International Trade and Finance Association International Trade and Finance Association Working Papers 2006 Year 2005 Paper 4 Cultural Materialism: Where East Meets West Kittichai Watchravesringkan Barbara Dyer University of North Carolina at Greensboro University of North Carolina at Greensboro This working paper site is hosted by The Berkeley Electronic Press (bepress) and may not be commercially reproduced without the publisher s permission. http://services.bepress.com/itfa/16th/art4 Copyright c 2005 by the authors.
Cultural Materialism: Where East Meets West Abstract This paper was presented at the 15th International Conference of the International Trade and Finance Association in Istanbul, Turkey, May 20, 2005.
Materialism refers to the importance of the values of acquisition and possession that individuals attach to material assets (Richins & Dawson, 1992). In the past, materialism has been a cultural value associated frequently with industrialized, capitalistic cultures, for example, the United States and Western Europe (Fromm, 1976). Today, however, due to globalization of trade and the increased interdependence of the world s economies indeed, as East has met West materialism has begun to be adopted among Asian populations (Belk, 1988; Webster & Beatty, 1997; Wong & Ahuvia, 1998). This study, based on a review of the extant literature on cross-cultural materialism, identifies two major gaps in the literature and empirically explores the level of materialism in three different Asian countries, China, Korea, and Thailand. The study clarifies the gaps in the literature, identifies the level of materialism among younger people in three cultures, and provides insights into developing more effective marketing campaigns for global marketers and retailers using the value of materialism to appeal to consumers materialistic desires. GAP 1: CONCEPTUAL CONCERNS While several researchers have found that materialism exists among individuals (e.g., Richins & Dawson, 1992), others have contended and empirically reported that materialism also exists across cultures (Clark & Micken, 2002). Richins and Dawson (1992) proposed and empirically examined a valueoriented materialistic 18-item scale and suggested that those who display high levels of overall materialism should also display a similar pattern in the three interrelated dimensions of materialism: centrality, happiness, and success. However, a number of researchers found that highly materialistic individuals are less likely to be happy with their life (Kasser & Ryan, 1993). Thus, concern is raised regarding the conceptualization of materialism. In addition, when comparing different cultures with regard to materialism, only a few studies have addressed differences across cultures as related to the tri-dimensionality of this construct (Eastman et al., 1997). Such results tend to imply that the underlying meanings associated with a materialistic concept may be interpreted differently across cultures. GAP 2: METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS Due to differences in socio-economic factors (e.g., poverty levels), crosscultural researchers have recently acknowledged that some items assessing materialism may create incompatible responses across cultures, e.g., I usually buy only things I need (Griffen, Babin, & Christiansen, 2004), and they have noted that sufficient care has not always been taken when determining item Hosted by The Berkeley Electronic Press
selection. Thus, Griffen et al. s study unsuccessfully attempted to establish metric equivalence (one of the three components of measurement equivalence) across cultures. In addition, although many demographic variables (e.g., age, educational attainment) have been taken into account when comparing crosscultural materialism, the effect of gender has been less likely to be examined. In sum, to establish the cross-cultural applicability of Richins and Dawson s materialism scale, it is necessary to show that the scale has measurement equivalence when applied to three East Asian countries: China, Korea, and Thailand. This is because the strengths of the materialism scale s cross-cultural properties depend on the degree of its measurement equivalence (Steenkamp & Baumgartner, 1998). Assuming that measurement equivalence has been established across three cultures, cross-cultural comparisons of this scale will then be more meaningful. METHODOLOGY In a cross-cultural study, the equivalence of constructs, samples, and measurement must be addressed empirically to ensure comparability (Douglas & Craig, 1983). Three types of measurement equivalence are required to establish cross-cultural reliability and validity: translation, calibration, and metric equivalences (Mullen, 1995). First, prior to data collection, a structured questionnaire was developed in English and then back-translated into the respective national language by native speakers (i.e., Chinese, Korean, and Thais). These non-english versions of the questionnaires were then back-translated into English to ensure translation accuracy (Brislin, 1980). The questionnaires were distributed to a convenience sample of undergraduate students at major universities in China, Korea, and Thailand. College-aged participants were selected for the study because they are the current generation most affected by the factors impacting cultural materialism, as well as the generation that will lead these countries into the future. Additionally, comparable demographic information is desirable when examining the crosscultural validity of measurement scales, and student samples tend to provide a homogenous sample, obtain a relatively matched sample, and maximize the equivalence of sampling groups (Calder et al., 1981). The final sample resulted in slightly over 200 responses from each country or a total of over 600 responses for the study. The data were tested for invariance of materialism across countries via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using LISREL 8.3. http://services.bepress.com/itfa/16th/art4
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