence to suggest that there is
a link between clothing and self-
concept. It was difficult to determine
whether people define themselves and
then choose their clothes based on that
definition or whether their clothes and
consumption provide them with a
definition of who they are.
Nevertheless, clothing consumption has
a more significant effect upon the self or
is influenced more by the self than most
product decisions. The findings of this
study illustrate the specific
consumption practices of a particular
group of consumers, and it may be
difficult to extend the findings to other
consumption contexts. Clothing,
however, may be only part of a portfolio
of products that adolescents use to
maximise their role performance.
Although it would be difficult to find a
product that is consumed more
conspicuously than clothing by
adolescents, it may be worthwhile to
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Symbolic consumption in teenagers’ clothing choices
conduct a similar study for mobile
telephones, for example, which have
become a status symbol for many
teenagers in recent years. The same
individuals who use their clothes to
make a statement may use their mobile
telephone and branded food and
beverage products to communicate a
similar message.
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