Impact of Status Inconsistency on Consumption Patterns in Urban China

Abstract

By analyzing the survey data of Chinese urban household in S city from 1998 to 2009, this paper is mainly focused on the influence of status inconsistency on consumption patterns. The study found that status inconsistency has some influence on material consumption and cultural consumption. High-return families, whose education level is higher than its income level, had less material consumption from 1988 to 1993, but they increased material consumption since 1994. Low-return homes had a higher cultural consumption during 1988-1993, but high-return families have higher than that after 1994. Overall, from 1988 to 1993, high-return families’ material and cultural consumption were low; since 1994, they have a higher material and cultural consumption.