Social Collective Decision-Making among Adolescents: A Review and a Revamp

Abstract

This article revamps the work of Ward and Reingen (1990) to examine adolescent normative behavior in a social collective decision-making group. This is of particular importance as it will enhance an understanding of the youth market both through the social context employed here as well as the social interaction that occurs when adolescent decisions are made. Employing a diachronic qualitative methodology, this research explores collective decisions made by adolescents on a high school prom organizing committee and reveals influencing strategies (e.g., coalition formation, bargaining) as well as approaches to managing conflict and conflict resolution. A model is proposed, which examines the role of both intra- and intercoalition formation and subsequent influence on decision making. Identification of conflict resolution strategies (e.g., yielding, dominating, and disassociation), employed at different stages of preparation for this event, are recognized as having both theoretical and practical marketing managerial implications.