Understanding consumption-motivated school bullying: A proposal for an analytical framework, research perspectives, and implications

Abstract

School bullying (SB) is a public health concern with significant sociopsychological risks. Marketing research has rarely directly addressed the role of consumption in its development among children and adolescents. Therefore, the main objective of this article is to provide an analytical framework for the study of SB linked to consumption motives related to the possession of products and brands, together with consumer culture. Thus, SB, its main characteristics, and the different peers’ statuses (bullies, victims, and witnesses) are defined. A review of the existing literature on the consumption behavior of young people provides the background for the development of an analytical framework based on relevant individual and contextual variables that give an insight into consumption-motivated SB. The resulting research perspectives are discussed, together with their implications for marketing researchers, public policies, schools, parents, and businesses that target young people.