Prosocial consumer socialization: how socialization agents impact prosocial attitudes and behavior

Individuals donating to and volunteering with charitable organizations is an important and increasingly necessary aspect of society. Through the use of an online survey of college students from a large southwest university (N= 374), the current body of research utilized consumer socialization theory to examine the influence that four socialization agents (parents, peers, media, and social media) have on individuals’ prosocial attitudes and behavioral intentions. Analysis reveals parents, peers, and social media have a positive influence on volunteer intentions, while only peers influence prosocial attitudes. Additionally, females have more favorable attitudes and volunteer intentions than males and were influenced by peers, media, and social media significantly more than males.