Determinants of college student consumption

Social media is increasingly prevalent in our everyday lives and with so much time spent on social media, it is important to understand how this may influence people’s spending habits. Additionally, college students as a population tend to spend more impulsively than the average adult and it is well documented that materialistic values and credit card usage, two of the vehicles behind spending, also differ between the two groups. While there are many reasons for the differences in consumption, this research will focus on the economic impact of social media on consumer demand and how this is related to college major choice.

Prior research has looked extensively at either social media use or college major choice, but few have combined these two major topics. Looking at the topics separately is interesting and helpful, but this paper will consider whether it is helpful to look at both together to better understand decision making for upcoming generations. More specifically, this paper will address the question of how the consumption patterns of college students differ from the average adult and how the definition and application of materialism, impulse buying, and credit card usage affects the two groups. This will be done through an online survey, consisting of 57 questions, of approximately 200 college students.

Building on previous research, this paper will combine college major choice and social media usage together to look at the effect on consumption patterns. This paper will also look at the consumption pattern differences between college students and the average adult and explain how college students choose specific areas of study, make decisions about how to spend their money, choose a major (one of the most important decisions because of the influence on human capital and future earnings), and how social media impacts all of these choices.