A Lifestyle Analysis
of Female Consumers
in Greater China
Susan H. C. Tai and Jackie L. M. Tam
ABSTRACT
This study compares the lifestyles of female consumers in Hong
Kong, Taiwan, and China, which together make up Greater China.
The investigation revealed that significant differences exist among
the three groups of female consumers in nine different areas. These
are (a) women’s role and perception, (b) family orientation, (c) home
cleanliness, (d) brand consciousness, (e) price consciousness,
(f) self-confidence, (g) addiction to work, (h) health consciousness,
and (i) environmental consciousness. Although the women studied
in the three groups were found to be heavily influenced by
Confucianism, they were also affected by western culture to varying
degrees. Thus, the three groups were found to have a mixture of
traditional and modern values. Hong Kong women were found to
favor a more modern view of the role of women than their
counterparts in China and Taiwan. However, women in China,
especially the younger ones, were quickly adopting new values and
Western ideas. The authors foresee that female consumers in Greater
China will become increasingly similar in their lifestyles in the near
future. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Taiwan and Hong Kong are ranked with Singapore and South Korea
as the “Four Pacific Dragons.” The Far Eastern Economic Review
(1992) reported that the economic development of Hong Hong would
be increasingly dependent on the China factor, as China opens up its
market and experiences rapid economic growth. Taiwan was said to be
Psychology & Marketing
© 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Vol. 14(3):287 – 307 (May 1997)
CCC 0742-6046/97/030287 – 21
287
ahead of the other Asian dragons and was attempting to turn its capital city into one of Asia Pacific’s leading regional centers. The report
also pointed out that although China’s relations with Taiwan and
Hong Kong were shaded by diplomatic rivalry, political tension, and a
pervasive lack of trust, at the human level the three continued to form
closer ties.
The increasing interaction between Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China
is creating a powerful, new economic entity. By the year 2000, the
Greater China economic region will be a truly significant force in the
world economy. Asian and Media Advertising (1992) reported that
these markets, mainly populated by Chinese, were closely located but
divided by historical events that have created a distinct economic and
cultural environment in each market. Hong Kong has been a British
colony for many years and the people were exposed to western culture
much earlier than they were in Taiwan. Hong Kong people are, therefore more Westernized, and the English language is more widely used
in business communication. The people of Taiwan, on the other hand,
were reported to be more traditional, more nationalistic, and heavily
influenced by Japanese culture. Consumers in China were not exposed
to western ideas until China implemented its open-door policy in 1979.
They rely heavily on advertising or word of mouth for information.
Hence, each market has its own characteristics and is exposed to a different degree of political influence.
In recent years, there have been some profound changes in consumer lifestyles in Greater China. According to Asia’s Media and Marketing Weekly (1994), the changing role of women, the aging of society,
trends toward delayed marriage, smaller families, and single parents
have combined to redefine the consumer markets in Greater China.
Traditional household decision making is undergoing significant
changes as a larger number of women join the work force. As women
now have greater purchasing power, marketers need to have a better
understanding of women’s changing values and roles in modern society.
One approach to studying women’s behavior is by exploring how
women feel about their lives, their attitudes toward their work, and
how they approach the various aspects of life that lead to the consumption of many products and services. This study aims to compare
the lifestyles of female consumers within Greater China. Significant
differences are expected to be found among different age groups of
Chinese females, as well as between working women and housewives.
A woman in her 40s or a housewife is likely to exhibit different
lifestyle characteristics than a woman in her 20s or a career woman,
even within the same region. In order to make a direct comparison of
lifestyles across the three regions, only working females aged between
18 and 35 were chosen for the study. This group also makes up a relatively large percentage of the female population in the three regions
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TAI AND TAM
and appears to be a very lucrative target for the marketers. The samples were selected from the cities of Hong Kong, Taipei, and
Guangzhou.
Characteristics of Chinese Female Consumers
Asia’s Media and Marketing Weekly (1992) reported that in the 1990s,
as Asian and Chinese women increasingly move out of the home and
into the workplace, marketers are waking up to the fact that women
are exerting a greater influence on a variety of consumer decisions
that used to lie within the sole domain of men. Accordingly, companies
are starting to direct their marketing efforts toward working women.
As women begin to view themselves differently, the marketing industry is also changing the way women are portrayed. In the past, advertising generally portrayed women in the context of the home: cooking,
cleaning, and caring for their husbands and children. Multinationals,
however, are cautious about challenging the norms, so Chinese women
are still depicted as pretty girls, only now they are shown with briefcases and mobile phones.
