Source: French to English Tester Published on: 2026-04-01
Source: The Conversation – in French– By Salim Azar, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, CY Cergy Paris University
The desire to have the right brands of clothing and sneakers plays an important role during adolescence, and often leads to negotiations between young people and their parents. To what extent are the latter influenced by their own youthful memories in the way they respond to these requests?
France has been trying for several years to better regulate fast fashion. A billadopted in 2024specifically aims to limit the excesses of this industry.
While the debate often focuses on its environmental consequences, it also touches on another ground: that of theyouth. Because, in adolescence, buying a piece of clothing is never quite insignificant. Behind a sweatshirt, a pair of sneakers, or a bag, there are also more complex issues at play in terms of markers of identity and belonging. Choices of branded products are also sources of discussion, even negotiation, between a teenager and their parents.
What place do brands occupy in the lives of teenagers? And what role do parents play in response to these demands? Oneresearchthat we published provides a basis for reflection on these questions.
Highly symbolic role of brands during adolescence
During adolescence, brands are not limited to a simple logo. They also allow teenagers to project a certain image, tobuild their identityand to integrate well into the group. When they do not have the “right” brands, this can lead them to experience some pressure from peers, generating rejection and stress, which can go as far asharassment.
The school environment is particularly conducive to this pressure insofar as the places forinteract with each otherare multiple: cafeteria, hallways, playground, extracurricular places (cinema, cafes…), etc. Moreover, among the topics that can be easily criticized by peers, beyondclothing brandsany consumer item that can beseen and judgedÀ: mobile phone, tablet, backpack, handbag, watch…
The “good brands” to choose or those to avoid are moreover at the heart of many discussions among young people on social networks to which 13-17 year olds areconnected for nearly three hoursper day.
However, teenagers are not completely free in their choice of brands. They need financial help from their parents and must also take their opinions into account. Parents and teenagers will therefore seek toto influence each otherin the way intended by each (bargaining, using emotions…). Parents usually end upto cut throughA: purchase of the desired brand product, categorical refusal, postponement of this purchase, or establishment of an agreement between the two parties (for example, buying it if a teenager brings home good grades several times).
Education on consumption and transmission by parents
When brand requests are made, studies have shown that parents take into account various criteria, such as price, quality, the requested brand, the perceived usefulness of the product, its availability…
Even iftheir influenceevolves during adolescence as peers take up more and more space, parents nevertheless seek to continue their education regarding consumption. Their role is not limited to financing the purchase of these products, but they also aim to encourage their children to reflect on the economic, practical, and ecological aspects of their requests. They pass on benchmarks, such as discerning the intentions of an advertisement and understanding the quality-price ratio.
Our study also shows that this parental education is fed by the memories that parents keep of their own adolescence. According to their interpretation of their own past, some reproduce the educational pattern they experienced when they were younger from their own parents or, on the contrary, refuse it, like this mother participating in the study:
“I suffered from being forced to wear clothes I didn’t like. I don’t want to repeat this situation with my daughters, as long as their requests correspond to the budget.”
Parents are also influenced by their worries, their hopes, or a certain vision of the world of tomorrow that they wish to pass on to their children, like a mother who explains:
“One can spend their life chasing after brands, but the planet will continue its long path of destruction. We cannot keep consuming as before. We must change the discourse, the way we shop. And that, I want to pass on to the girls.”
Train to better manage the issue of acne in adolescence
Faced with the complexity of this educational challenge, training adolescents and parents proves to be a central means.
In terms of public policies, like the hours dedicated to preventionaddictive behaviorssuch as tobacco or to combat theharassmentschool, it would first be a question of introducing awareness hours about brand consumption, to grasp theircreative and strategic challengesas well as to better understand how they are promoted on social networks and other means of communication.
These training hours could start as early as elementary school to raise children’s awareness even before this pivotal phase of adolescence, to better understand self-expression through consumption and to learn to manage peer pressure regarding owned brands. To strengthen such a system, it would also involve supporting parents with conferences aimed at relieving their guilt about their difficulties in educating their adolescents on consumption.
This would also provide a key means to better understand what is at stake behind these demands for brands so that they can transform these moments of potential tension into opportunities for constructive exchanges with their children.
Furthermore, social responsibility also lies with brands targeting teenagers, which must ensure to integrate an ethical approach in their practices with regard to issues related to identity development and the integration of young people, as well as to the balance of parent-child relationships.
The authors do not work for, do not advise, do not hold shares in, do not receive funds from an organization that could benefit from this article, and have declared no affiliations other than their research institution.
–ref. Why brands matter so much during adolescence, and how parents handle these requests https://theconversation.com/why-brands-are-so-important-in-adolescence-and-how-parents-manage-these-requests-277918