British Food Journal

Impact of consumer socialization on soft drink consumption and mediating role of

consumer generational behavior
Faisal Shahzad Jamshed Khan Khattak Mobeen Jamshed Khattak Fahad Shahzad
Article information:
To cite this document:
Faisal Shahzad Jamshed Khan Khattak Mobeen Jamshed Khattak Fahad Shahzad , (2015),"Impact
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

of consumer socialization on soft drink consumption and mediating role of consumer generational
behavior", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 Iss 3 pp. 1205 - 1222
Permanent link to this document:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2013-0219
Downloaded on: 03 November 2015, At: 03:02 (PT)
References: this document contains references to 77 other documents.
To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 623 times since 2015*
Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:
Chih-Ching Teng, Yu-Mei Wang, (2015),"Decisional factors driving organic food consumption:
Generation of consumer purchase intentions", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 Iss 3 pp. 1066-1081
http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-12-2013-0361
Federico Nassivera, Sandro Sillani, (2015),"Consumer perceptions and motivations in choice of
minimally processed vegetables: A case study in Italy", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 Iss 3 pp.
970-986 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-03-2014-0132
Biao Xie, Liyuan Wang, Hao Yang, Yanhua Wang, Mingli Zhang, (2015),"Consumer perceptions
and attitudes of organic food products in Eastern China", British Food Journal, Vol. 117 Iss 3 pp.
1105-1121 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-09-2013-0255

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-
srm:537775 []
For Authors
If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald
for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission
guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information.
About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.com
Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company
manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as
well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and
services.
Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for
digital archive preservation.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

download.
*Related content and download information correct at time of
 The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0007-070X.htm

Impact of consumer socialization Impact of

consumer
on soft drink consumption and socialization
mediating role of consumer
generational behavior 1205
Received 23 August 2013
Faisal Shahzad, Jamshed Khan Khattak and Revised 12 November 2013
Mobeen Jamshed Khattak
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

Accepted 17 December 2013

Department of Management Sciences, Muhammad Ali Jinnah University,

Islamabad, Pakistan, and
Fahad Shahzad
University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how consumers’ socialization influences soft drink
consumption behavior in Pakistan. Since consumer socialization has long been considered but it is
important to understand whether the extent of consumer socialization in terms of soft drink
consumption influences consumer behavior by taking into consideration consumer cohorts.
Design/methodology/approach – The quantitative research is based on consumer survey method
by using Likert scale questionnaire. Convenience sampling technique with a sample size of 637 is used.
Data are analyzed by using cronbach α, ANOVA, correlation and multiple regressions.
Findings – Overall, the findings maintain the impact of consumer socialization on soft drink
consumption. Such influence of consumer socialization through social media, cultural groups and
social groups encourages soft drink socialization behavior. Additionally there is also an evidence of
mediating role of consumer generational behavior in soft drink consumption.
Research limitations/implications – The results of this paper extend knowledge of how consumer
socialization affects soft drink consumption behavior and provide important insights into how
consumer cohorts should be targeted. The Chosen research approach is a limitation of the study.
Practical implications – The results are of value to academic researchers, soft drink industry
practitioners in a way that it will help them to portray marketing and advertising activities by taking
into consideration consumer cohorts behavior.
Social implications – This paper addresses an untapped issue on how cohorts socialization at
different social setting impact on consumer soft drink consumption behavior.
Originality/value – This paper fulfills a recognized need to study soft drink socialization in terms of
cohort’s behavior.
Keywords Consumer behaviour, Culture, Consumption, Social classes, Soft drinks,
Soft drinks industry
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Consumer socialization is a source of influence on drinking behavior and has been
emphasized in socialization theories which stress the primacy of drinking behavior and
socialization and the critical roles of parents and culture (Kim et al., 2011). In addition,
parental and familial dynamics have been described as the major source of cultural British Food Journal
transmission through which particular styles of drinking are learned beside this Vol. 117 No. 3, 2015
pp. 1205-1222
other sources of socialization like social media has gain a lot much attention these © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0007-070X
days and act as catalyst to passed theses social values to other groups members DOI 10.1108/BFJ-08-2013-0219
 BFJ (Nowak et al., 2006). Consumer socialization is a process by which people get
117,3 knowledge, skills and form a specific behavior and attitude through their social
environment. Despite the increasing interest in soft drink socialization, very little
research is available on association of consumer socialization to their drinking
practices (Ponte and Rizzi, 2010; Andreyeva et al., 2011).
The study of consumer socialization has been presented in many ways like in the
1206 cultural context but it lacks the interest of cohorts across the different civilization some
finding suggest that in past days consumer socialization is what they adopt from their
parents but with the passage of time the concept have been changed and young people
adopt socialization other than their parents and that phenomena needs attention of the
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

researchers (Antonacopoulou and Pesqueux, 2010).

Chen (2011) indicated that social networking has gain a lot much attention these
days now consumers can share their interest’s feelings through such types of social
networking sites, this also increase the associations between consumers. A recent series
of longitudinal studies by Nowak et al. (2006) showing that consumer consumption is
associated with their socio economic factors and also explored more frequent behavior
in generational “Y” consumers where they learn values from their parents, peers and
culture as well. The studies described above suggest that soft drink socialization may
be an important antecedent of generational drinking practices but their applicability
with other sources of socialization like social media is unexplored (Kim and Kim, 2010;
Aljukhadar and Senecal, 2011). Consumer consumption relates to the two basic
concepts, theses are hedonic and utilitarian consumption. The consumer hedonic
consumption defines those facets of consumer consumption behavior that relate to the
emotional, multisensory and fantasy-based aspects of the consumer product usage this
research reports findings consistent with other studies reviewed (Henges and
Marczinski, 2012; Hussain et al., 2007).
In sum, the existing literature suggests that soft drink socialization attitudes
and behaviors have strong impact on consumer consumption but reflects major
limitations in terms of consumer cohorts and context differences (Gavin et al., 2011).
Most analyses have not looked at the significance of hedonic and utilitarian consumption.
In addition, almost a little research explored is evident regarding generational difference
in Pakistan.
In view of the considerable research gaps in this area, the present study will examine
the role of consumer socialization in soft drink consumption:
• Is there any difference between cohorts with respect to consumption of soft
drinks?
• How consumer socialization affects the consumer soft drink consumption
behavior?
• To what extent do social media, consumer social groups and consumer cultural
groups (family peers) influence consumer behavior toward the consumption of
soft drinks and what is the relative weighted of these groups?
• Is consumer generational behavior acting as a mediator?
The purpose of this quantitative study is to determine the impact of consumer
socialization on soft drink consumption and knowing the mediating role of consumer
generational behavior and beside this the targeted population will be the consumer’s
cohorts (Gen X, Gen Y and Baby Boomers). People in Pakistan want to socialized
but context of socialization is different in western culture. The study will consider the
 Pakistani consumers drinking behavior in respect of soft drinks consumption in social Impact of
setting and explore those factors which influence their behavior. The results of the consumer
study can be highly helpful for the marketers and practitioners to know more about the
modern consumers’ needs, how they perceive knowledge about these soft drinks and
socialization
how social setting influence their purchase behavior.

