Impact of advertising on materialism among Chinese college students

• Main Author: Jiang, Ran Xi
• Other Authors: Chia Chih-Yun, Stella
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences::Mass media::Media effects
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/18868
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

There is a concern that young people in China are becoming more materialistic than before. Advertising and peer influence have long been identified as two important factors that have impacts on young people’s materialism. In this study, I use the influence-of-presumed-influence model (Gunther & Storey, 2003) to examine how advertising and peer influence interplay with each other and jointly exert an impact on materialism among college students in China. I conducted a survey with 210 undergraduate students aged from 17 to 24 in Beijing, China. Results of the survey suggest that young people tend to perceive substantial influence of advertising on their peers’ materialistic attitudes; these perceptions, in turn, can influence these young people’s own materialistic attitudes. This study serves as one of the pioneer efforts to examine (1) media effects and (2) peer influence on materialism among China’s youths. Findings of this study also provide practical implications for educators and marketers. Finally, this study has theoretical contributions as the proposed explanations of media effects are largely theory-based.