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Materialism 1
Materialism among adolescents in urban China
Keywords: materialism--China—adolescents--survey
Dr. Kara Chan*
Professor
Department of Communication Studies
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Fax: (852) 3411-7890
Telephone: (852) 3411-7836
E-mail: karachan@hkbu.edu.hk
Dr. Hongxia Zhang
Associate Professor
Guanghua School of Management
Peking University
hxzhang@gsm.pku.edu.cn
Iris C. Wang
MA Graduate
Guanghua School of Management
Peking University
Paper published in
Young Consumers
7(2), 64-77
YC 2006 adol mat.doc
Materialism 2
Advertising exposure and materialism among adolescents in urban China
Abstract
This study provides empirical data to test a proposed theoretical model on adolescents’
endorsement of materialistic values that is based on John’s (1999) model of consumer
socialization of children and Kasser, Rayan Couchman and Sheldon’s (2004) model of
materialistic value orientation. A survey of 730 adolescents aged 11 to 19 in Beijing was
conducted in March 2003 using Richins and Dawson’s (1992) materialism scale. Results
indicated that Chinese young people scored 3.9 on a 7-point scale of materialism. The
proposed model accounted for 15 percent of the variance of adolescents’ materialism scores.
Hierarchical regression analysis indicated that motives of advertising viewing and peer
communication about consumption were more important in predicting materialism than age
and family communication. Adolescents who reported high level of social motives for ad
viewing and adolescents who communicate frequently with peers about consumption were
more materialistic. Level of television viewing and gender had no effect on materialism when
other variables were controlled. (156 words)
Materialism 3
INTRODUCTION
One concern about consumer socialization is the undesirable influence of advertising on
young people’s preference for material goods as a means of achieving success, happiness, and
self-fulfillment. The adoption of materialistic values among young people will affect the balance
between private and public choices children make throughout life (Goldberg, Gorn, Peracchio &
Bomossy, 2003). Longitudinal studies among U.S. high school students from early 1970s to
1980s indicate a dramatic increase in private materialism as a life goal and a sharp decline in
emphasis on personal self-fulfillment (Easterlin & Crimmins, 1991). Materialism has been treated
as a negative value, connected to possessiveness, envy, lack of generosity, greed and jealousy
(Belk, 1983). Developmental psychologists, marketers, and policy makers are interested in
understanding how children develop materialistic values with age, and what factors are related to
the adoption of materialistic values.
With the adoption of the ‘Open Policy’ in the late 1970s, Mainland China regained its
entrepreneurship and consequently consumer culture had undergone rapid changes (Tse, Belk &
Zhou, 1989). The current study will help us to examine how adolescents in China endorse these
new materialist value orientations. Adolescents are defined as people aged 10 to 19 (World
Health Organization, 2005). There are 354 million young people under 18 in China, comprising
over one quarter of the total population. Due to the one-child policy, Chinese children and
adolescents have become the focal point of the family, exerting tremendous influence on
household purchases (McNeal & Yeh, 1997). Children and adolescents in China are
increasingly exposed to mass media for information and entertainment. A national survey of
3,284 grade 5-9 urban school children found that they spent the most time reading books and
watching television (Bu, 2001). A survey of grade 4-6 urban Chinese children found they used a
variety of information sources to learn about new products, including parents, retail outlets, and
Materialism 4
the mass media, and they considered television to be the most important medium (McNeal & Ji,
1999).
Television now reaches over 92 percent of China’s households (Bu, 2001). A typical
television schedule for the national television channel, China Central Television (CCTV) in
January 2003 shows that programming for children and adolescents consists of one to two hours
of cartoon entertainment in the morning, and one to two hours of entertainment after school. On
average the national channels carry about 9.5 hours and the local channels carry about one hour
of programs for children and adolescents every day. Of the ten hours of television programs for
young audiences each day, about 80 percent target elementary school children and 11 percent
target at secondary school students. CCTV launched a children and youth channel in December
2003 that carried 18 hours of broadcasting every day (Yu, 2004). Most of these television
programs were locally produced, with few imported programs for children and adolescents.