In a survey conducted by the Far Eastern Economic Review in 1993,
affluent Asian women showed a greater preference for quality over
quantity in all aspects of their lives. They preferred to have a less polluted environment, and more leisure time, and they also appreciated
value more than prestige. Convenience was, thus, becoming the most
popular focus of marketing directed at Asian women. A report in the
Wall Street Journal (1993) stated that the regions’ increasingly busy
consumers were looking for ways to simplify their lives and were willing to pay for the right solutions. The desire to save time was revolutionizing how Asian women shopped. The article added that
self-service food stores and convenience chains were replacing familyrun shops and street markets. Time-saving products such as 2-in-1
shampoos, which combine shampoo and conditioner, were a hit with
working women.
Women in Hong Kong
Hong Kong people place particular value on achievement and material
goods. This view was confirmed by Asia’s Media and Marketing Weekly
(1990), which reported that the pace of life in Hong Kong was faster
than in Taiwan and China, and that Hong Kong workers were more
driven to succeed and more materialistic. Yet the rapid material
changes experienced by Hong Kong society during the past few
decades have not been accompanied by a substantial transformation
in consumption attitudes and behavior. Hong Kong people still hold on
to many traditional attitudes and influence how they respond to advertising messages and what they buy.
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
289
It was reported in Asia’s Media and Marketing (1993) that the
biggest change in consumer attitudes among the Hong Kong Chinese
could be seen in the younger generation. They were more interested in
living in the present, rather than saving their money for the future,
which may be linked to their uncertainty over 1997. This “live for today” philosophy has a substantial effect on the spending pattern of the
community.
It was also reported that women in Hong Kong were achieving
steady gains in education and work and were attaining considerable
economic power. As a result, women were making more decisions related to household spending, including big ticket items such as cars,
and they were playing a major role in the buying process. The report
continued that although women believed in careers and financial independence, they still strongly adhered to the traditional view of
women’s role in the home and family. They were also very status conscious and concerned about how they were being perceived by other
people.
Women in Taiwan
Over the past 40 years, Taiwan has proposed economically and has
seen a remarkable rise in living standards. Taiwan has a population of
20.6 million people and the capital, Taipei, is the biggest city, with a
population of 2.6 million (Republic of China Year Book, 1993). Asia’s
Media and Marketing (1994) described Taiwan as a market where traditional values persisted, where little English was spoken, and where
the West had just begun to influence lifestyle and aspirations. According to the report, Taiwanese customs and social practices emphasized
the Confucian principles of familial loyalty, obedience, and respect.
Contemporary Taiwanese female consumers were searching for the
equivalent of traditional Confucian status symbols in modern-day
goods. Consumption choices were not always based on function, but
more on the prestigious image of imported foreign brands.
Survey Research Taiwan estimated that 60% of Taiwan’s population
was under 35 years old, with shopping being the main pastime for this
large and affluent group. Asian Media and Advertising (1989) described young Taiwanese women as especially brand-conscious when
buying clothes and accessories. American brands, which were the first
to enter Taiwan, are highly regarded in the surging Taiwanese consumer market. The most successful products in Taiwan are “foreign in
image and local in usability.” With economic growth and increased exposure to the western world, Taiwanese women’s tastes have become
more sophisticated and are moving towards the high-end of the market. The women, educated and affluent, are willing to spend their
savings on imported products, despite the fact that these are comparatively more expensive than local goods.
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TAI AND TAM
Women in China
China, with a population of over 1.2 billion people, is experiencing a
virtual explosion of consumer spending. Consumers’ preferences are
also beginning to change significantly. Rising consumer demand has
been brought about by a substantial increase in income and by changing demographics. Hang Seng Economic Monthly (1993) stated that almost half of China’s population was between 15 and 39 years of age,
and that this group was more willing than previous generations to absorb new products and ideas.
It was also reported in Hang Seng Economic Monthly that the Chinese market was a collection of heterogeneous submarkets with distinct spending patterns. Consumption power in southern China was
generally higher than in the north, but the people in the north tended
to be more selective. For instance, consumers in Shanghai were more
receptive to international fashion styles and trends, whereas people in
Guangzhou, who had greater purchasing power, were heavily influenced by Hong Kong.
China in Focus (1995) reported that during the 1931 – 1949 revolution, which led to the creation of the People’s Republic of China,
women played an equal role in the building of a new China. As
women’s education and their participation in the work force grew,
their status improved. However, the goal of absolute equality between
the sexes remain unfulfilled and gender-role differences were openly
admitted. The potential of the female consumer market in China is
large. As more women become wealthier and increasingly sophisticated, they demand higher-quality products with new and diversified
designs. Younger women in particular are becoming very fashion conscious and are able to indulge in costly foreign brands.
