An Investigation on the Level of Conscious Consumerism of Primary School Students in Terms of Various Variables

Abstract

The purpose of this is study is to analyze the level of conscious consumerism of primary school students. For that purpose, a 19-item scale consisting of three sub-dimensions was developed. In order to test conduct validity and reliability, the scale was administered on 113 students studying in Sakarya. In accordance with the data obtained, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted for construct validity purposes. The scale with a Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient of .77 accounts for 49.5 of the variance. The sub-dimensions of the scale are "consciousness of consumer responsibility", "consciousness of quality" and "consciousness of budget-price". The fit index values which obtained from confirmatory factor analysis showed that the three-dimensional level of conscious consumerism scale fit well. The scale was administered on 473 4(th) grade students-223 females and 250 males- who studied in Sakarya during the educational year of 2009-2010. The study concluded that there were meaningful differences in consciousness of consumer responsibility, consciousness of quality and the whole scale depending on the educational status of mothers. Results were discussed in light of literature and some suggestions were given for further studies.