Children aged 12 and below liked to watch cartoons, children’s drama series, games shows and
variety shows. Adolescents, on the other hand, showed more interest in sports programs and
news programs (Bu, 1998). Adolescents reported that they watched television mainly for getting
news and for companionship (Bu, 2001).
A central factor in children’s consumer socialization comes from culture. In the case of
young children, the socialization process includes instilling in children the basic values and
modes of appropriate behavior consistent with the host culture. Many children acquire consumer
behavior norms by observing their parents and siblings, who function as role models.
Adolescents, however, were more likely to look to their peers for models of acceptable
consumption behaviors (John, 1999). Many scholars argue that mass consumption in China is
different from Western societies because of China’s long-standing values concerning families
and human relations (Zhao, 1997). Characteristics of the Chinese culture include a strong
cultivated habit of thrift, filial piety, group orientation, social harmony, good manners, face, and
Materialism 5
emphasis on academic achievements (Chan & McNeal, 2003a; Yau, 1988). Traditional Chinese
values suggest that they might impact both positively and negatively on the endorsement of
materialistic values. For example, values such as thrift and frugality will discourage the
possession of luxury goods while the value of face will encourage the owning of the same
material goods that other people have. Because of the one child per family policy, parents have
high expectation of their children. Born in the years of severe material shortage, Chinese parents
want to compensate for their lost past by providing a material-rich future to their second
generation (Zhao, 1996). Peer communication is important to Chinese adolescents because, in
the absence of siblings, they seek approval from peers.
At issue then, is whether Chinese children become more materialistic when they grow up.
Other questions include: how does television viewing and advertising exposure influence
adolescents’ materialistic values?; what are the factors influencing adolescents’ endorsement of
materialistic values? In the current study, adolescents’ endorsement of materialistic values is
viewed as a combination of a cognitive-psychological process of cognitive development as well
as a psychological response to insecurity and social learning.
The objectives of this study are:
a) to study whether Chinese adolescents endorse materialistic values;
b) to examine whether materialism changes with age during adolescence;
c) to examine the influences of family and peer communication, and media consumption on
adolescents’ materialistic value orientations.
The theoretical contribution of the current study is to enhance our understanding of
materialism and its relationship to demographic, socio-economic, and media factors. In addition,
educators and policy makers who are interested in social services marketing (for example,
encouraging young people to participate in volunteer activity) will benefit from this study. Much
research has been done on materialism and adolescents in the U.S. since the 1980s, but there are
Materialism 6
very few similar studies conducted in the Chinese context and the current study attempts to fill
this gap.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Theoretical framework and hypotheses
The current study adopts John’s (1999) model of consumer socialization of children and Kasser,
Ryan, Couchman and Sheldon’s (2004) model of materialistic value orientation. The former model
suggests that young people of different ages adopt different consumption motives and values. The
second model suggests that consumers (including adolescents) developed materialistic value
orientation through experience that induces feelings of insecurity and from exposure to materialistic
models and values. When individual’s psychological needs are not met, they will tend to move
toward materialism as a type of compensatory strategy to lessen the distressing effects of feelings of
insecurity. Individuals also learn to adopt materialistic values through social learning from family
members, peers, and the materialistic messages frequently found in television programs and
commercials (Kasser et al., 2004). Figure 1 shows the theoretical framework.
Age. Integrating Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (1970) and Selman’s theory of social
developments (1980), John (1999) proposes a model of consumer socialization. In the model,
consumer socialization is viewed as a developmental process that proceeds through different stages
as children mature into adult consumers. During the perceptual stage (ages 3-7), children are
characterized by a general orientation toward the immediate and readily observable perceptual
features of the marketplace. The value of possessions is based on surface features, such as having
more of something. During the analytical stage (ages 7-11), children are characterized by mastering
some consumer knowledge and skills. Concepts such as product categories or prices are thought of
in terms of functional or underlying dimensions. Children begin to understand the value of
possessions based on social meaning and significance. As the children enter the reflective stage
Materialism 7
(ages 11-16), they possess comprehensive knowledge about marketplace concepts such as branding
and pricing. They fully understand the value of possessions based on social meaning, significance,
and scarcity. Chan (2003) examined 246 Chinese children aged six to thirteen in Hong Kong and
found that they do not endorse strong materialistic values. Contrary to John’s (1999) model of
consumer socialization, even the youngest children aged six to seven demonstrated an
understanding of the value of possessions based on social significance. John’s (1999) model does
not specify whether materialism increases with age when children reach the reflective age. In the
current study, we hypothesize that age has positive impact on materialism (H1). This is because
older adolescents will more fully appreciate the value of possessions than younger adolescents.