2. Literature review 1207

The literature on consumer socialization regarding soft drink consumption emphasizes
on the idea from theory of planned behavior which deals with consumer social
behaviors and its complexities. It is a process where consumer perceived values and
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

behaviors changed continuously as time goes on. This theory covers the consumer’s
attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavior of beliefs (Ajzen, 1991). According to
the Consumer Psychology in behavioral perspective drives from cognitive psychology
most widely-accepted and influential models of consumer behavior prove that
consumers problem solving and decision-making activates are linked with their
intellectual functioning and goal-directed processing of information (Foxall, 1990).
Soft drink consumption has gain lot much interest these days. Soft drink is a
non-alcoholic drink which contains water, sweetener and a flavor. These drinks gives
them a sense of satisfaction and they feel relax after consuming these drinks (Attila and
Çakir, 2011).
Barber et al. (2010) report that most of the consumers consume soft drinks with their
friends, family and their coworkers. Usually they are not regular users of these drinks
but interaction with their fellows makes them a regular user. Consumers find it better
when the take soft drinks with food. Hall (2011) has establish a findings that within a
family consumer consumption patterns are dependent upon the behavior of the parents
and collectively the consumption is associated with utilitarian value of the products
while on the other hand the consumer consumption behavior is not only recognized on
the patterns of pervious findings (Godey et al., 2012; Wesley et al., 2006). Likewise
Uddin (2011) make the case that consumer socio economic factors play a leading role in
the consumption of soft drinks.
Ulas and Arslan (2006) recommends that people use drinks in a group only for the
sake of relaxation. Findings suggest that impulse consumption of soft drinks is
dependent upon inhibitory attributes of the consumers (Kubacki et al., 2011). Song
et al. (2012) proposes that it is often because of healthy aspects of drinks that’s why
consumer used soft drinks. With the prospective of hedonic and utilitarian
consumption of the soft drinks Uddin (2011) reveals that brain responds differently
to the acceptance of different products further research is needed to find out the
sensory factors that contribute to the consumption of soft drinks.
Developing the work of Hall (2011) and Atkin et al. (2007) the consumer buying
behavior has two basis dimensions which are directly or indirectly affected by
consumer physical and physiological factors as explained by Kotler (2009). Extended
level of effort on analyzing the consumer behavior will help to find out more specific
facts about consumer behavior. The level of utility gain by a certain product explains
the utilitarian function and on the other hand the level of pleasure, happiness and
relaxation explain the hedonic values of a product (Cardoso and Pinto, 2010).

2.1 Consumer socialization

The general process of acquiring culture is referred to as socialization (Hall, 2011).
Consumer socialization identifies those factors which influence consumer behavior
 BFJ toward adoption of products and also describes the process by which a consumer
117,3 influences from their society and adopt a certain type of product (Andreyeva
et al., 2011).
McMillan-Capehart (2005) is reported that there is difference in motivations
preferences, ideas and values of the consumers. According to drive reeducation theory
need lead to internal stimuli which result into action and ultimately drive to reduce our
1208 tension and result in satisfied behavior (Hall, 2011). Studies have established a strong
implication of socialization and main results are emerging with the introduction of
socialization practices and implication of its different aspects. This will help to clarify
the importance of socialization (Antonacopoulou and Pesqueux, 2010).
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

Sashi (2012) also make this point that perceived buying unethical behavior lead to a
wrong impact on the buyer and seller relationship and the social interaction between
buyer and seller has a strong impact on buying.
Ali and Lee (2011) noted that consumers are completely rooted in their culture and
their demographic and psychographic roles are different and they pose different
behavior as compared to other cultures, this is what a culture contributes to
affect the consumptions patterns of consumers who are culturally oriented. Likewise
Ritchie et al. (2009) has reported that individualized socialism is more influencing as
compared in group so this indicates some social aspects of individual that may
vary across the cultures. Very limited studies have reported facts and figures
toward people social consumption especially in case of soft drink consumption
(Ritchie et al., 2009; Moore et al., 2002). Consumer socialization can be measured as
particular sets of behavior which are targeted at other members of the social
groups and the degree of response can be measured qualitatively or quantitatively
(Hall, 2011):
H1. Consumer socialization significantly influences soft drink consumption behavior.
2.2 Social media groups
Social media is way to remain in touch with our colleagues and friends and family
members through social networks like face book, twitter and others and its require
social media involvement, personal readiness expected benefits and perceived risks.
These social networks have provided vast range of opportunities to consumer to
satisfy their consumption behavior through social media (Büttner and Grübler, 1995).
Wang et al. (2012) also make this point that people are more engaged through social
media networks. There is much attention from the marketers and research scholars
toward the online brand community (Aljukhadar and Senecal, 2011) likewise Kim et al.
(2011) also report that this is more cost effective way for the marketers. Consumer
socialization through peer communication by social embedded networks and social
media websites has become a most important issue in the marketing concern (Attia
et al., 2011). Chen (2011) maintain the evidence about the young people using social
network behavior and now it is becoming a growing phenomenon to buy online and
sharing ideas via social embedded networks. Some finding suggest about the online
learning that more involvement from the customer side results in more experimental
learning and it creates a social environment which leads to interact with people
which share ideas and feeling (Gounaris et al., 2010; Makagon et al., 2012). There is
dramatically increase in the usage of social media programs which connect them with
each other and it includes people from different origins (Constantinides et al., 2010).
The social media interaction can be measured as distinctive, reproducible patterns
of interaction across different online channels and the role type of the consumers on
 that specific social media can be measured (Chen, 2011). Based on the extant literature Impact of
the following hypothesis can be derived: consumer
H2. Social media group significantly influence soft drink consumption behavior. socialization
2.3 Consumers social groups
Social groups are those groups who have similar type of values and they interact
with each other, have similar characteristics and they collectively form a collective 1209
approach. (Barber et al., 2010). Social role theory says that men and women always
behave differently in any social situation and take different roles (Franke et al., 1997).
Social groups members interact with each other in a collaborative situation and their
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

