Psychological Experiences And Coping Models Of Prices Fluctuations Among Different Income Groups In Nanjing City

Researches show that price hike rank the third in all the 22 factors perceived by contemporary Chinese as high social risks. Although the Chinese Consumer Price Index (CPI) remained generally stable in the decade prior to 2007, Chinese consumers reacted strongly to CPI, indicating that there are limitations to using CPI as an instrument in measuring the capacity of consumers to bear price hikes. This research not only broadens the application of psychology but also introduces a new perspective in the study of economic phenomena, owing to applying the psychological and psychometrical approaches to the study of the psychological experiences and the coping models of price fluctuations among different income groups in Nanjing city. As the CPI has been rising on a monthly basis since 2007 and may even result in a big inflation, it is no doubt of practical importance to estimate both of them scientifically.This study covers such issues as psychological stress of price fluctuation on different income groups, their coping models (positive or negative), their emotional experiences, their consumption stress level, their consumption happiness level, and degrees of attention to fluctuating prices. The measurement instrument employed here is the Questionnaire for the Psychological Experiences on Price Fluctuations prepared by the author herself.The main conclusions are as follows:(1) There are significant differences between different income groups in terms of psychological stress from fluctuating prices. The low-income group experiences high psychological stress due to their low-level living conditions. The high-income group experiences low psychological stress thanks to their relatively high-level living conditions.(2) There are significant differences between different income groups in terms of their coping models of price fluctuations. The lower income the more coping models, the higher income the less coping models. The group whose annual family income level ranges below or between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan per person tends to take a negative attitude, whereas the group whose annual family income level is between or above 40,000 and 50,000 yuan per person tends to be more positive.(3) There are structural differences between different income groups in terms of their psychological stress from price fluctuations. Groups of the same income level have significant differences in their psychological stress level when experiencing price hikes of different commodities or services. Groups of different income levels have significant differences in their psychological stress level when experiencing price hikes of a particular kind of commodity or service.