Insecurity. According to Kasser et al.’s (2004) model, people in situations that do not
support the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs will adopt materialistic values as a
way of compensation.
Studies have found that the family environment has an impact on the endorsement of
materialistic values. Parental styles and practices that did not fully meet children’s needs are
associated with materialism (Kasser et al., 1995; Williams, Cox, Hedberg & Deci, 2000).
Adolescents who communicate less frequently with parents about consumption were more
materialistic (Moore & Moschis, 1981). Chinese parents with children aged 6 to 14 held negative
attitudes toward television advertising and children’s advertising. They perceived that advertising
was deceptive and annoying and they felt strongly that advertising should be banned from children’s
programming (Chan & McNeal, 2003b). Chinese parents often placed restrictions on the things
children should or should not buy. At the same time, parents often asked their children’s preference
when buying things for them. Parental communication patterns about consumption were similar for
parents with both younger and older children (Chan & McNeal, 2003a). Chinese parents’ negative
attitude toward advertising together with more communication within the family may reduce the
Materialism 8
level of children’s anxiety, and we therefore hypothesize that adolescents who communicate more
frequently with parents will be less materialistic (H2).
Communication outside the family also contributes to the difference in the level of
materialism among children. Studies showed that materialism is higher in children who
communicate with peers more frequently (Churchill & Moschis 1979; Moschis & Churchill, 1978)
and who are more susceptible to their influence (Achenreiner, 1997). We expect that children who
communicate frequently with peers may reflect their status of anxiety and the need for peer
approval. We therefore hypothesize that adolescents who communicate more frequently with peers
will be more materialistic (H3).
Exposure to materialistic models and values. According to Kasser et al.’s (2004) model,
materialistic values are frequently found in popular culture, the media and advertisements. People
exposed to materialistic models will be more likely to take on the materialistic values through
modeling (Bandura, 1971) and internalization of these values (Ryan & Connell, 1989). There is
evidence from empirical data that there is a positive correlation between exposure to television
and materialism, both in children and adolescents in Western societies (Buijzen & Valkenburg,
2003; Churchill & Moschis, 1979; Kapferer, 1986; Moschis & Moore, 1982) and Asian societies
including China, Hong Kong and South Korea (Chan, 2003; Cheung & Chan, 1996; Kwak,
Zinkhan & DeLorne, 2002; Yang & Ganahl, 2004). We therefore hypothesize that adolescents
who watch television more will be more materialistic (H4).
Another pervasive source of materialistic models is found in advertising messages.
Advertisements encourage consumption by using images of attractive and/or famous product
users, demonstrating social reward by using the products, and associating the products with
wealthy lifestyles (Kasser el at., 2004). There is empirical data that supports a positive
correlation between exposure to advertising and materialism (Buijzen & Valkenburg, 2003).
Moschis and Moore (1982) conceptualized advertising exposure according to both frequency of
Materialism 9
watching advertisements and reasons for watching. The motives for advertising viewing appear to
have two dimensions: seeking information about the products, and seeking images or talking
points. A longitudinal study of adolescents found that television advertising exposure had long-
term effects as well as short-term effects on adolescents’ adoption of materialistic values
(Moschis & Moore, 1982). We expect that watching advertising for different motives will have a
different impact on materialism. We hypothesize that adolescents who view advertising for
informative motives will be less materialistic (H5) while adolescents who view advertising for
social motives will be more materialistic (H6). This is because adolescents who watch ads for
social motives will pay more attention to the materialistic models and values shown in the
advertisements while adolescents watching ads for informative motives will pay less attention to
such models and values.
Gender has been included as factors in several studies but did not produce consistent results.
