Chinese cultural values and gift-giving behavior · PDF fileChinese cultural values and gift-giving behavior Wang Qian Singapore Chinese Chamber, Institute of Business, Singapore Mohammed

Chinese cultural values and gift-giving behaviorWang Qian

Singapore Chinese Chamber, Institute of Business, Singapore

Mohammed Abdur RazzaqueThe University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and

Kau Ah KengNational University of Singapore, Singapore

AbstractPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a study undertaken to investigate the gift-giving behavior of consumers in the People’sRepublic of China (PRC) during the Chinese New Year and the influence exerted by Chinese cultural values on such behavior.Design/methodology/approach – Using a survey among a large sample of people in the city of Tianjin, gift-giving behavior was measured by theimportance accorded to gift-giving, the amount given, the effort spent on gift selection and brand orientation when selecting gifts. The cultural valuesexamined were renqing (human obligations), guanxi (relationship), yuan (destiny or fate), reciprocity, family orientation and Mianzi (face). Factoranalysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data.Findings – Results indicated that Chinese cultural values as a whole as well as most of its components investigated in this research had positive effectson the various gift-giving behaviors. The “face” component was, however, found to affect only the importance attached to gift-giving, the amountgiven and the choice of brand.Research limitations/implications – Research results should be interpreted with caution as the study was limited to Tianjin – one of the severalmajor cities in the PRC. Also the Chinese New Year may not be representative of other occasions when gifts are exchanged.Practical implications – The results of this investigation would benefit practitioners involved in the marketing of “gift items” in the PRC by providingthem with a clear understanding of the general consumption patterns of the PRC urban consumers, insights into the various antecedents of gift-givingand linking them with various aspects of Chinese cultural values. The research findings would also benefit researchers, academics and others interestedin the PRC market by making them familiar with some of the salient aspects that characterize Chinese consumers.Originality/value – This study develops a new model describing the relationships among values (Chinese cultural value and personal value),motivation for gift-giving and gift-giving behavior. It also develops new scales for measuring the constructs such as Chinese cultural values, motivationfor gift-giving and gift-giving behavior.

Keywords China, Consumer behaviour, National cultures

Paper type Research paper

An executive summary for managers and executive

readers can be found at the end of this article.

Doing business in the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) –

the world’s largest single consumer market – poses great

challenges for foreign marketers. To successfully compete in

this market, foreign firms must learn how to penetrate it

(Miller, 1990). This requires a clear under-standing of the

Chinese market (Zhao, 1991); particularly the Chinese

consumers and their behavior. This research involving an

investigation of the gift-giving behavior of the Chinese people,

a practice that has been historically central to Chinese

tradition and culture during their most celebrated festival, the

Chinese New Year, is an attempt to contribute towards this

understanding.Gift-giving, a microcosm of the overall consumption

behavior in any society, is a complex, value-laden

phenomenon. The redundancy of the economic function of

gifts in affluent societies (Cheal, 1988) notwithstanding, gift-

giving continues to be one of the primary exemplars of

symbolic consumer behavior (Otnes and Beltramini, 1996).

An empirical research on this practice in the PRC will shed

some light on certain aspects of the consumption behavior of

the Chinese and provide food for thought for further research.This research has two major objectives. First, it aims to

illustrate the relevance of cultural values of the Chinese

consumers in the context of gift-giving and examine their

relationships with gift-giving behavior. Second, it investigates

Chinese consumers’ perception of the importance of gift-

giving, efforts in gift selection, spending on gifts and

preference for brands of gifts given during the Chinese New

Year.