PREVIOUS LIFESTYLE RESEARCH
Lifestyle research is a quantitative research procedure to determine
how people spend time and money, in terms of activities, interests, and
opinions. The AIO statements, as described in Plummer (1974), measure (a) activities: how people spend their time and money, (b) Interests: what they consider to be of importance in their immediate
surroundings, and (c) opinions: how they feel about themselves and
the world around them. Wells (1974) suggested that the AIO statements can be either general or product specific, and either standardized or ad hoc in scale. The choice of statements depends on the
objective of the study and it is possible to use either one or both types
mentioned above.
The concept of lifestyle and its relationship to marketing was first
introduced by Lazer (1963). Since then, much lifestyle research, using
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
291
AIO variables, has been conducted. The studies include Wells and
Tigert (1971); Plummer (1974, 1977); Reynolds and Crask (1977);
Douglas and Urban (1977); Roberts and Wortzel (1979); Venkatesh
(1980); Cosmas (1982); Aaker, Fuse, and Reynolds (1982); Wells (1985);
Parameswaran and Yaprak (1987); Lesch, Luk, and Leonard (1991);
and Hui, Joy, Kim, and Laroche (1993). Despite the large body of
lifestyle studies, very little research has focused on the Asia Pacific
region.
Lifestyle information is very useful for product positioning and market segmentation, and also helps multinationals to understand consumers in different cultures (Plummer, 1974, 1977). Douglas and
Urban (1977) conducted a study to compare the patterning of women’s
lifestyles in the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The
study found that the pattern and underlying dimension of women’s
lifestyles were very similar in all three countries, although specific attitude statements, which characterized each factor, differed from country to country. They concluded that the implications of differences in
lifestyle patterning varied from one product class to another, and that
the findings concerning the response of specific customer targets to
products or marketing strategies in one country could not always be
easily applied to another country.
Tai and Tam (1997) examined the similarities and differences of the
lifestyles between Hong Kong and Singapore consumers. Their results
showed that the major difference between Hong Kong and Singapore
consumers lies in cultural and traditional values. Hong Kong consumers were generally more traditional and conservative, and it was
recommended that marketers accommodate the norms and customs of
their target consumers when developing brand positioning.
Although lifestyle data are very useful in market segmentation and
in developing international marketing strategy, Wells (1975) suggested
that marketers have to be cautious when choosing lifestyle variables
in their studies, as these variables are not as stable as demographic
variables.
METHODOLOGY
Questionnaire Design
A rigorous review of the literature on lifestyle-related research preceded the development of the questionnaire for the present study. The
final version of the questionnaire consisted of three parts. The first
part comprised the interest and opinion statements, the second part
contained frequency of participation activity statements, and the third
part consisted of items related to demographic information. The selection of lifestyle statements for this study was based on three criteria:
relevance to women, value to marketers, and measurability.
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TAI AND TAM
The questionnaire contained both standardized and ad hoc lifestyle
statements. The reason for using a standardized scale was that the
scale had already been tested by different researchers for reliability
and validity, and ad hoc lifestyle statements were used to gain better
insight into the significant differences in social and cultural values
across the three regions.
Sample Design
The target population was white-collar working women between the
ages of 18 and 35. The objective of the survey was to obtain three
groups of females matched in terms of age, rather than the groups’
representativeness of the female working population in each region, in
order to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of the similarities and
differences among the groups. Samples were drawn from the commercial districts of Guangzhou, Hong Kong, and Taipei.
A quota sampling method was used. The questionnaires were dispatched to respondents in Taipei in the summer of 1993, and responses were collected through personal interviews, using the same
questionnaire, within a 6-month period in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
After a preliminary analysis of the data, the number of usable questionnaires for analysis was 188 from Taipei, 182 from Guangzhou, and
188 from Hong Kong.
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Demographic Characteristics
Respondents from Taiwan and Hong Kong were comparable with respect to marital status. Although the majority of respondents in these
two regions were single, more than half of those in China were married,
despite the similar age distribution across the three groups. The distribution of education levels attained by Taiwan and China respondents
was very similar in that more than 60% of them had achieved university-level education. In contrast, the education level of Hong Kong respondents was much lower. Only 19.1% had attained university-level
education. Although Taiwan and China respondents on average had attained a higher education level than Hong Kong respondents, the Hong
Kong sample contained a relatively larger proportion of administrators
and managers. See Table 1.
Factor Analysis of Lifestyle Variables
A principal-component factor analysis was performed on the lifestyle
variables for each group to assess the stability of the dimensions across
the groups. Variables that had low correlations with other variables
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
293
Table 1. Summary of Demographic Characteristics of Respondents.
