Chinese women at the crossroads: an empirical study on their role orientations and consumption values in Chinese society

Abstract

Women’s current high levels of education and participation in the labor force have focused attention on their changing lifestyles and consumption patterns, which create a challenge to marketers who are desperate to explore this new market opportunity. This study investigates the significance of the emerging roles of Chinese women in Hong Kong to marketers and also helps to identify some common roles held by Hong Kong females, who are influenced by Chinese and western cultures. Through personal interviews, data were collected in the form of a structured questionnaire from a sample which consisted of 1,000 Chinese females randomly selected in Hong Kong – one of the most important cities in Southern China. This study successfully segmented Hong Kong’s females into three different groups based on six female role orientation dimensions: individualists, traditionalists, and pro‐docietalists. These three groups were found to be statistically significant in demographic characteristics, such as age, educational level, martial status, and number of children, as well as in consumption values associated with purchase decisions. Implications were drawn for marketing practitioners and directions for future research were provided.