Research on gift-giving

Conceptualization

Gift-giving has been conceptualized as the evaluation,

selection, and transfer of material and non-material objects

in a spontaneous mode or in fulfillment of an obligation

(Macklin and Walker, 1988). A universal practice that

constitutes a part of most cultural mores (Mauss, 1954;

Schwartz, 1967; Hyde, 1979), gift-giving has been extensively

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Journal of Consumer Marketing

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q Emerald Group Publishing Limited [ISSN 0736-3761]

[DOI 10.1108/07363760710756002]

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explored by researchers from diverse disciplines such associology (Gouldner, 1960; Caplow, 1982, 1984; Cheal,1986, 1987), anthropology (Mauss, 1954; Levi-Strauss, 1956;Davis, 1972), economics (Belshaw, 1965; Garner andWagner, 1988), psychology (Schwartz, 1967; Gould andWei, 1991), and marketing (Rynans, 1977; Lutz, 1979; Beattyet al., 1991, 1993, 1996; Yau et al., 1999).

Gift-giving occasions

People may give gifts on various occasions. For theAmericans, Christmas (Belk, 1975; Fischer and Arnold,1990) and birthdays (Belk, 1975) are the two most importantoccasions for giving gifts. They also give gifts on Valentine’sDay (Netemeyer et al., 1993; Otnes and Ruth, 1994), duringThanksgiving time (Rucker et al., 1994), on Mother’s Day/Father’s Day, Wedding Anniversary and on Graduation (Belk,1975). In Singapore, all the three ethnic groups namely, theChinese, the Malays, and the Indians give gifts at weddings,while visiting newborn babies (Nah, 1998) and on birthdays(Tang, 1995). The culture of a society determines if aparticular occasion merits gift-giving or gift-exchange. Forexample, Chinese New Year is an important occasion for gift-giving in the Chinese culture, but would not be one in theWest (Yau et al., 1999).

Motivation for giving gifts may result either from some self-gratifying objective of the gift-giver (giver orientation) or froman urge to please the gift-recipient (recipient orientation).While obligation (Mauss, 1954; Levi-Strauss, 1956; Goodwinet al., 1990; Wolfinbarger, 1993; Park, 1998) and self-interest(Mauss, 1954; Sherry, 1983; Wolfinbarger, 1990; Park, 1998)constitute orientation of the giver, recipient orientationconsists of altruism i.e. maximization of recipient’s pleasure(Sherry, 1983; Wolfinbarger, 1990; Park, 1998) andpracticality of the use of the gift given (labeled asexperiential or positive motivation by Wolfinbarger (1993)).

An individual’s gift-giving behavior seems also to beinfluenced by his/her personal value system and valueorientation. Values such as frugality, equipollence, tradition,edification and social recognition have been found to guideChristmas gift selection behavior in the USA (Lowrey et al.,1996). Value differences have been reported in the gift-givingbehavior of the Americans and the Japanese (Beatty et al.,1993) as well as the Americans, French, West German andDanish gift givers (Beatty et al., 1996). However, Hill andRomm (1996) reported the existence of inherent complexitiesof culture specific rules in the gift-giving process in terms ofmotivation, selection, presentation, and reaction.

Chinese cultural values

China’s long historical and cultural traditions have a profoundimpact on the values the life-style and the consumptionpatterns of its people. In order to understand these aspects, itis necessary to have an in-depth knowledge of some salientaspects of the Chinese cultural norms that have been formedand created largely from interpersonal relationships and socialorientations of the Chinese people. This is explicit from theworks of Confucius, whose doctrines constitute the basicpillars of Chinese life and ways of living even today. Salientaspects of Chinese culture are discussed below.

Family orientationChinese cultural values emerge from and sustain in an Easternworld-view and pattern their behaviors (Frankenstein, 1997).Chinese society is built around clan-like networks, with close

family members constituting its core. Concept of “family”

extends beyond its strict biological meaning (Luo, 1997a) and

can be viewed as a set of concentric circles of contacts.

Chinese ethnocentrism has its roots in the family; most or all

of the emotional and cultural values of the Chinese

individuals are derived exclusively from the family and

conditioned largely within the solidarity of one family setting

(La Barre, 1946).It is the family and kinship relations, not the educational

institutions that pass on the heritage to the Chinese children.