For example, male adolescents reported higher levels of materialism than female adolescents
(Achenreiner, 1997; Churchill & Moschis, 1979) while Chinese boys and girls in Hong Kong
reported similar levels of materialism (Chan, 2003). We therefore do not propose a hypothesis
about the impact of gender on materialism.
[FIGURE ONE ABOUT HERE]
Measures of materialism
Pollay (1986) summarizes the criticism made by scholars including Leiss (1976) and
Skolimowsk (1977) that advertising promotes materialism as the means to happiness, status
seeking, social stereotypes, short-sightedness, selfishness, preoccupation with sexuality, and
conformity.
Materialism 10
Children’s materialistic values have been identified in a number of studies, including
children aged four to five selecting playmates with or without a new toy (Goldberg & Gorn,
1978); motivation and enjoyment of collecting among first and fifth grade hobbyists (Baker &
Gentry, 1996); and surveys using materialism scales developed for children (Heerey, Hunt,
Lukey-Smith & Winter, 2002).
Belk (1984) conceptualized materialism as the importance a consumer attaches to worldly
possessions, and whether such possessions assume a central place in the consumer’s life. Belk’s
(1985) measure of materialism consisted of three personality traits (envy, nongenerosity, and
possessiveness) and has been used in a number of studies (O’Guinn & Faber, 1989; Wallendorf
& Arnould, 1988). Richins’s (1987) measure of materialism for adults consisted of seven items
like “It is important to have really nice things”, “The things I own give me a great deal of
pleasure”. The measure demonstrated low to moderate Cronbach alpha reliability (0.3 for China
and 0.5 to 0.7 for the other four countries) in a cross-cultural study of consumers and university
students in five countries including United States, Canada, Australia, Turkey, and China (Sirgy et
al., 1998). Richins and Dawson (1992) constructed the Material Values Scale consisting of three
factors including success, centrality, and happiness, producing a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.78.
METHOD
The data analyzed in this study were collected from a survey conducted in Beijing, China
from February to March 2003. The target population was grade 7 to 11 students. The city was
selected because it has a highly developed advertising industry. The advertising expenditure of
Beijing accounted for 15 percent of the national advertising expenditure in 2000. A draft
questionnaire was prepared based on previous studies (Moschis & Moore, 1982; Richins &
Dawson, 1992). Back-translation was used where one of the authors translated the questionnaire
from English to Chinese, and another author then translated it back into English to enhance
Materialism 11
translation equivalence. The questionnaire was pre-tested for clarity and accuracy by personally
interviewing six adolescents. The sample was a cluster design with a total of eleven secondary
schools selected (based on district and type of school) in urban Beijing. Nine schools offered
grade 7 to 12 programs while two were vocational training schools offering grade 10 to 12 only.
Adolescents studying in vocational training schools usually have lower academic scores than
adolescents studying in grammar schools, and are less likely to pursue further study in
universities. For each sampled school, one to two classes of students were invited to participate in
the survey. Altogether 788 close-ended structured questionnaires were distributed during regular
class meetings by one of the authors. Students were asked to fill in the questionnaire in the
absence of the teachers. The survey took about fifteen minutes to complete. A total of 730
questionnaires were collected. The overall response rate was 93 percent. The sample profile is
summarized in Table 1. All the respondents aged 11 to 13 and 87 percent of respondents aged 14
to 16 were studying in grammar schools; while 52 percent of respondents aged 17 to 19 were
studying in vocational training schools. The overall mean age was 14.9 years old.
[TABLE ONE ABOUT HERE]
Measures
The questionnaire consisted of fifteen statements on materialism, three statements on
communicating with parents about consumption, three statements on communicating with peer
about consumption, and seven statements on motivation of advertising viewing. Respondents
were asked to indicate on a seven-point scale the degree to which they agree with the statements
(1 = disagree very much, 7 = agree very much). Demographic and other variables such as
household income, number of hours of television viewing in weekdays and weekends, and
monthly personal expenses were also collected. Materialism was measured using Richins and
Dawson’s (1992) conceptualization of materialism as a mind-set of attitudes regarding
possessions as symbols of success, possessions occupying a central part of lives, and the belief
Materialism 12
that more possessions lead to more happiness. Eighteen items of Richins and Dawson’s (1992)
scale of materialism were used in the draft questionnaire.
