The direct and indirect influences of locus of control on Jordanian parents ' communication patterns

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to measure the direct and indirect influences of locus of control on the communication patterns of Jordanian Muslim parents in the marketplace activities that directly influence their children's consumption behaviour. The validity of locus of control components within the context of consumer socialisation and cultural perspectives has been taken into account before testing the hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach - A total of 400 self-administered questionnaires were distributed to Muslim parents via their children aged from 8 to 12 years in 12 public schools that were randomly chosen from different areas of Amman metropolitan-Jordan. The principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, paired sample t-test, the multiple regression analysis, and the bootstrapping test using structural equation modelling were used to validate the model's constructs and to test the research hypotheses. Findings - The communication patterns of Jordanian Muslim parents are more likely to be influenced by the high and low beliefs in the chance, whereas the highest degree of the indirect influences is associated with Muslims' belief in powerful others. Research limitations/implications - It measured the mediation of socio-orientation, but neither concept-orientation nor the simultaneous interventions of the two dimensions were taken into consideration. The solicited sample has been relied on parents' responses. Future research considering mothers-fathers, mothers-adolescents or fathers-adolescents dyadic perspectives may disclose the convergence and divergence among Muslim family members to better understanding the mediation process. Practical implications -The local and global marketers may segment the Jordanian market into consensual, pluralistic and protective Muslim consumers; rely on reference groups on their promotion campaigns, as the Muslim parents in Jordan are more influenced by the powerful others; and use the concept of chance positively in their promotion campaigns. Originality/value - Based on rigorous methodology, this is the first study that measures the direct and indirect influences of locus of control on the communication patterns of Jordanian Muslim parents in terms of marketing milieu and collectivist cultures.