Identity Theft

Mothers are more influenced by their daughters’ consumer behavior than vice versa, says a Temple University Fox School of Business study examining shopping habits and bi-directional mother/daughter influence. Researchers found that while daughters may be influenced by their moms, moms are much more likely to emulate their teenage daughters’ choices, a dynamic researchers call the “consumer doppelganger effect.”

The study was conducted via questionnaire, and sampled 343 mother-daughter pairs, with 44 as the average maternal age and 16 the average age of the daughters.

Mothers who considered themselves young at heart, fashion-conscious, and deemed their daughters style experts, were most likely to dopplegang their daughters.

Lead study author Ayalla A. Ruvio, PhD, says that this conscious effort to mimic their young counterparts exemplifies how women feel societal pressure to remain looking young.

While the mothers in the study averaged age 44, most reported feeling like they were a decade younger, Ruvio notes, motivating them to project a younger image.

“But how will they do that? They don’t have the time to keep up with the latest trends and fashion,” she explains. “When you're a 40-year-old woman and you most likely to have a full-time job, you have kids and you have a house to take care of. You don’t have the time to monitor what's cool and hip, and you don’t have a private stylist that will guide you.”

Busy moms use their daughters as a “shortcut,” Ruvio contends, to figure out how to dress and style themselves in the current fashions.

Besides the desire to appear young and hip, some experts maintain that there is another issue at stake: appropriate parenting.

“It is just one more example of how moms these days often prefer to see themselves as a friend than as a parent,” says Manhattan-based child and family therapist Laurie Oestreich, L.C.S.W.

“They would rather relinquish the opportunity to be a role model in favor of being a BFF, and clothing style can be used as a great equalizer,” she maintains, adding that this is “problematic on many levels.”

The adolescent years present a more urgent need for mothers to be more disciplinarian than friend, Oestreich adds.

“Daughters need their moms to be the compassionate, but parental figure to whom they can come for advice, but against whom they can also rebel,” she says. “It’s harder to rebel against the person whose shirt you want to borrow.”

Modern times and its amenities also influence this mother/daughter dynamic, as today word about the latest styles and fashions travel faster than ever.

“This effect may be an artifact of how quickly technology and social media are changing the landscape,” says licensed clinical psychologist Ramani Durvasula, PhD.

Members of the younger cohorts seem to constantly be in the know about the hottest things to wear, do, and see—which may make older cohorts feel a greater sense of urgency to stay current, as fashions may be over and done with sooner than ever.

Technology may make “young people far more compelling sources of current trending and information than adults who are often feeling like dinosaurs in a matter of weeks as the new tablet, phone, or social networking site comes up,” Durvasula explains.

Adolescents feel comfortable and confident in this landscape, she notes, which may make them natural leaders in the latest trends—with their parents following their examples.

Like Oestreich, Durvasula cites current parenting trend toward befriending one’s kids as a factor.

“I also wonder about how the parenting landscape has changed with a greater focus on being ‘friends’ with kids and not making the mistakes of a previous generation (for example, our own parents)—for better or worse,” she says.

Peers wield the most powerful decision-making effect for teens, Durvasula adds—“they are already looking to their peers for that guidance.”

As women maintain their health and appearance more vigilantly today, the forever young ideal seems to be more attainable.

“Eternal youth is increasingly becoming the landscape for women in their 40s and 50s,” Durvasula says. “They look fabulous and are trying to stay current, which can get a bit odd and interesting when teen daughters enter the mix, as they will at those ages.”

Ruvio cites actress Demi Moore as an example—“she looks gorgeous and has a younger husband”—and notes that today many women may indeed look and feel ten years younger than their chronological age.

How does this apply to marketers and advertisers who may want to capitalize on these study results?

“Marketers need to understand that when an individual construct their identity they don’t look at product and brands in an isolated way,” Ruvio advises. “They are going after the ‘look.’”

For example, a woman considers the total look when buying a skirt—will it go with the blouse, the shoes, and so on?

“If it doesn’t fit that ‘overall look’ she will not buy it,” Ruvio says. “For that reason, I would strongly suggest marketers always demonstrate to consumers how a certain product relates to a more comprehensive look.”

Regarding age and consumer behavior, Ruvio also recommends that marketers consider how people feel and view themselves, rather than their age as a number. That is, respond to what people consider their internal age.

“Our study shows that people’s consumption behavior is often motivated by their cognitive age (their ‘felt’ age) and not their chronological age,” she explains. “If you are trying to target me as a 44 year-old woman, but I feel 34 years old—you will lose me as a customer. In the same way, the teenage girls [in the study] were 16 years old on average but felt as if they are 22 to 24 years old and wanted to look accordingly.”

Often the desire for a mom to emulate her teen daughter is obvious—anyone who watches Bravo’s Real Housewives knows this dynamic—and it is one that is Ruvio says she observes firsthand. “All you need to do is to look around you the next time you are in the mall and see this phenomenon,” she notes.

But are dads as easily susceptible to this doppelganger effect as their female counterparts? Do they want to emulate their sons?

“‘Consumer doppelganger’ refers to situations were individuals copy/mimic other individuals’ identity,” Ruvio explains. “It is far more profound than simply buying the same products/brands. It’s about wanting to have the same identity. So, I would expect the same behavior with fathers and sons, if the father sees his son as a role model in a domain that interests him.”

What becomes of those who manage to gain that identity effectively? Say, the mom who really does look like she could be her teenage daughter’s sister?

“I would just say that even when you successfully achieve your desired identity, let say—you look 10 years younger and hot, others might resent you for being so successful,” Ruvio warns, adding that Moore was “crucified by the media for being that successful.”

“In other words,” she concludes, “beware of what you wish for.”