involvement within that group are not only affected by their own motivation but also
by other social process in which they involve (Weisberg et al., 2011).
Chandrashekaran (2012) observe that most important part of the social groups is
family group. Consumer reference groups play a vital role in the decision making.
In past studies there is strong evidence that the perceived friends’ approval have a
significant impact on the decision making of a customer and these reference groups
help to discover more about customer perceived values in term of consumptions
patterns (Gervilla et al., 2011). Social groups are defined as when an individual engages
in action which explicitly or implicitly indicates his or her behavior in that group who
stands first in taking action among them (Perez et al., 2011):
H3. Social groups significantly influence soft drink consumption behavior.
2.4 Cultural groups
Culture has diverse definition with respect to the context environment like in some
context the culture is a quality of a person that arises in a best outcome in terms of arts
or anything else. It is also a civilization of a certain nations, it is also a culture
which redefines with the development of improvement of the mind by training or
education, it is also principles of any nations or particular social or ethnic group, etc.
(Cleveland et al., 2011).
Balestrini and Gamble (2006) assume that consumer culture has been reshaped now
and is called e- culture. Hall (2011) highlighted the finding that the cultural differences
are limited toward the usage of information about the products. (Kim et al., 2011)
reported findings of some previous studies suggest that consumer cultural values have
a significant impact on the motivation to consume certain products. Their emotions and
cognitions toward certain types of products depends on their cultural values and it
influence individual own perceptions and this form a complaining behavior toward
adoption and consumption of products (Kim and Kim, 2010). Social comparison theory
states that people use a benchmark to compare themselves with other this predict their
behavior, they compare themselves with those who are socially better then and in the
downward comparison the vice versa benchmark is used. There is strong evidence that
culture and consumer socialization has a linkage and that is necessary to be expose this
association, as pervious results have shown that consumer socialization has involved in
few cultures, cross-cultural investigation should be put forward to find out difference
(Kim et al., 2011). Culture is the development of improvement of the mind by training or
education, it is also believes of any nations or particular social or ethnic group when
they compared with other groups (Sankaran and Demangeot, 2011). Based on literature
study put forward the following hypothesis:
H4. Cultural group significantly influence soft drink consumption behavior.
 BFJ 2.5 Consumer generations and their role
117,3 The consumer generation has been defined as the cultural change in the
development of human being and its keep on changing as year passes. The
consumer generation refers to the people who have different age group like (old,
young, male, female). The generations mainly include (Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z and
Baby Boomers). Generation X generally includes people born from the early 1960s
1210 through the early 1980s, Generation Y the most common range reflects births from
1980-1999 and baby boomers are those people who born between 1946 and 1960 and
belongs to the second world war this generation is associated with traditional
values and themselves think as most favorite generation (Roberts, 2012; Roberts
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

and Manolis, 2000).

Ritchie (2011) showed some findings which suggest that consumer’s decision
making in the consumption behavior are likely to be effect with the aging effect.
Generational difference in consumption is closely related to the consumer predicted
values which he or she belongs (Bruwer et al., 2011, 2012). Consumer consumption
behavior is directly influenced by the consumer characteristics especially consumer
age, gender and others. So these factors play a vital role in the decision making
of consumers ( Josiassen et al., 2011). Marketers use segments the cohorts on the
bases of their preferences so that it assist them to target the right segment
(Finkelstein et al., 2003; Josiassen et al., 2011). Studies have put forward the results
that consumer generational behavior affects the relationship between consumer
socialization and drinks consumption and it provide valuable information regarding
the customers to segment them in a group (Fountain and Lamb, 2011; Park et al.,
2011). Consumer wine consumption is very common in the western context and
findings shows that there is specific difference among the males and females
preferences a ( Jones et al., 2011).
Ritchie et al. (2009) refute the findings and reported that there is small study it is
evident that while there are some similarities in behaviors between the differing sample
groups. Jackson et al. (2011) reveals that consumer generational behavior has a strong
impact on consumption and it requires further details to be discussed:
H5. Consumer generational behavior has a mediating effect in the relationship
between consumer socialization and soft drinks consumption behavior
(Figure 1).

Generational
Social Behavior
Media
H5

Social Consumer Soft Drink

Groups Socialization Consumption

Cultural
Groups

Figure 1. H4
Theoretical research H3
model
H2
 3. Methodology Impact of
Mainly inspired by the wine consumer socialization the primary objective of the study consumer
is to understand the effect of consumer socialization on soft drink consumption with the
mediation role of consumer generational behavior in Pakistan. Data for this study come
socialization
from a nationwide survey. A quantitative approach was followed to conduct this study,
as the approach is mostly used to describe the cause and effect relationship between the
variables (Weisberg et al., 2011). And for this sake of the study research design was 1211
developed to target the consumer social groups and their consumption patterns, like
within a family, across the culture with in a social groups, etc. (Cleveland et al., 2011).
In order to address the research questions the data were also gathered by an online
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