Results from pretesting the questionnaire found that most of the respondents had difficulties
reporting attitudes toward luxury goods. Most of them reported that they had no experience in
buying luxury goods. As a result, three items in the centrality sub-scale that involved luxury
goods were deleted. Inter-item reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) for the remaining fifteen items was
0.66. It was similar to the Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.63 reported in a recent study of Chinese
college students (Yang & Ganahl, 2004). The mean formed the measure of materialism with
higher scores indicating stronger endorsement of materialistic values.
Communication with parents/peers about consumption was measured by asking
respondents to rate three items: “I always discuss advertisements with my parents/friends”, “I
always ask my parents/friends for purchase advice”, and “I always go shopping with my
parents/friends” on 7-point scales (1 = disagree strongly, 7 = agree strongly). These items were
from Moschis & Moore’s (1982) study. The inter-item reliability scores for family and peer
communication were 0.51 and 0.52 respectively. Advertising viewing for different motivations
was measured by asking respondents to rate seven statements such as “I watch advertisements to
find out how good a product is” on 7-point scales (1 = disagree strongly, 7 = agree strongly). The
seven statements were based on Moschis and Moore’s (1982) study. The inter-item reliability
was 0.74. Factor analysis generated a two-factor solution that accounted for 54 percent of the
total variance of advertising viewing. The two factors were labeled as “informative motives” (to
find out how good a product it is, to help decide what to buy, and to find out where to buy things
I want) and “social motives” (to impress others, to talk about with others, to learn about the in-
things to buy, and to see the images of the people that I wish to be). The inter-item reliability
measures were 0.67 and 0.63 respectively.
Materialism 13
Television viewing was recoded into three levels with nearly equal size based on the
number of hours of television viewing in a week (low = 0 - less than 9 hours, medium = 9 - 16
hours, high = more than 16 hours).
RESULTS
On average, the respondents watched television for 1.4 hours on a weekday and 3.7 on a
weekend. The mean hours of television viewing were 14.3 hours per week. Family
communication was positively skewed (skewness = 0.17) while peer communication was
negatively skewed (skewness = -0.09). The means of family communication and peer
communication about consumption were 4.1 (s.d. = 1.3) and 3.8 (s.d .= 1.3) respectively.
Adolescents in China more frequently communicated with family about consumption than with
peers (t = 6.0, df = 727, p < 0.001). The means of informative and social motives of advertising
viewing were 4.0 (s.d. = 1.4) and 3.6 (s.d. = 1.2). Adolescents in China were more likely to view
advertisements to satisfy information needs than social needs (t = 7.9, df = 729, p < 0.001).
Table 2 summarizes adolescent’s response to the statements about materialism. They are
sorted in descending order of the mean scores. The statements that they agreed with most
indicated that Chinese adolescents like to own things that impress people. They reported that the
things they own are important to them. The statement with the lowest mean was ‘I usually buy
only the things I need’, indicating that Chinese adolescents were mainly buying the necessities.
The mean and the standard deviation for the materialism score was 3.9 and 0.7 respectively.
[TABLE TWO ABOUT HERE]
Materialism 14
Materialism and age
In order to test John’s (1999) model of consumer socialization, we analyzed results by age
group. In John’s (1999) model, children aged 11-16 belong to the reflective stage. John (1999)
did not describe consumer behavior beyond 16 years. In the current study, we assumed that
adolescents beyond 16 were early adults. For the purpose of data analysis, respondents were
categorized into three age groups, i.e. 11 to 13, 14 to 16, and 17 to 19, representing the early
reflective, late reflective stages of John’s (1999) model of consumer socialization, plus the early
adulthood stage. We split the reflective stage into two sub-stages as the school types were quite
different. This distinction was possible to make by a relatively large sample size in this age range.
Table 3 summarizes children’s materialism scores by age group. One-way ANOVA F-tests were
conducted to compare the means by age group.
