The influence of money attitudes on young Chinese consumers' compulsive buying

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate how young Chinese consumers' money attitudes influence their compulsive buying behavior.Design/methodology/approach -In total, 303 undergraduate students from Tianjin and Ningbo (two major cities in coastal China) answered a self-administered questionnaire.Findings -Money attitudes were found to significantly affect young Chinese consumers' compulsive buying behaviour. Specifically, the Retention-Time dimension significantly affected both male and female consumers' compulsive buying. However, the Power-Prestige dimension only affected male consumers' compulsive buying. Finally, the Quality dimension had a greater impact on male than on female consumers' compulsive buying.Research limitations/implications -The data were collected in two major cities in the coastal region of China. Given the differences between coastal and inland China, caution must be taken when generalizing the research results to young consumers from inland China.Practical implications -The discussion of the relationships between young Chinese consumers' money attitudes and their compulsive buying will help marketers and policy makers to better understand these consumers' spending behaviour. Thus, marketers can identify new market opportunities and form marketing strategies to target young consumers in China. On the other hand, policy makers can also form more effective education strategies to help young consumers to spend wisely.Originality/value -Different from previous research in money attitudes and compulsive behaviour, the research provides an in-depth overview of how male and female young Chinese consumers perceive money and how their beliefs about money affect their spending.

Chinese import demand for wine: evidence from econometric estimations

“…New consumers are searching for differentiation, brand and origin reputation, luxury goods and status symbols, and they participate in conspicuous consumption. These trends derive from the Chinese social evolution highlighted by several scholars (Bi et al, 2012;Li et al, 2009;Lin & Wang, 2010;Taylor, 2014;Wang et al, 2013;Zhao & Belk, 2007).…”

“…These characteristics underlie the modern Chinese consumer, who pursues luxury, adopts a western lifestyle, prefers foreign products and is influenced by the country of a product's origin (Bi et al, 2012;Li, Jiang, An, Shen, & Jin, 2009;Zhao & Belk, 2007). Wine is a beverage in line with the expectations of this consumer.…”

Credit cards in a Chinese cultural context—The young, affluent Chinese as early adopters

“…Thus the Little Emperor generation is a very attractive market segment and with regard to their spending patterns, Wang (2009) claims that, 'while older consumers are not likely to build up credit card debts because they have known poverty, young consumers in the cities have started to spend more using credit cards, as instant gratification, rather than patience is likely to be their norm'. Further research on China's Little Emperors, reported by Li et al (2009), examined how young Chinese consumers' attitudes towards money affected their compulsive buying behaviour and how gender moderates such a relationship. Their research results show that the consideration of money as a means to buy high quality products and brands increases compulsive buying among Chinese young consumers.…”

The Dark Side of Globalization and Consumption: How Similar Are Chinese and German Consumers Toward Their Proneness to Compulsive Buying?

“…According to those possible new developments Thompson and Worthington (2010) referred to Wang (2009), who suggested that younger consumers in the cities started to show increased spending behavior as well as increased use of credit cards to seek for instant gratification. Li et al (2009) showed that the tension between the temptation to use money for demonstrating a high status and the obligation to save money plays an important role for compulsive buying in China. Furthermore they report that a high power-prestige orientation has an influence on compulsive buying, which is moderated by gender: young men show a higher influence of a high power-prestige orientation on compulsive buying than young women, whereas Li et al (2009) also report a higher compulsive buying rate for young women.…”

“…In summary, the mentioned studies show that cultural factors do play an essential role for the emergence of compulsive buying. In contrast to studies about impulsive buying in China or other Asian markets (Fengjie, 2011;8 A. Unger and G. Raab Gutierrez, 2004;Yeung & Yee, 2009;Zhou & Wong, 2003), only a few studies about compulsive buying in China or Asia are yet published (Li, Jiang, An, Shen, & Jin, 2009). The same is the case for cross-cultural studies about compulsive buying.…”