survey. Only few researchers have reported the online survey approach (Wang et al.,
2012; Lee and Wohn, 2012; Aljukhadar and Senecal, 2011). The consumer online
tracking was taken place by an online database source named as “GOOGLE DOCS”
where the list of questions was developed. A total of 637 respondents (including
generation X, Y, Z and baby boomers) were sampled from population residing in
Pakistan households. Data were collected throughout Pakistan, but especially in
Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Sargodha and Khushab. As Islamabad is a metropolitan
city and people who are living in Islamabad are belong to different cultures and
representing the whole population of Pakistan. Convenience sampling technique a
non-probabilistic method was used to collect data (Henley et al., 2011). A printed
questionnaire was used to record the responses and the written questions were more
informative and easily understandable for the consumers. A Likert scale questionnaire
was used to record the response where 1 representing strongly disagrees and 5
strongly agree. Statistical software was use to analyze the data. Data were also
pretested to check the validity (Mai et al., 2011; Lingyun et al., 2011). Questionnaire was
distributed personally and collected by the researcher (Chang and Chin, 2011).
The Questionnaire was divided into two major sections. Section 1 includes
demographic details (age, gender, education level and income level). The second section
of questionnaire was subdivided into three sections which include details about
consumption of soft drinks, impact of socialization, and finally the generational
behavior of the consumer on soft drinks consumption. The consumer socialization
behavior was measured by taking 31 items (Chuang et al., 2011; Brunner and Siegrist
(2011), consumption behavior was measured by taking 12 items (Olsen et al., 2006) and
generational changes in consumer behavior was measured by taking by three items.
Data were self-administered. Multiple sources were used to collect the data.
Like online responses were recorded and data was also collected by personal
interaction. The statically tools were used to describe response and their choices of soft
drinks. For inter item reliability final scores the Cronbach α values were determined.
The one way anova was used to understand the difference among different cohorts.
Data were analyzed by using statically packages. Multiple regressions were used for
controlling demographics and presenting the consumers preferences across the period
of time in terms of consuming soft drinks.
To check the association and to know the variance between variables correlation
and regression values were calculated. To understand the mediating role of generational
behavior Baron and Kenny (1986) methodes were used.

4. Results
Cronbach α was carried out to check the inter item consistency of the items. Consumer
generational behavior has five items and its Cronbach’s α value is 0.707 which
 BFJ demonstrated good inter item consistency. Social media groups were measured with 11
117,3 items and its Cronbach’s α value is 0.927 which falls in high acceptable range,
consumer social groups were measured with nine item and it has 0.906 Cronbach’s α
value, consumer cultural group has 0.931 Cronbach’s α value and it has ten items
and, respectively, soft drink consumptions was measured with 12 item and it has
0.737 Cronbach’s α value.
1212 The distribution of respondents with respect to gender showed that 164 (25 percent)
were female’s respondents and 473 (75 percent) males respondents. In terms of soft
drinks consumption styles the distribution of respondents reported that (39.1 percent)
consumer were using Pepsi as their most often consuming drink, (4.6 percent) coca cola,
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

(16.6 percent) dew and remaining (39.7 percent) were using other type of soft drinks.
Consumer social media interaction behavior reveals that consumers are more likely
to use Facebook (39.9 percent) as their best digital social network.
To know the difference among cohorts the demographic data were further divided
into the generations wise details and distribution of respondents with respect to cohort
showed that 23 (3.6 percent) respondents were belong to generation baby boomers,
91 (14.3 percent) gen X consumers, 375 (58.9 percent) gen Y consumers and 148
(23.2 percent) gen Z consumers.
Shapiro-Wilk Test was also used for the normal distribution of the data. This test is
considered as the most appropriate test for the normal distribution of a sample. Before
excluding the outlaying responses the significance level of the test was ( p o 0.05)
which shows the data are deviating from its normal distribution but after excluding
outliers the test was not significant which means the data are normally distributed and
showing a good fit of sample.
The reported value of sample means in Table I is (4.71) and trimmed mean (4.74) of
consumer socialization fall within in a 95 percent confidence interval of 4.6-4.7; this is
the interval within which a real mean is expected to fall. These values are lying between
6 (I agree) and 7 (I strongly agree). The Values of Skewness (S) and Kurtosis (K) for
consumer socialization are 0.413 and 4.36, respectively, which are showing that
approximately symmetric. Soft drinks consumption sample mean is (3.95) and trimmed
mean (3.98) fall within in a 95 percent confidence interval of 3.91-3.99. The values of
Skewness (S) and Kurtosis (K) are −0.957 and 1.57, respectively, which are showing
that data are moderately skewed toward negative side. The consumer generations
behavior sample mean is (3.78) and trimmed mean is (3.81) and the values of Skewness (S)

Consumer socialization Soft drinks consumption Generations

Mean 4.7618 3.9564 3.7884
95% confidence interval
Lower bound 4.6618 3.917 3.7318
Upper bound 4.7719 3.9958 3.845
5% trimmed mean 4.7486 3.985 3.817
Median 4.8333 4 3.8
Variance 0.5 0.256 0.529
SD 0.70714 0.50639 0.72714
Minimum 2.03 1.83 1.4
Maximum 6.27 5 5
Table I. Skewness 0.413 −0.957 −0.394
Descriptive Kurtosis 4.36 1.573 3.75
 and Kurtosis (K) are −0.39 and 3.75, respectively, which is showing that data are Impact of
moderately skewed and the value of kurtosis is 3.75 which is showing distanced from consumer
its mean.
socialization
4.1 Introduction to soft drinks, differences among the cohorts
In an increasingly aggressive and over-supplied soft drink marketplace there is need to
understand and foster an interest in soft drink consumers and for this sake the study
has define the consumers cohorts and to identify the difference among cohorts one way
1213
anova was carried out.
In the Table II mean of soft drinks consumption between the groups of consumer
cohorts was compared. Ideally these subjects are randomly selected from a larger
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

population of subjects.
Results in the Table II reveal that the significance level of difference among cohorts
in terms of soft drink consumption is insignificant ( p W 0.05) which means that cohorts
have no difference in terms of soft drink consumption. However if study considers the
significance value at ( p W 0.10) then difference among cohorts is significant. In multiple
comparison among groups showed that respondents from gen Z and baby boomers has
significant difference in terms of soft drink consumption.

4.2 Correlation analysis

An examination of correlation coefficients for soft drink consumption behavior
respondents’ current drinking patterns showed that all the relationships between
drinking attitudes and behavior and the drinking patterns among cohorts were
statistically significant (Table III).
The results indicates that consumer socialization is significantly correlated with soft
drink consumption (0.562, po0.05), generational behavior has (0.289, po0.05) correlation
with consumer socialization, (0.244, po0.05) with soft drink consumption and showing
significant relationship.

4.3 Regression analysis

The results indicates in Table IV the impact of consumer socialization on the soft drinks
consumption behavior and consumer socialization has a significant impact on soft drinks
consumption and these results are also aligned with the stated hypotheses (Table IV).

