A Qualitative Study of Luxury Consumption by Chinese Overseas Students

This study investigates the views and experiences of Chinese overseas students on luxury consumption and the impact of traditional culture on their luxury consumption behaviors. It aims to understand the motivations and meanings that Chinese overseas students attribute to their luxury consumption practices. This study will use qualitative research methodologies and present three significant findings. The primary reason for Chinese overseas students’ luxury consumption is constructing identity. The prevailing societal norms of luxury goods have a significant role associated with wealth and status to construct their identity. Social media amplifies this function, helping people with identity building. Social circle integration are also important reasons for building luxury goods, especially on specific occasions. Secondly, under the influence of neoliberalism, Chinese students' luxury consumption tends to be self-expression and self-reward.Finally, this research also investigates the influence of collectivist culture and Individualism culture on Chinese overseas students' luxury consumption. Traditional Chinese cultural values emphasize face consumption, gift-giving, and modesty. With the process of globalization, individualism has also influenced the luxury consumption of Chinese students to a large extent, especially in two aspects. First of all, respondents give expensive gifts to show the importance of relationships through material consumption. Secondly, respondents pay more attention to their own needs rather than the so-called face of consumption when consuming luxury goods. In spite of that the influence of modesty in traditional Chinese culture on the conspicuous consumption of respondents is still there.