Taiwan
(%)
Hong Kong
(%)
China
(%)
Age
18 – 25
26 – 30
31 – 35
34.6
48.4
17.0
34.6
44.1
20.2
36.3
46.2
17.6
Marital Status
Single
Married
Divorced
79.3
20.2
0.5
72.9
26.1
1.10
44.5
53.3
2.2
Number of Children
None
One
Two
Three
13.8
8.5
5.9
1.6
17.0
9.0
7.4
0.0
17.6
37.4
2.7
0.0
Educational Attainment
Secondary level
Postsecondary level
University level
Professional level
9.6
16.0
60.1
11.2
58.5
12.2
19.1
9.0
6.0
8.8
69.8
11.0
Occupation
Professional
Managerial/Administrative
Technical
White Collar
22.9
5.3
2.1
62.2
22.3
11.7
3.7
53.2
14.3
1.6
10.4
68.1
Personal Income
Below $10,000
$10,001 – $20,000
$20,001 – $30,000
$30,001 – $40,000
71.3*
28.2*
0.5*
0.0*
47.9*
41.5*
6.9*
3.8*
15.4a
30.2b
20.3c
23.1d
Demographic Variables
*Incomes have been converted to Hong Kong dollars except for the China group.
a
Represents Yuan below 500.
b
501 – 1500.
c
1501 – 2000.
d
2001 – 2500.
and had low loadings on the factors were removed. As a result, 36
lifestyle variables were retained. A scree test and eigenvalues greater
than 1 were selected as the criteria in determining the number of factors to be extracted. A varimax rotation procedure was also performed
to facilitate the interpretation of each factor. It was found that the factor solutions across the three groups were comparable. Thus, the three
samples were pooled and a principal-component factor analysis was
conducted on the whole sample. The purpose of conducting the factor
analysis at this stage was to extract the underlying lifestyle dimensions and then to use the factor scores in a discriminate analysis.
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TAI AND TAM
Twelve factors with eigenvalues greater than 1, accounted for 60.4%
of the total variance extracted. After a closer examination of the loading on the factors, a name was given to each factor according to the
content of the variables making the greatest contribution to each of
the dimensions. Cronbach’s alpha coefficiencies were computed to assess the internal consistency among the set of items on each factor,
and they were found to be in the range of 0.47 – 0.73. Nunnally (1978)
suggested that in the early stages of research, modest reliability in the
range of 0.50 to 0.60 will suffice. In Peter’s (1979) study reviewing the
reliability assessment of marketing measures, the lowest coefficient alpha reported was 0.514 and the highest coefficient alpha was 0.98. Because this study was not in applied settings, the reliability of the
scales was considered as acceptable. Table 2 summarizes the results of
the factor analysis.
Each of the lifestyle statements was measured on a 6-point scale,
with 1 representing “strongly disagree” and 6 representing “strongly
agree.” In order to better understand the similarities and differences
in lifestyles between the three groups, the statements were condensed
by combining 1 – 3 in the “disagree” category and 4 – 6 in the “agree”
category. Table 3 shows the percentage of each group that agreed with
the statements. The following is a brief description of each factor in order of its contribution to the total variance.
Factor 1: Women’s Role and Perception. This factor accounted for
the largest variance among the three groups of female consumers. It
contained five statements, one of which had a reversed scale. The majority of the females in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China agreed that
both husband and wife should share the housework and decide on
any major purchases together. They also tended to agree that males
and females should be treated equally at work, and women should
seek their own careers. However, with respect to the view that a
woman’s place is in the home, the proportion of Hong Kong women
agreeing with this statement was significantly lower than in Taiwan
and China.
Hong Kong women appeared to possess a more modern view of the
role of women than their counterparts. Although they have made
steady gains in education and at work in recent years, and have
achieved considerable economic power, they were still expected to fulfill traditional roles as mothers and wives while developing their careers. Taiwanese women, in general, strongly identified with
traditional Chinese symbols and accepted new definitions of women’s
roles as they received higher education and became more independent
financially. Younger women, in particular, blended Western culture
well with their traditional Chinese values.
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
295
296
Table 2. Summary of Factor Analysis Results.
Lifestyle Factors
TAI AND TAM
Means
Loadings
Women’s role and perception (a 5 0.53)
Husband and wife should both share the housework
Men and women should be treated equally at work
Women should seek their own careers
On any major purchase, the husband and wife should decide together what to buy
A woman’s place is in the home(*)
5.45
5.39
5.02
5.35
3.77
0.69050
0.58757
0.57115
0.52554
0.41910
Family orientation (a 5 0.65)
My family is the most important thing to me
Youngsters should have more respect for the elders
I listen to the advice of elders
I am always proud to have a close-knit family
4.90
5.53
4.46
4.89
0.67455
0.65157
0.61923
0.53748
Brand consciousness (a 5 0.71)
I am willing to pay higher prices for famous brands
I care for well-known brands rather than their quality
I prefer to buy foreign brands than local brands
3.28
2.59
3.58
0.79156
0.77486
0.71919
Home orientation (a 5 0.57)
I would rather spend a quiet evening with my family than go out to meet friends
I am a traditional and conservative person
I am a homebody
3.48
3.54
3.19
0.70983
0.70949
0.66005
Self-confidence (a 5 0.62)
I think I have more self-confidence than most people of my age
I will probably get a job promotion in the near future
When I set my mind to achieve something, I usually can achieve it
4.08
3.86
4.43
0.77984
0.63038
0.62147
(*) – The scale has been reversed.
