A Brief Analysis On The Consumerism Intentions Of Urban High-school Students And Its Determinants

The studies of consumerism have been largely emphasized in recent years, but few of them focus on the consumerism intentions of high-school students. Considering that consumerism mainly originates and spreads in cities, this article focuses on the consumerism intentions of urban high-school students and the determinants of such intentions, and explores the effects of consumerism as well. This paper is based on four hypotheses. First, the consumerism intentions of urban high-school students embody in both notional and behavioral level. Second, in developed area with relatively high consumption, the consumerism intentions of urban high-school students are more obvious. Third, in higher-middle class and middle class families, the consumerism intentions of urban high-school students are more apparent. Fourth, consumerism has negative effects on individual sense of happiness. In order to evaluate the hypotheses, a survey was conducted in 7 schools in Beijing and Zhengzhou. We used the Descriptive Analysis, Analysis of Variance and Multiple Regression Analysis to analyze the survey. The result from the Descriptive Analysis shows that the consumerism intentions of urban high-school students are at a medium or low level and the intentions of action are less apparent. The result from the Analysis of Variance shows that the differences of the consumerism intentions in the high-school students living in different areas are not obvious, but in higher-middle class or middle class families, the consumerism intentions are much stronger. The result from the Multiple Regression Analysis shows that factors, such as whether being in junior high school or in senior high school, whether consumption guidance being provided in school, father's career, lucky money, pocket money, reference groups, influences of media, have obvious influences on students' consumption. Among these factors, "reference groups" and "influences of media" have the strongest effect. Finally, the survey also shows that most high-school students think that consumption can bring them happiness.