Mean Mean Mean Mean

Overall Cohort 1 Cohort 2 Cohort 3 Cohort 4
Variable mean BB Gen X Gen Y Gen Z F Sig.
Soft drink consumption 3.9564 4.1920 3.9780 3.9596 3.8986 2.377 0.069 Table II.
Note: Dependent variable: soft drink consumption One way ANOVAs

Consumer socialization Soft drink consumption Generational behavior

Consumer socialization 1
Soft drink consumption 0.562** 1
Generational behavior 0.289** 0.244** 1 Table III.
Notes: n ¼ 637. p o0.01; p o 0.05**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed) Correlation analysis
 BFJ Significance level is in acceptable range and more further (B ¼ 0.562, p o 0.05) values
117,3 are supporting the hypotheses so on the bases of the given values H1 is accepted and
states that consumers socialization has a positive and significant impact on soft drinks
consumption.

4.4 Mediation analysis

1214 In general terms, a mediator is a variable which carries the effect of predictor and
criterion variable (Baron and Kenny, 1986). Mediating variable acts as a bridge between
independent variable and dependent thus explains the underlying mechanism through
which any independent variable is linked to the dependent variable. How or by what
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

means an independent variable affects a dependent variable (Preacher et al., 2006).

In step 1 of Table V the independent variable is significantly related with dependent
variable where the value of R2 is 0.323 showing the impact of consumer socialization on
soft drink consumption, in the next step the consumer socialization also significantly
correlated with mediating variable which is generational behavior, the generational
behavior is also significantly related with soft drink consumption. To accept the
mediation compare the β values, variance and significance level acquired from results
for condition 1 and results for condition 4. If the values attained from results for
condition 4 are significantly lower than those of results for condition 1, mediation
exists. In Table V the value of R2 decreasing from 0.323 to 0.303 and β value is also

Variables Coefficients t-statistics Sig.

Constant 2.058 18.358 0.000
Consumer socialization 0.562 17.123 0.000
R2 0.323 0.000
F-statistics 293.196 0.000
Table IV. n 637
Regression analysis Notes: Dependent variable: soft drink consumption. Significant at 5 percent level

Variables Coefficients t-statistics Sig.

Step 1 Constant 2.058 18.358 0.000
Consumer socialization 0.562 17.123 0.000
R2 0.323 0.000
F-statistics 293.196 0.000
n 637
Step 2 Consumer socialization 0.289 7.611 0.000
R2 0.084 0.000
F-statistics 57.925 0.000
Step 3 Generational behavior 0.244 6.335 0.000
R2 0.059 0.000
F-statistics 40.128 0.000
Step 4 Consumer socialization 0.536 15.714 0.000
R2 0.303 0.000
F-statistics 40.128 0.000
Table V. R2 change 0.0024 2.599 0.010
Mediation analysis Notes: Dependent variable: soft drink consumption. Significant at 5 percent level
 significantly lower indicating the mediation role of consumer generational behavior. Impact of
This is an indication of partial mediation not full mediation where values of step 1 consumer
reduced to a few level significantly.
socialization
4.5 Sobel mediator test
To find out the mediation effect of a variable (Sobel, 1982) has presented another
method that is called sobel mediation test. 1215
The sobel statistic given in Table VI is 6.87 with an associated p-value of 0.00.
To accept the sobel mediation test the value of test must be greater than+/−1.96
(Sobel, 1982). The given results in table are indicating the mediating role of consumer
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

generational behavior in soft drink socialization.

4.6 Impact of social media, consumer social groups and cultural groups on soft drink
consumption
The results indicate in Table VII showing the impact of social media on the consumer’s
decision making in terms of soft drinks consumption. In Table VII the value of R2 0.072
indicates that social media is creating a variation in soft drink consumption behavior
when they interact with other through online.
Table VII results also indicating the impact of social groups have on soft drinks
consumption. As the β and t-values of social groups are (0.442) and (12.414),
respectively, showing that consumer social groups are causing variation in the soft
drinks consumption behavior. Past studies have also reported the same results
regarding the social groups (Gervilla et al., 2011). The results are also indicating the
positivity of the hypotheses. In Table VII the regression values of cultural groups
showing the significance level in acceptable range and more further (B ¼ 0.441,

t-statistics SE p-value
Sobel test 6.87624105 0.01658581 0.000
Aroian test 6.8653175 0.0166122 0.000 Table VI.
Goodman test 6.88721691 0.01655937 0.000 Sobel test

Independent variables Variables Coefficients t-statistics Sig.

Constant 3.337 37.299 0.000
Social media Social media 0.271 7.093 0.000
R2 0.072 0.000
F-statistics 50.304 0.000
n 637
Social groups Social groups 0.442 12.414 0.000
2
R 0.194 0.000
F-statistics 154.114 0.000
n 637
Culture group Culture group 0.441 12.384 0.000
R2 0.193 0.000
F-statistics 153.355 0.000
n 637 Table VII.
Notes: Dependent variable: soft drink consumption. Significant at 5 percent level Regression analysis
 BFJ p o 0.05) values are supporting the hypotheses so on the bases of the given
117,3 values the results indicates the impact of consumer cultural groups on soft drink
consumption is significant. Many previous studies have shown a positive finding
regarding the culture and its impact on consumer behavior (Olorunnisola and
Martin, 2013).

1216 5. Findings and discussion

The results of this study point to ethnic differences in consumer cohort’s attitudes and
behavior regarding soft drink use via socialization prospective. This study offers
interesting insights about the consumer soft drink consumption behavior in Pakistan
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

