Constructing Family Identity Through Consumption Rituals Of Chinese New Year Reunion Dinner

The present research investigates the consumption rituals of Chinese New Year reunion dinner.This research is based on the consumer behavior study within the context of Consumer Culture Theory(CCT)and advances a framework to learn how young chinese consumers construct and express their family identity through consumption rituals of Chinese New Year reunion dinner.It investigates the role of social influences on the consumer behavior of China's young consumers during the celebration of the Chinese New Year.The main goal of this study was to explore the consumption celebration of the family reunion dinner through its cultural meaning within the context of chinese traditions.The objectives of this study were to examine the consumption rituals under the frame of contextual and symbolic dimensions of three stages of consumption:from acquisition to consumption and disposition.The theoretical basis of the study corresponds to Consumer Culture Theory and adopts the research methodology of social anthropology and consumer behavior study,which rely on ethnographic and interpretive approaches.As the researcher is not Chinese,and it is not his native culture,the preparation step of this research included a huge body of literature about Chinese culture and traditions in order to enrich the understanding of the topic.The data for this study was collected from ten in-depth interviews,participant observation and 104 photographs to provide a plan for the research.The findings of this study were divided into two parts.The first part reveals the variations of the consumption of reunion dinner from the participants,place,time and activities.From the perspective of these four elements,we analyze the importance and symbolism of modern reunion dinner for young consumers and reveal some major changes that have occurred in the New Year reunion dinner in recent decades.The second part explores the core themes of in-depth interviews,including“social solidarity","symbolism" and "play",to illustrate the impact of Chinese New Year reunion dinner on the construction of family identity,and proposes the limitations of this paper and possible future research direction.This paper combines the analysis of in-depth interview results and mainly extracts the following themes:(1)The first theme shows how young consumers build family identity through social solidarity.Social solidarity appears in such sub-themes as "bonding in preparation";"inclusion of friends,relatives and ancestors in participation of Reunion dinner";"particular local dishes";"collectivism and individualism".(2)The second theme reveals how young consumers express their expectations for an ideal family life through symbolic consumption.Sub-themes include the symbolism of time,food,gifting and nostalgia.(3)The third theme shows how young consumers can strengthen family identity through games and other leisure activities as the rituals of re-experience through the construction of imagined reality during the celebration of Chinese New Year.