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
Addiction to work (a 5 0.56)
I am a workaholic
Work is an important part of my life
I always work in the office after office hours or during weekends
3.01
4.23
2.49
0.76142
0.67405
0.55525
Price consciousness (a 5 0.60)
I shop a lot for specials
I usually watch the advertisements for announcements of sales
I check the prices even on small items
3.48
3.58
3.45
0.79841
0.77149
0.60000
Political interests (a 5 0.73)
I always keep myself informed of the latest changes in politics
I am interested in reading news on political and economic affairs
3.48
3.70
0.80701
0.80457
Environmental consciousness (a 5 0.63)
I am willing to pay a little bit higher prices to buy green products
I frequently purchase products which claim to be environmental friendly
3.95
2.52
0.80419
0.77791
Weight watching (a 5 0.52)
No matter how busy I am, I always find time each week to do a few hours of exercises
I am careful in what I eat in order to keep my weight under control
To maintain a nice figure, exercise is very important
3.30
3.90
5.12
0.70544
0.67329
0.52136
Home cleanliness (a 5 0.47)
I feel uncomfortable when my house is not completely clean
I always keep my house very neat and tidy
My home is furnished for comfort, not for style
4.92
4.76
5.17
0.76288
0.63715
0.37424
Health consciousness (a 5 0.50)
I am more health conscious than most of my friends
I frequently purchase “health food” / “natural food”
4.32
3.31
0.71909
0.69353
297
298
Table 3. Lifestyle Characteristics of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China Females.
Taiwan
(%)
Hong Kong
(%)
China
(%)
Women’s role and perception (a 5 0.53)
Husband and wife should both share the housework
Men and women should be treated equally at work
Women should seek their own careers
On any major purchase, the husband and wife should decide together what to buy
A woman’s place is in the home(*)
99.5
96.8
93.1
97.9
46.3
96.8
89.9
95.2
92.0
34.0
94.0
95.1
94.5
96.2
55.5
Family orientation (a 5 0.65)
My family is the most important thing to me
Youngsters should have more respect for the elders
I listen to advice of elders
I am always proud to have a close-knit family
94.7
98.4
84.6
84.6
79.8
95.2
78.7
78.2
89.6
98.4
89.6
94.5
Brand consciousness (a 5 0.71)
I am willing to pay higher prices for famous brands
I care for well-known brands rather than their quality
I prefer to buy foreign brands than local brands
43.6
21.3
48.4
48.9
19.7
55.9
45.1
40.1
59.9
Home orientation (a 5 0.57)
I would rather spend a quiet evening with my family than go out to meet friends
I am a traditional and conservative person
I am a homebody
54.3
60.1
47.9
34.0
49.5
31.9
58.2
51.1
48.9
Self-confidence (a 5 0.62)
I think I have more self-confidence than most people of my age
I will probably get a job promotion in the near future
When I set my mind to achieve something, I usually can achieve it
69.1
69.1
82.4
67.0
60.6
81.4
74.7
58.8
80.8
Lifestyle Factors
TAI AND TAM
(*) – The scale has been reversed.