by employing convenience sampling technique our findings are consistent with

the existence evidence based on the socialization behavior of the consumer and
consumption patterns of the consumers. In addition, the more conventional drinking
attitudes and behavior among different cohorts which inculdes consumer social groups,
consumer cultural groups and more importantly social media groups have a strong
reason in the consumption of soft drinks, which is consistant with exiting literature
(Gervilla et al., 2011).
The results of this study support the idea that consumer cohort’s attitude and soft
drink consumption frequency represent distinct aspects of drinking socialization which
affect cohort’s consumption behavior. This finding contradicts the assumption that there
is a significant difference among cohorts in terms of soft drink socialization. This is
an unusual outcome in research on consumer drinking (Henley et al., 2011; Rault, 2012).
The results of the study reveal a significant impact of consumer socialization on soft
drink consumption and beside this the generational behavior of the consumers is found
to be significant mediator even after controlling number of confounding variables.
The results have also shown the positive and significant impact of social media on the
consumer consumption behavior. Consumer behavior is always a dynamic process
which keeps on changing with the passage of time and we cannot say any fixed
statement about the consumer behavior. Among the social media networks the Facebook
is the most significant approach which consumers are sharing for the sake of sharing
information and these findings suggest that more research is required to know consumer
other social media networks and the drinking patterns by using these networks.
There are similarities of several theories to support these arguments as we can see
here the implication of social role theory which argues the social roles of the consumers
and their impact on personality and we have found same findings. Likewise the
Interaction and Interpretation Theory (derived from) of socialization is well associated
with our study where consumer socialization behaviors showing a definite affect on
consumption behavior. The strong association has been found among the generational
Y consumers and Pepsi consumption. These are the most convenience findings in the
Pakistani context as the sample includes the consumers from all over the Pakistan.
The reason why consumers are drinking Pepsi more as compared to other brands is
because of its familiarity and its taste. Consumers behave differently when they were
asked about the consumption of soft drinks. They report that they like to drink because
their family, coworkers, friends and peers drink. Consumers reported that they are
drinking a specific type of soft drink because it is more sophisticated and classy to take
these drinks. In sum, this study has suggested that consumer socialization influences
are independent determinant of the drinking patterns of consumer cohorts. The analyses
have also revealed that social media, social groups and culture influence with variations
in the effects of behavior among different generations.
 6. Conclusion Impact of
Study has found a significant and positive relationship among the consumers in consumer
soft drink socialization. These findings are indicating that consumer soft drink
consumption is dependent upon the consumer socialization which is combination of
socialization
different social and cultural components and the consumer cohort’s behavior also have
a significant mediating role in the relationship.
Alongside the major findings of the study were indicted that most targeted segment 1217
of the soft drink consumption is generational Y consumers because they scored high in
the soft drinking behavior. The research demonstrate that consumer socialization as an
important dimension to the debate and an important factor in the social marketing and
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

consumer behavior study which is always need to be address and the consumer soft
drink socialization and its regulation is also dependent upon the effective utilization of
resources regarding the marketing phenomena. There are various implications of the
findings for practitioners, who target social media users in Pakistan with their
campaigns The findings of the study fed a strong connection between the consumption
rate and influencing behavior from the consumers groups. This study is inspired by
wine consumer socialization and found that consumption of soft drinks is dependent
upon consumer socio economic factors where the role of consumer generation is
significant. Another contribution of the study was bringing about the inspiration
factors for using social media. Where the consumers are very influenced by using the
social media tools and reported the face book as their most preferred social media tool.
Overall, this study contributes to scientific knowledge, to marketing and consumer
socialization, and regulation and as such to society as a whole. This study provides
very valuable information for the marketers to redesign there marketing campaigns
by considering consumer cohorts behavior and consumption behavior in terms of
extended level. There is also a strong implication of consumer cultures on their
consumption patterns; there is strong link between culture and soft drinks consumption.
Furthermore, over the period of time this sttudy can take the form of a longitudinal study,
so that the changes in preferences of consumer cohorts in Pakistan ,the study may be
helpful for the companies which aim to be on social media and can use the results of the
study. The future research could benefit from the introduction of other ethnic groups that
will help to validate the findings of the current study and will put forward other insights
of consumer’s soft drinks consumption. In the coming next there is opportunity for the
researcher to introduce some kind of moderation role of gender behavior in this model
and can extend results of this study. There are some methodological challenges while
conducting research when interacted with cohorts and when collecting data according to
the set details, low response rate and other same issues. The research design also
impacted upon the time and resources.. There is need to know the consumers soft drink
consumption behavior across the some intervals with the same respondent that will
help to validate the results.

References
Ajzen, I. (1991), “The theory of planned behavior”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision
Processes, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 179-211.
Ali, M. and Lee, H. (2011), “The impact of culture and social interaction on weblog design:
a Malaysian case”, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, Vol. 24 No. 5, pp. 406-423.
Aljukhadar, M. and Senecal, S. (2011), “Segmenting the online consumer market”, Marketing
Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 421-435.
 BFJ Andreyeva, T., Kelly, I.R. and Harris, J.L. (2011), “Exposure to food advertising on television:
associations with children’s fast food and soft drink consumption and obesity”, Economics
117,3 & Human Biology, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 221-233.
Antonacopoulou, E.P. and Pesqueux, Y. (2010), “The practice of socialization and the socialization
of practice”, Society and Business Review, Vol. 5 No. 1, pp. 10-21.
Atkin, T., Nowak, L. and Garcia, R. (2007), “Women wine consumers: information search and
1218 retailing implications”, International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 19 No. 4,
pp. 327-339
Attia, A.M., Aziz, N., Friedman, B. and Elhusseiny, M.F. (2011), “Commentary: the impact of social
networking tools on political change in Egypt’s ‘Revolution 2.0’ ”, Electronic Commerce
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

Research and Applications, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 369-374.

