A Study Of Consumption On The Identity Of Urban Middle Class In China

Since the reform and opening up,China’s social structure has undergone dramatic changes.Following the goal of establishing an olive-shaped society,the development and growth of the middle class has become an increasing concern for the public.According to the survey,the proportion of the middle class has reached nearly 30% in China,and that of the middle class in Beijing,Shanghai,Guangzhou and other megalopolises has been as high as nearly 40%.However,the middle class in China has a low identity,and even the voice of being gentrified has been rising in society.Excessive gap in subjective and objective identity is not conducive to the development of a clear class identity among the middle class,but also makes it difficult for the middle class to form the class identity,leading to the failure of such class to play a role in boosting the economic development and maintaining the social stability.Therefore,it becomes particularly important to understand the influencing factors of the subjective identity of the middle class in China.On the basis of Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of consumer distinction and the conclusions of previous studies,this study adopts quantitative research methods to construct the analytical framework,and carries out factor analysis and binary logistic regression analysis in accordance with the data concerning the middle class in the Chinese Social Survey(CSS)in 2013.In order to explore the influence of consumption on social stratification in China and the factors influencing the self-identity of the middle class,this paper extracts the common objective factors that affect the determination of the middle class by means of factor analysis,and classifies the middle class in China based on the clustering method,and finally studies the relationship between the factors influencing the classification of the non-identical middle class and the objective class,and seeks the reasons for the low self-identity and the decline in identity among the middle class in China.Based on data analysis,it is found in this study that survival consumption,development consumption and enjoyment consumption all exert a significant influence on the classification of social strata of urban residents in China,and that,after adding the factor of consumption structure to the traditional class classification index,there will be more ideal outcomes of social classification,while consumer behavior can serve as a systematic index for class classification.In terms of the impact on the subjective class identity of the middle class,only the proportion of productive consumption expenditure has a significant influence among the factors of consumption structure.It can be seen that the middle class in China still strives for the goal of guaranteeing the quality of daily life and maintaining the stability of family life,and is less demanding for personal development and spiritual enjoyment.The gap between objective indexes and subjective identity is one of the reasons for the decline of the subjective identity of the middle class in China.In this regard,this paper proposes that consumer behavior can not only function as a systematic determinant of social stratification and play a decisive role in the classification of social strata,but can also be regarded as a factor influencing the self-identity of the middle class,which can,to a certain extent,explain the downward trend of the subjective identity of the middle class in China.To enlarge the proportion of the middle class,we should not only start from the promotion of personal economic capital,and focus merely on the growth of quantity,but should proceed from the improvement of the quality of the middle class,enhance the personal competence and quality of the middle class,and strengthen the quality of their lives,so that they will advance their sense of class identity and belonging,and then play an effective role in boosting social development and maintaining social stability.