Psychological Factors of the Issue Essay

Psychological factors include motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and attitudes. These factors are largely unconscious and that a person cannot fully understand his own motivations. People decide based on what h perceives as dictated by his environment that serves as the stimulus and not necessarily that which is real. In marketing, perceptions are more important than reality. Characteristics of Adolescence Adolescence is often a period of stress and conflict, particularly in Western society. The adolescent confronts a host of new, varied and difficult problems of adjustment within a brief period of time. The adolescent attempts to acquire a sense of identity, a sense of who one is and where one is going. Every adolescent wants to be popular. They commonly think, †What can I do to have all the kids at school like me? † â€Å"What can I do to feel I belong to a group? † â€Å"How can I be popular with both girls and boys? † â€Å"What kinds of clothes will make me feel like I am one of them? † Sometimes adolescents go to great lengths to be popular. In some cases, parents go to even greater lengths to try to insulate their adolescents from the rejection and to increase the likelihood that they will be popular. Students show off because it gets attention and makes their peers laugh. Parents set up elaborate parties, buy clothes for their teens and drive adolescents and their friends all over in the hope that their sons and daughters will be popular (Santrock, John). Dr. Riesman in his study of the basic changes taking place in the American characters during the twentieth century (that is, from inner-directed to outer-directed) found that our growing pre-occupation with acts of consumption reflects the change. This pre-occupation, he noted, was particularly intense (and intensively encouraged by product makers). He characterized the children of America as ‘consumer trainees. ’ (Santrock, John). The adolescent confronts a host of new, varied and difficult problems of adjustment within a brief period of time. Physiological changes – rapid body growth, sexual maturity, increases in sex hormones–often precipitate special conflicts and self-doubts. Almost simultaneously, the adolescent is expected to achieve independence from the family, establish satisfying relationships with peers of both sexes, decide on – and prepare for – a set of consistent moral principles to guide decisions and actions. Fashion, therefore, lures the adolescents to try something new and not get stuck with the traditional ways of dressing and doing things. Back then in the 60s, the clothes that the â€Å"old school† hip hop artists donned were expressions of individuality but they even carried a purpose which was a functional one. The Puma branded sneakers that sported fat-laces and sweatsuits were all the rave back then. The colorful clothing which also had resemblance to the beautiful graffitis on the walls were also very popular back then. The dress-code of being loose and comfortable became a style of dressing which identified all those people as exceptional and unpretentious. Because the people in the ghettos had limited resources, they made the most out of what they had. The style and the fashion sense that they sported spoke of a willingness to create a style of their own despite several constraints (Wikipedia 2004). In the hip-hop culture today, fashion has undoubtedly become more stylish, more pronounced and more accessible in this day and age. It has indeed come a long way in the past twenty or so years. Ever since its inception, it has been proven to be a driving force in the fashion scene. From its modest beginnings in the â€Å"ghettos† of the African-American suburbs of New York, the hip hop fashion has transcended race, culture, gender as well as international borders as you will now see different ethnicities and races who have adopted their own hip hop style. The one thing that will immediately identify a person if he listens to hip hop or not is by the way they dress and what they put on themselves. Today, the hip hop clothing and apparel industry grosses over a billion dollars but despite its popularity among people who have the money to spend for the type of look they are sporting, it is still accessible by even the youngest boy in hopes of making it big in the future as an advocate of the hip hop music and fashion (Wikipedia 2004)