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
Addiction to work (a 5 0.56)
I am a workaholic
Work is an important part of my life
I always work in the office after office hours or during weekends
44.1
75.5
20.2
42.0
75.0
26.6
24.2
48.6
24.2
Price consciousness (a 5 0.60)
I shop a lot for specials
I usually watch the advertisements for announcements of sales
I check the prices even on small items
56.9
59.0
57.4
53.7
48.4
41.5
34.1
46.2
45.1
Political interests (a 5 0.73)
I always keep myself informed of the latest changes in politics
I am interested in reading news on political and economic affairs
51.1
57.4
39.4
45.2
67.6
75.3
Environmental consciousness (a 5 0.63)
I am willing to pay a little bit higher prices to buy green products
I frequently purchase products which claim to be environmental friendly
83.5
22.3
52.1
13.8
62.6
26.4
Weight watching (a 5 0.52)
No matter how busy I am, I always find time each week to do a few hours of exercises
I am careful in what I eat in order to keep my weight under control
To maintain a nice figure, exercise is very important
41.5
59.0
92.0
30.9
61.7
87.8
53.3
67.6
95.1
Home cleanliness (a 5 0.47)
I feel uncomfortable when my house is not completely clean
I always keep my house very neat and tidy
My home is furnished for comfort, not for style
92.6
90.4
98.4
83.5
81.9
93.1
89.0
92.9
93.4
Health consciousness (a 5 0.50)
I am more health conscious than most of my friends
I frequently purchase “health food” / “natural food”
75.5
35.1
64.9
31.4
81.9
67.0
299
There has been a great change in the perception of gender roles
among women in China. Women were traditionally valued according to
the sacrifices they made for men. In a recent survey carried out by
Asia Week (1993), 40% of the couples interviewed in Guangzhou reportedly shared housework, whereas 76% of the sample in Shanghai
said that they shared the tasks at home. Sixty percent of the couples
made purchasing decisions together. Many women took “helping with
housework” as one of the criteria when choosing a husband, and many
wanted to establish their own careers. However, the majority of men
still expected women to make only moderate changes to their traditional roles.
Factor 2: Family Orientation. Women in Taiwan and China were
found to be more family oriented than Hong Kong females. The proportion of the Chinese and Taiwanese women agreeing with the following
statements “My family is the most important thing to me,” “I listen to
the advice of my elders,” and “I am always proud to have a close-knit
family” were significantly higher than that of women in Hong Kong.
Most families in Hong Kong were willing to work hard, make sacrifices for their children’s education, and to acquire their own accommodation. Although Hong Kong women were fully exposed to Western
culture, they were quite conservative in their attitudes and values toward family and marriage. Compared with Western societies, Hong
Kong still has a distinctively lower divorce rate, even though there has
been a significant increase over the past decade. Traditional Confucian
values remain a predominant influence on Hong Kong women’s behavioral patterns.
Taiwanese women were found to be even more influenced by Confucianism than Hong Kong women. Their philosophy of living emphasized the family system, and they had a strong sense of family
responsibility. In China, the traditional view toward marriage has also
declined in recent years, under the influence of contemporary and
Western culture. It was reported in China in Focus (1993) that the divorce rate increased 135% from 1980 to 1990.
Factors 3 and 4: Home Orientation and Cleanliness. Women in
Taiwan and China were more home oriented than were their Hong
Kong counterparts. The majority agreed that they would rather spend
a quiet evening with their families than go out to meet friends, and
considered themselves as traditionalists. This indicates that women in
Taiwan and China are more traditional and claim to be homebodies,
whereas Hong Kong women are more career minded and independent.
A few differences were also found between the three groups on individual items under home cleanliness, although the majority of them
agreed with the following statements, “My home is furnished for comfort, not for style,” and “I feel uncomfortable when my house is not
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completely clean.” The majority of Hong Kong families employed a domestic helper, especially if the woman was a working wife with young
children. As a result, Hong Kong women were devoted to establishing
their careers and maintaining their own circle of friends. They were
found to be less home oriented than their counterparts in this study.
Factors 5 and 6: Brand and Price Consciousness. The women in
China were found to be the most brand conscious and the least price
sensitive of the three groups. Although more Hong Kong women
agreed that they were willing to pay higher prices for brand-name
goods, the proportion of Chinese women caring about well-known
brands and prepared to buy foreign brands was significantly higher
than the proportion of their counterparts in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In fact, Chinese women perceived foreign brands to be a status symbol
and to be superior to local brands. They sought the prestige associated
with the image of the brand, regardless of the value of the product. In
contrast, Hong Kong women were changing from brand consciousness
to a value-seeking attitude.
Taiwanese women were less likely to pay higher prices for famous
brands and did not have a preference for foreign brands. They were
found to be more price conscious and tended to shop around a great
deal more for bargains, compared to their counterparts in Hong Kong
and China. They compared prices even on small items and usually
paid attention to advertisements for the announcements of sales.
Factors 7 and 8: Self-Confidence and Addiction to Work. The
three groups exhibited a similar degree of self-confidence; however,
Taiwanese females were found to be more optimistic about their
chances of job promotion than their counterparts in Hong Kong and
China. The three groups also agreed that work was an important part
of their lives; however, with regard to their enthusiasm for work, more
than 40% of the Taiwan and Hong Kong respondents admitted that
they were workaholics, whereas only about 24% of the China respondents made the same admission. In spite of this, the percentage of Chinese women working overtime after office hours or during weekends
was higher than the percentage of Taiwanese women but lower than
that of Hong Kong women. It was also found that young female employees were less addicted to work than their elder counterparts, as
the demand for leisure and the pursuit of individual interests keeps
pace with the growing affluence of society.
