Questionnaires completed by 607 middle school and high school students provided data about the learning of selected advertising-related cognitions among adolescents and on the short-term effect of these cognitions and other communication variables on adolescent consumption behavior. Among the findings were the following: susceptibility to advertising was positively related to amount of mass media use, exposure to mass media entertainment content, and amount of family communication about consumption matters, and negatively related to age and socioeconomic status; girls appeared to be more susceptible than boys to advertising; no significant correlates to adolescents' general attitudes toward advertising were found; perceived credibility of advertising was positively related to amount of exposure to entertainment and public affairs content in the mass media and negatively related to socioeconomic status; and retention of advertising information was positively related to age, amount of communication with family and friends about consumption matters, and socioeconomic status. The findings also suggest that adolescent consumer behavior may stem from social learning processes rather than from exposure to mass media or advertising. (GT)