A total of 734 sixth through twelfth grade students completed two questionnaires in a study that focused on the development of consumer skills, the sources of consumer skill acquisition, the effects of cognitive development and social factors on the socialization processes, and the effects of levels of competency on various consumer skills. A four-month period separated the administration of the two questionnaires, providing opportunities for considerable interaction of the students with such socializing agents as parents, peers, television, and siblings. The results showed that family interaction appeared to influence the development of various consumer skills via different learning mechanisms, while media and peers seemed to influence the development of "expressive" aspects of consumption. In addition, the adolescents' cognitive development, indexed by age, predicted the development of most consumer skills examined. Finally, the findings showed that social structural variables may directly or indirectly affect learning. (FL)