Factors 9 and 10: Weight and Health Consciousness. The women
in China were slightly more weight conscious and concerned about
their appearance than their counterparts. About 53% of the Chinese
women surveyed agreed that they would find time to do a few hours
of exercise no matter how busy they were. In comparison, 42% of
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301
Taiwanese women and 31% of Hong Kong women said they would do
the same. About 68% of the women in China agreed that they were
careful in what they ate in order to keep their weight under control.
The Chinese women were also more health conscious and they tended
to purchase health food more often than the women in Hong Kong and
Taiwan.
Factor 11: Political Interests. Chinese women were found to be the
most interested in political affairs of the three groups. They were more
sensitive to political issues that had a substantial effect on their lives.
They kept up to date on the latest changes in politics and were more
interested in reading news on political and economic affairs. Taiwanese women showed a modest interest in political affairs, whereas
Hong Kong women expressed the least interest in political affairs.
Factor 12: Environmental Consciousness. Taiwanese and Chinese
women were more environmentally conscious than Hong Kong women.
More agreed to being “willing to pay a slightly higher price for green
products,” and the amount and frequency of purchases of “green” products made by female consumers were significantly higher in Taiwan
and China than in Hong Kong. This finding might be due to the fact
that the women in China considered imported “green” products to be
fashionable, and were therefore willing to pay higher prices to keep up
with the trend.
Discriminant Analysis
Factor scores for each respondent were computed by the regression
method and then used in discriminant analysis. The purpose of the
discriminant analysis was to determine the differences of lifestyles between the three groups with the use of the 12 derived lifestyle factors.
Two discriminant functions were derived and both were found to be
statistically significant at the 1% level.
The first function accounted for 71.41% of the variance with an
eigenvalue greater than 0.6340 and had a canonical correlation of
0.6229. An analysis of variance was conducted for each factor and significant differences were found between the group means at the 5%
level for the following lifestyle factors: Women’s Role and Perception,
Family Orientation, Brand Consciousness, Self-confidence, Addiction
to Work, Price Consciousness, Environmental Consciousness, Home
Cleanliness, and Health Consciousness.
The centroid for the Taiwan group, with the use of the first discriminant function, was 2 0.19429; for the Hong Kong group it was
2 0.74645; and for the China group it was 1.61828. The centroid of the
Taiwan group was closer to the centroid of the Hong Kong group than
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Table 4. Summary of Three-Group Discriminant Analysis Results.
Lifestyle Factors
Women’s role and perception
Family orientation
Brand consciousness
Home orientation
Self-confidence
Addiction to work
Price consciousness
Political interests
Environmental consciousness
Weight watching
Home cleanliness
Health consciousness
Standardized
Coefficients
Function 1
Loadings
Univariate
F Ratios
0.34755
0.08513
0.48300
2 0.01954
2 0.25395
0.71062
0.31808
0.11070
2 0.04832
2 0.11767
0.45312
2 0.40115
0.54391
0.38823
0.26022
2 0.21487
0.09126
2 0.18833
0.01742
0.30897
0.18615
2 0.00244
2 0.00319
0.04664
7.433*
4.435*
13.85*
0.7098
7.475*
25.89*
6.045*
0.6349
6.785*
1.166
11.45*
3.994*
*Significant at 0.05.
to that of the China group. A closer review of the first discriminant
function loadings revealed that the first function corresponded most
closely to Addiction to Work, Brand Consciousness, Women’s Role and
Perception, and Health Consciousness. These factors distinguished the
lifestyles of the women in Taiwan and Hong Kong from those in China.
The primary lifestyle factors on the second discriminant function,
which separated the Taiwan group from the other two groups, were
Environmental Consciousness, Self-Confidence, and Family orientation. The results of the discriminant analysis are presented in Table 4.
In order to assess the validation of the discriminant results, the
sample was randomly divided into two halves. One half of the respondents were used to develop the discriminant function, and the other
half was used for validation purposes. The hit ratio for the analysis
sample was 66.67%, whereas for the holdout sample it was 64.26%.
The maximum chance criterion and the proportional chance criterion
were used to assess the classification accuracy. The maximum chance
criterion obtained was 37.83% and the proportional chance criterion
was computed to be 33.68%. Because the hit ratios for both the analysis sample and holdout sample exceeded the two criterion measures,
this confirms that the discriminant analysis predicts more accurately
than chance.
With the use of the analysis sample, the discriminant function correctly classified 65.5% of the Taiwanese women, 61.4% of the Hong
Kong women, and 74.7% of the women in China. The classification results for the analysis sample are presented in Table 5. The predicted
values for the holdout sample were 65.3%, 60.9%, and 66% respectively, and they were not statistically different from the results for the
analysis sample at the 5% level.
