Survey Of Chinese College Students Research Articles

Perceptions and aspirations for car ownership among Chinese students attending two universities in the Yangtze Delta, China

China has recently become the largest auto market in the world due to an explosive growth in private car ownership. On one hand, Chinese policymakers must develop sustainable transportation policies including those of car demand reduction; on the other, they must continue to promote the auto industry in the name of economic growth. Understanding the cultural currents behind car ownership, future car growth, and driver behavior is critical for developing responsive and effective policies. However, little is known regarding the attitudes and socio-cultural context surrounding the explosive growth in car ownership. A survey of Chinese college students – consumers with greater future purchasing power – was conducted to understand student attitudes, social norms, and aspiration for car ownership. A strong desire for car ownership among the participants supports the assertion that rapid car growth is likely to continue, but most likely in smaller cities and rural areas. Moreover, perceived psychosocial values of car ownership such as feelings of freedom and control are more likely to be framed by the students’ immediate social environment. The psychosocial valuations dominate the aspiration for car ownership at a level greater than the instrumental valuations of car ownership – for example, speed or convenience of using a private car. Understanding and changing consumers’ psychosocial valuation of cars is increasingly critical in curbing future growth in car ownership and use.

Predicting Chinese young consumers’ acceptance of mobile advertising: a structural equation modeling approach

A survey of Chinese college students was conducted in May and June 2009 to test a model of mobile advertising developed by Merisavo and associates in 2007 in which five factors (utility, context, control, sacrifice, and trust) predict consumer acceptance of mobile advertising. A structural equation modeling was employed to fit the model to survey data from 422 completed usable questionnaires. Generally, the model achieved a reasonable fit with significant standardized regression coefficients on utility, control, sacrifice, and trust. Context seems not to be an important factor while control is a negative predictor. The model cannot be directly transplanted to China, and future research is needed to develop a comprehensive model of Chinese consumers’ acceptance of mobile advertising. Implications for Chinese and global mobile marketers are discussed.

Correlates of formal and informal social/crime control in China: An exploratory study

There are two major ways for a society to control its members, formal and informal. A major goal of both forms of control is to curb criminal behavior. Formal criminal justice control uses the law and official government agencies (e.g., police, courts, and corrections) to ensure compliance. Informal criminal justice control uses morals and social institutions (e.g., family, peers, and neighbors). China has a long history of using informal criminal justice controls. Nevertheless, there has been a movement during the past several decades towards use of formal criminal justice controls. This study examined the level of agreement with both forms of control and the correlates of each form using a survey of Chinese college students. Findings from multivariate analysis indicated that those who held a Confucian belief in law and punishment, those who had a higher distrust of strangers, and those who grew up in rural areas were more supportive of informal control, while those who were majoring in the area of law and male respondents were more supportive of formal control.