Chinese urban women's consumerism in the globalization era

Western consumerism gained significant influence in China, especially on urban women who demonstrated increasing consumer behaviors. Is this phenomenon a one-way process consisting of merely western consumer culture imposing on Chinese society? Do Chinese women contribute to consumer behavior patterns? This thesis is intended to identify Chinese consumer behaviors and understand the multiple factors that cause such a phenomenon. By studying this phenomenon, I not only investigate how much western consumer culture has influenced the more traditional Chinese society with its traditionally more reserved gender group (Chinese women) as well as identify to what extent contemporary consumer behavior among Chinese women is a cultural hybrid, but also make a further step into understanding how Chinese women respond to this cultural hybrid.;This thesis used literature study and survey as the main method for data collection. I used snowball sampling method and some surveys were followed up with in-depth interviews.;Several conclusions could be made about Chinese women consumers and their consumerism inclination. Firstly, most of Chinese urban women consumers have some or strong consumerism inclination. Secondly, western consumer culture has a greater influence on Chinese women than men, and on the younger generation than the old. Thirdly, the most fundamental reason for consumerism's spread into China lies in the coincidence between the expansion needs of Western consumer culture and China's consumers' internal needs. Lastly, Chinese women consumers have already started forming hybrided consumption values.