Attila, S. and Çakir, B. (2011), “Energy-drink consumption in college students and associated
factors”, Nutrition, Vol. 27 No. 3, pp. 316-322.
Balestrini, P. and Gamble, P. (2006), “Country-of-origin effects on Chinese wine consumers”,
British Food Journal, Vol. 108 No. 5, pp. 396-412.
Barber, N., Taylor, D.C. and Strick, S. (2010), “Selective marketing to environmentally concerned
wine consumers: a case for location, gender and age”, Journal of Consumer Marketing,
Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 64-75.
Baron, R.M. and Kenny, D.A. (1986), “The moderator – mediator variable distinction in social
psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations”, Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 51 No. 6, p. 1173.
Brunner, T.A. and Siegrist, M. (2011), “A consumer-oriented segmentation study in the Swiss
wine market”, British Food Journal, Vol. 113 No. 3, pp. 353-373.
Bruwer, J., Lesschaeve, I. and Campbell, B.L. (2012), “Consumption dynamics and demographics
of Canadian wine consumers: retailing insights from the tasting room channel”, Journal of
Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 45-58.
Bruwer, J., Saliba, A. and Miller, B. (2011), “Consumer behaviour and sensory preference
differences: implications for wine product marketing”, Journal of Consumer Marketing,
Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 5-18.
Büttner, T. and Grübler, A. (1995), “The birth of a ‘green’ generation? Generational dynamics of
resource consumption patterns”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Vol. 50
No. 2, pp. 113-134.
Cardoso, P.R. and Pinto, S.C. (2010), “Hedonic and utilitarian shopping motivations among
Portuguese young adult consumers”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 538-558.
Chandrashekaran, R. (2012), “Consumers’ utilization of reference prices: the moderating
role of involvement”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 21 No. 1,
pp. 53-60.
Chang, C.C. and Chin, Y.C. (2011), “Comparing consumer complaint responses to online and
offline environment”, Internet Research, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 124-137.
Chen, M.F. (2011), “The gender gap in food choice motives as determinants of consumers’
attitudes toward GM foods in Taiwan”, British Food Journal, Vol. 113 No. 6,
pp. 697-709.
Chuang, S.C., Cheng, Y.H. and Hsu, C.H. (2011), “The influence of suggestions of reference groups
in the compromise effect”, Journal of Economic Psychology.
Cleveland, M., Papadopoulos, N. and Laroche, M. (2011), “Identity, demographics, and consumer
behaviors: international market segmentation across product categories”, International
Marketing Review, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 244-266.
 Constantinides, E., Lorenzo-Romero, C. and Gómez, M.A. (2010), “Effects of web experience Impact of
on consumer choice: a multicultural approach”, Internet Research, Vol. 20 No. 2,
pp. 188-209.
consumer
Finkelstein, L.M., Kulas, J.T. and Dages, K.D. (2003), “Age differences in proactive newcomer
socialization
socialization strategies in two populations”, Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 17
No. 4, pp. 473-502.
Fountain, J. and Lamb, C. (2011), “Generation Y as young wine consumers in New Zealand: how 1219
do they differ from generation X?”, International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 23
No. 2, pp. 107-124.
Foxall, G. (1990), Consumer Psychology in Behavioral Perspective, Routledge, New York, NY, 8 pp.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

Franke, G.R., Crown, D.F. and Spake, D.F. (1997), “Gender differences in ethical perceptions of
business practices: a social role theory perspective”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 82
No. 6, p. 920.
Gavin, A.R., Hill, K.G., Hawkins, J.D. and Maas, C. (2011), “The role of maternal early-life and
later-life risk factors on offspring low birth weight: findings from a three-generational
study”, Journal of Adolescent Health, Vol. 49 No. 2, pp. 166-171.
Gervilla, E., Cajal, B. and Palmer, A. (2011), “Quantification of the influence of friends and
antisocial behaviour in adolescent consumption of cannabis using the ZINB model and
data mining”, Addictive behaviors, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 368-374.
Godey, B., Pederzoli, D., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., Chan, P., Oh, H. and Weitz, B. (2012), “Brand and
country-of-origin effect on consumers’ decision to purchase luxury products”, Journal of
Business Research, Vol. 65 No. 10, pp. 1461-1470.
Gounaris, S., Dimitriadis, S. and Stathakopoulos, V. (2010), “An examination of the effects of
service quality and satisfaction on customers’ behavioral intentions in e-shopping”, Journal
of Services Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 142-156.
Hall, S.M. (2011), “Exploring the ‘ethical everyday’: an ethnography of the ethics of family
consumption”, Geoforum, Vol. 42 No. 6, pp. 627-637.
Henges, A.L. and Marczinski, C.A. (2012), “Impulsivity and alcohol consumption in young social
drinkers”, Addictive behaviors, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 217-220.
Henley, N., Raffin, S. and Caemmerer, B. (2011), “The application of marketing principles
to a social marketing campaign”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 29 No. 7,
pp. 697-706.
Hussain, M., Cholette, S. and Castaldi, R. (2007), “Determinants of wine consumption of US
consumers: an econometric analysis”, International Journal of Wine Business Research,
Vol. 19 No. 1, pp. 49-62.
Jackson, V., Stoel, L. and Brantley, A. (2011), “Mall attributes and shopping value: differences by
gender and generational cohort”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 18 No. 1,
pp. 1-9.
Jones, P., Hillier, D. and Comfort, D. (2011), “Shopping for tomorrow: promoting sustainable
consumption within food stores”, British Food Journal, Vol. 113 No. 7, pp. 935-948.
Josiassen, A., Assaf, A.G. and Karpen, I.O. (2011), “Consumer ethnocentrism and willingness to
buy: analyzing the role of three demographic consumer characteristics”, International
Marketing Review, Vol. 28 No. 6, pp. 627-646.
Kim, J.H. and Kim, C. (2010), “E-service quality perceptions: a cross-cultural comparison of
American and Korean consumers”, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 4
No. 3, pp. 257-275.
Kim, W., Di Benedetto, C.A. and Lancioni, R.A. (2011), “The effects of country and gender
differences on consumer innovativeness and decision processes in a highly globalized
 BFJ high-tech product market”, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 23 No. 5,
pp. 714-744.
117,3
Kotler, P. (2009), Marketing Management, Pearson Education.
Kubacki, K., Siemieniako, D. and Rundle-Thiele, S. (2011), “College binge drinking: a new
approach”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 225-233.
Lee, Y.H. and Wohn, D.Y. (2012), “Are there cultural differences in how we play? Examining
1220 cultural effects on playing social network games”, Computers in Human Behavior.
Lingyun, M., Rui, N., Hualong, L. and Xiaohua, L. (2011), “Empirical research of social norms
affecting urban residents low carbon energy consumption behavior”, Energy Procedia,
Vol. 5, pp. 229-234.
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

