Spreading Global Consumerism: Effects of Mass Media and Advertising on Consumerist Values in China

This study aims to demonstrate that advertisements and the types of media content related to consumption and/or originated from the West play a significant role in shaping consumerist orientations among China's urban residents. More specifically, it examines how the acceptance of 2 newly emerged consumerist values-quality consumption and innovative consumption-is related to exposure to advertisements and media. By analyzing data from large-scale consumer surveys conducted in the 3 most economically advanced cities in China, this study finds that exposure to consumption-related and West-originated media contents and advertisements contributes to a more ready acceptance of the 2 consumerist values. Such exposure also contributes to the development of more positive attitudes toward advertising that are found to potentially mediate and moderate the effects of exposure to consumption- and market-related media content on consumerist values. Implications of the findings and directions for future studies are discussed.