Materialism of Mature Consumers in China and USA: A Cross-Cultural Study

The mature consumer segment is growing in number and income level in both China and the US. It is therefore increasingly important for global marketers to develop an understanding of the consumer behavior of this segment as well as any cross-cultural differences in this behavior. This paper focuses on the materialism of mature consumers in China and the US and examines this in terms of cognitive age, life satisfaction, and physical health status. A total of 283 respondents were surveyed from both countries. Our results show significant support for the following contentions: cognitive age in mature consumers is positively related to materialism, and life satisfaction and physical health status are negatively related. Chinese mature consumers have higher cognitive age perceptions, lower life satisfaction levels, and lower levels of physical health status than their American counterparts. Overall, Chinese mature consumers are more materialistic than their American counterparts. Managerial implications for global marketers are discussed.