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
303
Table 5. Classification Results of Analysis Sample.
Actual
Group
Sample
Size
Taiwan
87
Hong Kong
101
China
79
Total
267
Predicted Group Membership
Taiwan
Hong Kong
China
Total
57
(65.5%)
30
(29.7%)
13
(16.5%)
18
(20.7%)
62
(61.4%)
7
(8.9%)
12
(13.9%)
9
(8.9%)
59
(74.7%)
87
100
87
80
101
79
267
CONCLUSION AND MARKETING IMPLICATIONS
The working women in the three regions were heavily influenced by
Confucianism and traditional values in their views on women’s roles,
families, and homes. Although the women in Hong Kong exercised substantial financial power as they rose in the business world, most of
them still shared many of the attitudes held by their mothers and
grandmothers. It was only a matter of degree to which females in
China and Taiwan were more traditional than women in Hong Kong.
Women in China, especially the younger ones, had changed their attitudes towards marriage and were more career minded. Thus, the gap
between women in China and their counterparts in Taiwan and Hong
Kong has narrowed.
Female consumers in China were reported to be more brand conscious than their counterparts, as they were strongly attracted to imported goods, regardless of their value and quality. Hong Kong women
had become more value seeking and quality conscious, whereas Taiwanese women, apart from the younger ones, were comparatively
more price conscious. More women in Taiwan and Hong Kong were reported to be workaholics than Chinese women, and the younger
women in general were less addicted to work and showed more demand for leisure time. However, women in China were the most
weight and health conscious of the three groups. Women in China and
Taiwan were also more environmentally conscious than Hong Kong
women.
It can be concluded that women in the three groups were influenced
by Western culture to different degrees and were found to have a mixture of traditional and modern values. Hong Kong women were found
to hold a more modern view of the role of women than their counterparts. However, women in China were picking up new values and
Western ideas very rapidly. The authors foresee that female consumers
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within Greater China will become more and more similar in their
lifestyles in the near future.
As women become more career minded, prefer living independently,
and play the dual role of professional worker and mother/wife, marketing strategy should be tailored to meet their special needs and be
aware of their self-image. Chinese women in Greater China still desire
a feminine image, because most of them have not yet discarded older
beliefs on traditional women’s roles.
When formulating a segmentation strategy for the Greater China
female consumer market, it is suggested that the target group in the
Hong Kong market be young, married women who have substantial
earnings and decision-making power. For the Taiwan market, it would
be most profitable to target younger working women who are eager to
follow the latest trend in foreign markets and willing to spend money
on brand-name goods. In contrast, the biggest market in China is mature women in their 30s, who are the decision makers, users, and influential force in their families. They also prefer imported goods and
top-class, brand-name products.
Concerning the feasibility of employing just one strategy for the
Greater China female consumer market, marketers should consider
the cross-cultural similarities rather than the cross-cultural differences. The women in the three groups actually share many traditional values toward the home and family. If market brands are
directed at young working women, a regional approach is feasible, as
the younger women in Greater China are more likely to share the
same attitudes and lifestyles. Because significant differences were
also found along many lifestyle dimensions between women in the
three groups, marketers should proceed with caution when choosing
to adopt a common strategy for the Greater China female consumer
market.
LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
FOR FUTURE STUDY
This study focused on the lifestyles of working women between the age
of 18 and 35, and the quota sampling method was employed across the
regions to facilitate a more meaningful evaluation of the similarities
and differences between the groups. Therefore, it is difficult to generalize the results to a larger population. Moreover, the sample of women
in China was chosen from Guangzhou, which is heavily influenced by
Hong Kong culture. Consumers in Guangzhou may, therefore, behave
differently from those in Shanghai and Beijing. A cross-sectional comparison of female consumers in the three cities could be conducted in
future research.
LIFESTYLE ANALYSIS OF CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS
305
APPENDIX 1:
Region
Hong Kong
Taiwan
China
Population
Female
Female
Economically
Active
1.6M
20.6M
1.2B
48.9%
48.5%
48.5%
36.7%
36.8%
43.8%
Average
No. in a
Urban
Household Population
3.61
3.83
4.28
93.1%
57.4%
26.2%
GDP
(US$)
Per
Capita
GDP (US$)
82.7B
175.7B
371.2B
15180*
6837*
2656*
*Adjusted for purchasing power in 1989.
Source: Asian Advertising, Marketing and Media Handbook 1994, Euromonitor PLC, 1994
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This research was funded by a Central Research Grant from the Hong Kong
Polytechnic University.
Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to: Susan Tai, Department of Business Studies, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hum Hom,
Kowloon, Hong Kong.
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