Study On The Characteristics And Influencing Factors Of Consumption Among The Middle-class Intellectuals In Contemporary China

In contemporary China, the understanding on the consumption of a certain social group as a time feature plays a quite important role in expanding the domestic demand, stimulating consumption and adjusting industrial policies. From the perspective of economic development, we can find out that if the consume problem cannot be resolved, it will cause the problem of domestic market demand, and the disconnection of production and consummation. From the perspective of society development, consummation is not in keeping with the accumulation and economic development, which will influence the residents'living quality. The consummation among different social groups is discordant, it will bring about the imbalances among the different groups and the conflicts and dissatisfaction that will affect the harmony and stabilization of the society. Therefore, consummation is a nation-wild problem which will influence the development of society and economics, if it cannot be thought seriously. "Intellectual middle class" is the target of the government to boost the domestic spending and stimulation consumption. This class' consumption structure and style and perception will not only affect its development, but also the social fashion and living style, even the stability of the nation. In a certain sense, it is very important for us to research the consumption feature and influence of the class. The author used the deep interview to collect the first hand material by interviewed 40 cases, and then analyses them seriously. This paper focuses its study on the characteristics and influencing factors of consumption among Chinese middle-class intellectuals as a new social group. With the general background of the reshaping of China's economic system and the transition of social structure, the consuming behaviors of the middle-class intellectuals are comparatively more distinct and logical. They have generally displayed a rational moderation, an idea of basing their expenditure upon income, a balance in thrift and luxury and reasonable savings as the distinctive characteristics in their consumption which is transforming from an adequate-living type to a developing-and-enjoying type. This paper takes as example a typical Chinese family of middle-class intellectuals and makes a detailed analysis on a five-year record of their consumption, showing a health development of the family as one of the many families with the general background of the nation's economic fast growing and social big changes. Many influencing factors are functioning together to form their consuming characteristics. The impacts come from both the traditional Confucianism culture and the modern consumerism culture, from both family consuming ideas and the perceptions of intellectuals as a group, from both the individual income and the family economic condition as a whole, from both economic benefits of one's business department and the whole country's social welfare and security system. As a result, Chinese intellectuals of middle class are always balancing their thrift and luxury and maintaining their equilibrium on inheritance and innovation. Nevertheless, they are successfully promoting themselves by an everlasting accumulation of knowledge, fortunes and social status.