McMillan-Capehart, A. (2005), “A configurational framework for diversity: socialization and

culture”, Personnel Review, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 488-503.
Mai, E.S., Yang, J. and Chen, H. (2011), “Primary product network size on complementary product
sales: moderating effects of customer characteristics”, International Journal of Retail &
Distribution Management, Vol. 39 No. 11, pp. 851-866.
Makagon, M.M., McCowan, B. and Mench, J.A. (2012), “How can social network analysis
contribute to social behavior research in applied ethology?”, Applied Animal Behavior
Science, Vol. 138 No. 3, pp. 152-161.
Moore, J.N., Raymond, M.A., Mittelstaedt, J.D. and Tanner, J.F. Jr (2002), “Age and consumer
socialization agent influences on adolescents’ sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behavior:
implications for social marketing initiatives and public policy”, Journal of Public Policy &
Marketing, pp. 37-52.
Nowak, L., Thach, L. and Olsen, J.E. (2006), “Wowing the millennials: creating brand equity in the
wine industry”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 15 No. 5, pp. 316-323.
Olorunnisola, A.A. and Martin, B.L. (2013), “Influences of media on social movements:
problematizing hyperbolic inferences about impacts”, Telematics and Informatics, Vol. 30
No. 3, pp. 275-288.
Olsen, J., Thach, L. and Nowak, L. (2006), “Consumer socialization of US wine consumers”.
Park, H., Lim, C.M., Bhardwaj, V. and Kim, Y.K. (2011), “Benefit segmentation of TV home
shoppers”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 39 No. 1,
pp. 7-24.
Perez, M.E., Padgett, D. and Burgers, W. (2011), “Intergenerational influence on brand
preferences”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 5-13.
Ponte, D. and Rizzi, C. (2010), “Understanding socialization practice: factors fostering and
hindering its evolution”, Society and Business Review, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 144-154.
Preacher, K.J., Curran, P.J. and Bauer, D.J. (2006), “Computational tools for probing interactions in
multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis”, Journal of
Educational and Behavioral Statistics, Vol. 31 No. 4, pp. 437-448.
Rault, J.L. (2012), “Friends with benefits: social support and its relevance for farm animal
welfare”, Applied Animal Behavior Science, Vol. 136 No. 1, pp. 1-14.
Ritchie, C. (2011), “Young adult interaction with wine in the UK”, International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 99-114.
Ritchie, C., Ritchie, F. and Ward, R. (2009), “A good night out: alcohol-related behaviours
in young adults”, Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 169-193.
Roberts, J.A. and Manolis, C. (2000), “Baby boomers and busters: an exploratory investigation of
attitudes toward marketing, advertising and consumerism”, Journal of Consumer
Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 6, pp. 481-497.
 Roberts, S. (2012), “Macro-level gender equality and alcohol consumption: a multi-level analysis Impact of
across US States”, Social Science & Medicine, Vol. 75 No. 1, pp. 60-68.
consumer
Sankaran, K. and Demangeot, C. (2011), “On becoming a culturally plural consumer”, Journal of socialization
Consumer Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 7, pp. 540-549.
Sashi, C. (2012), “Customer engagement, buyer-seller relationships, and social media”,
Management Decision, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 5-5.
Sobel, M.E. (1982), “Asymptotic confidence intervals for indirect effects in structural equation 1221
models”, Sociological Methodology, Vol. 13 No. 1982, pp. 290-312.
Song, J., Drennan, J.C. and Andrews, L.M. (2012), “Exploring regional differences in Chinese
consumer acceptance of new mobile technology: a qualitative study”, Australasian
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

Marketing Journal (AMJ), Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 80-88.

Uddin, M.E. (2011), “Relationship between social stress and arrack drinking pattern: a cross-
cultural comparison among Muslim, Hindu, Santal and Oraon arrack drinkers in Rasulpur
of Bangladesh”, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 31 Nos 5/6,
pp. 361-388.
Ulas, D. and Arslan, H.B. (2006), “An empirical investigation of Turkish cola market”, British
Food Journal, Vol. 108 No. 3, pp. 156-168.
Wang, X., Yu, C. and Wei, Y. (2012), “Social media peer communication and impacts on purchase
intentions: a consumer socialization framework”, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 26
No. 4, pp. 198-208.
Weisberg, J., Te’eni, D. and Arman, L. (2011), “Past purchase and intention to purchase in
e-commerce: the mediation of social presence and trust”, Internet Research, Vol. 21 No. 1,
pp. 82-96.
Wesley, S., LeHew, M. and Woodside, A.G. (2006), “Consumer decision-making styles and mall
shopping behavior: building theory using exploratory data analysis and the comparative
method”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 59 No. 5, pp. 535-548.

Further reading
Agnoli, L., Begalli, D. and Capitello, R. (2011), “Generation Y’s perception of wine and
consumption situations in a traditional wine-producing region”, International Journal of
Wine Business Research, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 176-192.
Akturan, A.P.U., Tezcan, A.P.N. and Vignolles, A.P.A. (2011), “Segmenting young adults through
their consumption styles: a cross-cultural study”, Young Consumers: Insight and Ideas for
Responsible Marketers, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 1-1.
Castleberry, S.B. (2002), “The web as an information source for sales recruits: its effectiveness in
aiding anticipatory socialization of salespeople”, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 31
No. 7, pp. 573-579.
Henderson, G.R., Guzmán, F., Huff, L. and Motley, C.M. (2013), “The Ian’s pizza tribe:
reconceptualizing cross-cultural research in the digital age”, Journal of Business Research,
Vol. 66 No. 3, pp. 283-287.
Jones, B.T., Corbin, W. and Fromme, K. (2001), “A review of expectancy theory and alcohol
consumption”, Addiction, Vol. 96 No. 1, pp. 57-72.
Kim, C., Yang, Z. and Lee, H. (2009), “Cultural differences in consumer socialization: a comparison
of Chinese-Canadian and caucasian-Canadian children”, Journal of Business Research,
Vol. 62 No. 10, pp. 955-962.
Rose, G.M., Dalakas, V. and Kropp, F. (2003), “Consumer socialization and parental style across
cultures: findings from Australia, Greece, and India”, Journal of Consumer Psychology,
Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 366-376.
 BFJ Saito, M., Kondo, N., Kondo, K., Ojima, T. and Hirai, H. (2012), “Gender differences on the
impacts of social exclusion on mortality among older Japanese: AGES cohort study”, Social
117,3 Science & Medicine, Vol. 75 No. 5, pp. 940-945.
Xu, K., Guo, X., Li, J., Lau, R.Y. and Liao, S.S. (2012), “Discovering target groups in social
networking sites: an effective method for maximizing joint influential power”, Electronic
Commerce Research and Applications, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 318-334.
1222
Corresponding author
Faisal Shahzad can be contacted at: faisal20shahzad@yahoo.com
Downloaded by UNIVERSITY OF ARID AGRICULTURE At 03:02 03 November 2015 (PT)

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com