This article investigates reciprocal consumer socialization in
families, with a particular focus on the influence young adults
above age 18 living at home have over their parents. A dyadic
method of analysis was used to determine the level of influence
young people have on the decision making of their parents
with regard to the consumption of environmentally sustainable
products. Our research shows that parents are not only influenced
by their adolescent children, but that they are much more
likely to take their children’s advice when the family foster open
issue-based communication patterns with respect for others. Our
findings show that when the parents initially encourage their
children to develop their own opinions and at the same time
uphold the family hierarchy, they are much more likely to take
their children’s advice as well. For social marketers seeking to
address issues of sustainable consumption, these are important
findings.