Out of the fifteen statements, six statements yielded significant F-statistics between
respondents of different age groups. Duncan pairwise tests indicated that in most of the cases
with significant F-statistics, the age group 17 to 19 was the most materialistic. Older adolescents
were more likely to associate material possessions with success, to admire people with expensive
possessions, and to perceive they would be happier or better if they had more possessions. The
materialism scores for respondents in the age groups 11 to 13, 14 to 16, and 17 to 19 were 3.8,
3.9, and 4.1 respectively (F-statistic = 6.2, p < 0.001). Again, Duncan pairwise testing indicated
that respondents in the age group 17 to 19 were the most materialistic. There was no significant
difference in materialism scores between respondents in the other two age groups. There was no
significant difference among adolescents in early reflective and late reflective stages, and
respondents beyond age 16 were more materialistic.
[TABLE THREE ABOUT HERE]
Materialism 15
Testing the model
Hierarchical regression analysis is used to test the theoretical model discussed in Figure 1.
Table 4 summarizes the Pearson correlation coefficients between the materialism scores and the
predictors. The highest correlation coefficient was between informative and social motives of
advertising viewing. Family and peer communication about consumption were strongly
correlated. Peer communication about consumption correlated strongly with social motives of
advertising viewing.
[TABLE FOUR ABOUT HERE]
Predictors were entered into linear regression equations in four steps to predict adolescents’
materialism scores. In the first step, age group was entered to test John’s (1999) model and to
serve as a control. In the second step, communication with parents and peers about consumption
were entered. In the third step, television viewing, informative and social motives of advertising
viewing were entered. Table 5 shows the results of the hierarchical regression analysis and
standardized beta values of various predictors. Results indicated that all three steps had
significant F changes. This suggests that age, communication with family and friends, media
exposure and motives for advertising viewing are all useful in predicting adolescents’
endorsement of materialistic values. When these variables were controlled, there was no gender
difference in materialism scores. F-statistic of the model at the end of the third step (with all
predictors except sex) was 18.0 (df = 6, p < 0.001). R square of the model was 0.15 indicating
that the model accounted for 15 percent of the variance of adolescents’ materialism scores. As a
result, the model in Figure 1 was supported. According to the standardized beta values, social
motives for advertising viewing was the most important predictor, followed by peer
communication, age group, and family communication (negative correlates). Materialism scores
Materialism 16
were higher for those (a) most likely to view advertising for social motives, (b) those who
engaged in more peer communication about consumption, and (c) older adolescents, and (d) those
who engaged in less family communication about consumption. The regression model explained
fifteen percent of variation in adolescents’ materialism scores. As older adolescents were found
more materialistic, H1 was supported. Adolescents who communicate more frequently with
parents about consumption were less materialistic. Therefore, H2 was supported. Adolescents
who communicate more frequently with peers about consumption were more materialistic. As a
result, H3 was supported. Television viewing was found to have no impact on adolescents’
materialism. Therefore, H4 was not supported. Adolescents who view advertising for informative
motives were not less materialistic. As a result, H5 was not supported. Adolescents who view
advertising for social motives were more materialistic. Therefore, H6 was supported.
When sex was added to the regression model, the change in R square is 0.004 and was not
significant at the 0.05 level. In other words, when the predictors were controlled, female
respondents and male respondents did not have any significant difference in materialistic value
orientations.
[TABLE FIVE ABOUT HERE]
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
In the current study, older adolescents tended to be more materialistic than younger
adolescents. There are three possible explanations for this. First, according to John’s (1999)
model of consumer socialization, children at the reflective stage fully understand the value of
possessions based on social meaning, significance, and scarcity. The higher materialism scores
of older adolescents may simply reflect a stronger endorsement of these values. Secondly, the
sample profile accounted for some of these differences between the older and younger
Materialism 17
adolescents. Nearly half of the older adolescents were studying in vocational training schools that
prepare them to enter the workforce. They are going to enter a new circle of unfamiliar people
and may need possessions to reinforce self-identity. The third explanation is about exposure to
materialistic models and values. We think that older adolescents are more likely to encounter
people from a more diverse background, including ‘successful’ people with lots of luxury
possessions. We expect that they will be more likely to compare themselves to those with wealth,
and such comparison will encourage materialism.
