Why are brand names so important for young people?

* Following trends/fads

* Peer pressure/desire to be like everyone else

* Idea that brand name clothes = better quality clothes

* Idea that brand name clothes = $$ = better living arrangements than some people

* They look nice

I personally think that i am a good person to answer this question. I lived in Buffalo, NY all my life and over there to young people, brand names are VERY important and i also found myself asking why. I dont come from a poor family but my parents never spoiled us either. School clothes shopping for example.. my parents would give us $200 to buy school clothes and thats it. some people are like OH MY GOD are you serious that's all you get? but it's all about how you spend it. Im a very good shopper. I can buy an Ecko shirt for $15 that someone else would spend $30-40 on. however i really never cared. I could spend $200 and get 5-6 outfits for school and still have money left over. the most expensive part is jeans. i spend $20-25 MAYBE 30 on each pair of jeans. i dont buy ecko or baby phat jeans. i buy arizona, Glo or angel from JcPenny. And i look nice in my clothes if i do say so myself. And as far as sneakers go, i admit it, i do spend $80 on a pair of nikes or jordans but i buy ONE pair a year and i spend that much cuz they look nice and they will last me a year. and also I have been working since i was 14 so i buy my own. there is no way my parents would buy that for me. And as far as diapers go for my daughter. I buy luv, pampers, huggies etc. not family dollar or walmart brand because certain diapers irritate the baby and thats why.

I think a Brand is important to many young people because certain brands represent different lifestyles. Young people enjoy to express themselves and wearing a brand helps portray that certain lifestyle. I find the most obvious example is Ecko and G-Unit and the "Gangsta" life. that hip style with the bling and what not.

other things such as being a surfer or very sports oriented person. Brand names sells an image.

Hope this makes sense. :) have a good day.

Well, when i was in school, all the "popular" kids wore them. therefore when i was in like Jr. high i had my mom buy me the MUDD jeans which were like $50 a pair. Till i got into like 10Th grade, and i realized that i didn't need those, so after that i got my jeans at wal-mart, and their still cute jean, but with half the price!

But normally school kids, don't see money like adults do. or their parents have money and they can afford to get them $50-$100 clothing items, a brand new car, etc....

Once they get older they will realize that the stuff that mattered in high school doesn't matter anymore. that it doesn't matter how cool you were, what type of clothes you wore, etc...

the only thing that matters is the experiences and lessons you were taught.

BTW I'm now 20.

Young people like brand name just 'cuz they'll feel fresh in their environnemet and it's also a way to impress their friends specially from the opposite sex.

But we all know that deeply inside each of us our personality is what makes a real difference.

Ps.I hope that will help...

It depends. If they go to public school: good luck. If they go to private school they have uniforms and don't have to worry about that kind of thing until the weekends. I personally think that if you physically take care of your body, skin, hair, and are well groomed as is, you can look good in any thing. Maybe they are overcompensating? Think of all the adults that wear banana republic, Ann Taylor, coach bags and so on. It is not just young people, it is all people. Typically people don't realize that its not in the name brand, its in the fit, color, material and how physically fit you are until they are in their 70's. I personally would rather walk around in clothes from target and have money in the bank.

janine, Hon this is nothing new, I am a 47 year old guy and I grew up with many people who had to have the most popular brand name stuff ! From clothes, shoes,sports equipment,everything ! It just made them feel like they were important.

It's a means of fitting in without it having to do with your actual personality. Especially with teens, they are finding out who they are, so they're going to 'try-on' being different people until they find the right "fit", the one that makes them feel comfortable/happy. WE ALL DO IT.. it may not be a name-brand... but it might be those shoes your co-worker wore that you buy a pair of, a t-shirt with an obscure reference to be more geeky, special pictures on your checks, a charity ribbon magnet on your car... it's all the same thing... showing the world who we want to be/are.

peer pressure & fads...

see i was never like that in high school, if i wanted to wear a jersey 1 day and khaki's + an argyle dress shirt / white beater the next, then i would

im a big shoe buff, so thats 1 thing i probably need and desire to have a name brand of...air jordan, nike, and the old school reebok pumps from the early 90's

Well first off not all teens are so obssesed with it.. Cause I'm a teenager and I don't care about brand names.

Anyway, it's because today one of the only ways to get popular is to wear what everyone else is. I don't know the reason to that, it's just how it is. And because girls today what to look 'cute' they wear things from hollister and abercombie. Weather or not they ACTUALLY like those clothes or because they wear them because everyone else is... well you have to like go inside their mind because they'll tell you they like it to look good.

It really annoys me... But I just try to ignore it.

My mom tells me it was like that when she was a kid too, don't you remember that? Surely time hasn't changed that much! o.o