Status Seeking Motivation And Conspicuous Consumption Difference Between Urban And Rural

Since the reform and opening up,China's market-oriented reforms have continued to advance and the economy has experienced rapid development.The rapid market-oriented transformation has caused profound changes in the consumption patterns and consumption concepts of Chinese residents.The symbolic meaning and signaling meaning of commodities have gradually played an important role in the consumption of residents,making the phenomenon of conspicuous consumption of Chinese residents more and more intense.Therefore,in the critical period of China's economic improvement and efficiency increase,it is of great significance to explore the social psychological motives of residents' conspicuous consumption for rationally guiding residents' consumption and bring into play its role in promoting consumption.Using the data from Chinese Family Panel Studies,this paper finds that the conspicuous consumption proportion of rural households is significantly higher than that of urban households,and this difference is relatively stable over time;further research found that after considering the average income of family reference groups,the difference between urban and rural conspicuous consumption is no longer significant,and the impact of the average income of the reference group on household conspicuous consumption is significantly negative.This is likely to stem from the motivation of the family to consume for social status.Higher social status means more wealth and higher returns.Conspicuous consumption acts as a signal of family social status and conveys its income level to its reference group.The lower the average income of the reference group,the stronger the consumer's motivation to seek social status.Rural household reference groups have lower average income,so their motivation to seek social status is stronger,and the level of conspicuous consumption is higher.Therefore,the consumer motivation for seeking social status is the main reason for the difference in urban and rural conspicuous consumption.