Family communication was a negative predictor of the materialism score while peer
communication was a positive predictor. It indicates that the contents and effects of family and
peer communication are in the opposite direction. Parents are more likely to discourage
materialism while peers are more likely to enhance materialism. It can also mean that those
adolescents who scored higher in materialism tend to communicate less with their parents and
communicate more with their peers. As Chinese parents and adolescents have grown up in very
different economic environments, they would have much contrast in their attitudes toward
material possessions. In our focus group interviews with parents of elementary school children in
Beijing, parents reported that they often discourage endorsement of materialistic values at home.
Parents reported that when they discussed consumption with children, they always reminded
children “to live within means, to save as much as possible, and to refrain from buying luxury
goods”.
In the current study, television exposure was found to have no impact on materialism. CCTV
is owned by the state government and it has strict rules about the contents of television
programming. A recent content analysis of children’s television programs in China indicated that
97 percent of the programs are produced domestically and 3 percent are imported. Children’
television programs in China are highly educational and they reflect mainly traditional values of
collectivism, high power distance and masculine values (Chan & Chan 2004). Domestic
Materialism 18
television programs often present model children performing unselfish deeds for the nation
(Donald, 2002). We speculate that the prevalence of traditional values in television programs in
China may explain why spending more time on watching television does not trigger more
materialistic values.
Social motives of advertising viewing correlated positively with materialistic values while
informative motives of television advertising did not have correlation with materialistic values.
Among the seven predictors, watching advertising for social motives was the strongest predictor
of materialism. Advertisements are the most persuasive models of materialistic models and
values because advertisements show how products (material goods) are used to achieve different
goals. Adolescents who watched advertisements for social motives are actively seeking for
models of materialistic values. As a result, they are more likely to endorse materialistic values.
The current study found that Chinese adolescents in Mainland China do not endorse
materialistic values strongly. Their materialism scores are almost the same as that of college
students in Mainland China (Yang & Ganahl, 2004). Their materialism scores are lower than that
of adults in Mainland China (Sirgy et al., 1998). So, our data suggest that Chinese adolescents
and college students share similar level of materialism, and they become more materialistic when
they enter adulthood. Further longitudinal study is required to verify this result.
The current study did not find gender differences regarding materialistic values. Young
females were equally as materialistic as young males. This finding is similar to Chan’s (2003)
study of Chinese children in perceptual and analytical stages in Hong Kong. Previous suggestions
that boys are more materialistic come mainly from studies of adolescents in western societies. As
Chinese children’s television commercials contained higher percentages of male models and
spokespersons (Ji & McNeal, 2001), the finding was quite unexpected. It therefore provides
evidence of a lack of correlation between the gendered media contents and the impact on the
respondents’ endorsement of masculine values about success and happiness. The lack of a
Materialism 19
gender difference may also be attributed to the single-child policy and the lack of difference in
the patterns of family communication for boys and girls (Chan & McNeal, 2003a). Future
research should investigate why there is a lack of gender difference in materialistic values during
the reflective and early adulthood stages, and whether gender difference may evolve in late
adulthood.
To conclude, the current study shows the extent of endorsement of materialistic values of
adolescents in Mainland China and provides empirical support for a proposed theoretical model.
The study also indicates that a measurement of materialism developed in a western society can be
adapted to an acceptable level of inter-item reliability in a Chinese context. The current study
has two limitations. The first limitation is that Cronbach alpha coefficients for family and peer
communication were below 0.7 and efforts must be made to create scales with higher values. The
second limitation is that the study was conducted in Beijing city alone. Further research is
needed to investigate materialistic value orientations among adolescents in other cities and in
rural parts of China. Further study is also needed to compare materialism among adolescents and
adults to show whether there will be significant changes with important life events, such as
entering into the work force or forming a new family. For parents and educators, the study
indicates that, to safeguard adolescents from being materialistic, they can engage in more family
communication about consumption, and encourage adolescents to consume advertising for
information motives.
(5000 words for text)
Materialism 20
Figure 1 Theoretical framework
H1
H2 ＋
－
＋
＋
H3
＋
H4
＋
H5 －
＋
H6
Social motives
of ad viewing
Family
communication
Informative
motives of ad
viewing
TV viewing
Peer
communication
Materialism
Age
Group
Insecurity
Exposure to
materialistic
models and values
Materialism 21
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