Family teaches children the importance of loyalty, obedience,

and filial piety within a role-bound network (Hsu, 1972) as

well as the virtues of restraining their individuality and the

necessity of maintaining harmony (Hofstede and Bond,

1988). Family members cultivate an interconnected sense of

self (Hsu, 1970) and the social order of family serves as the

prototype for conduct in all Chinese organizations (Chen and

Chung, 1994).

GuanxiA major dynamic force in the Chinese society, guanxi refers to

the direct particularistic ties between two or more individuals

(Jacobs, 1979) that determine the strength or closeness of

interpersonal relationship. It is the most important social-

business resource of an individual Chinese (Ju, 1995) that

draws on connections in order to secure favors in personal

relations. Viewed as a “secret” to corporate success in China,

guanxi is an intricate and pervasive relationship network

which the Chinese people cultivate energetically, subtly, and

imaginatively (Luo, 1997b). The larger one’s guanxi network

is, the more powerful the person becomes. Nothing can be

done in China without guanxi (Ju, 1995); it may be seen as a

double-entry system, involving a continued and reciprocal

exchange of favors between the two parties involved. When

one party receives a favor from another, it is expected that the

former will reciprocate at some time in the future, otherwisethe guanxi cannot be sustained.

YuanYuan (or karma, destiny) is individuals’ predetermined

relations with things beyond one’s control which can be

explained by the theory of locus of control (Rotter, 1966). It is

a particular case of the theory of attribution, in which people

attribute their failures to external forces. Yuan has an internal

as well as an external dimension. Internal locus of control

refers to the phenomenon that enables people to see

themselves as controller of their lives while external locus of

control refers to whether they see themselves to be governedby forces beyond their control (Sampson, 1980).

Unlike the Westerners, who under the influence of the

Protestant ethic’s individualism tend to perceive themselves

competent and have some control over their own lives (Rotter,

1966), the Chinese emphasizes external locus of control. They

regard man as a part of nature who must learn to adapt to it to

reach harmony since nature has the way by which all things

become what they are (Chan, 1963). Chinese believe that

friendships or even marriages are predetermined. It alsoaffects a consumer in his pursuit to find products that would

satisfy him (Yau, 1994).

MianziMianzi or face is an individual’s public image, gained by

performing one or more specific social roles that are well

recognized by others (Hu, 1944; Redding and Ng, 1982). It is

Chinese cultural values and gift-giving behavior

Wang Qian, Mohammed Abdur Razzaque and Kau Ah Keng


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the respectability and/or deference which a person can claim

for himself from others, by virtue of his relative position in the

social network and the degree to which he is judged by others

to have functioned adequately and acceptably in his general

conduct in that position (Ho, 1976). The interdependent self-

concept, which emphasizes social role and public perceptions

being central to one’s identity, leads Chinese to focus on

“face”.Although what constitutes a desirable mianzi is culture-

specific, the concept is “more disciplined by concerns about

hierarchical order in Chinese culture” (Bond and Hwang,

1986, p. 249) making the Chinese particularly sensitive to it

(Hu, 1944; Hu and Grove, 1991; Redding and Ng, 1982). A

humanistic culture has made the Chinese extremely conscious

of oneself and of others. The concern for not losing one’s face

and at the same time saving other people’s face is a key

component of the Chinese cultural value (Redding and Ng,

1982). For the Chinese, “losing face socially” is comparable

to the physical mutilation of one’s eyes, nose, or mouth! It is a

source of shame that can be avoided by communicating in

ways that shun embarrassing another person (Varner and

Beamer, 1995).Saving face is very important to the Chinese (Redding,

1990) as it means that a person is more concerned with other

people’s perception of him/herself and with maintenance of

his/her own status (Lee and Green, 1991). As such “face” is

likely to influence Chinese consumers’ buying decisions.

Comparative studies in Confucian and Western societies have

shown that personal taste and family face result in different

practices in luxury consumption in these cultures (Wong and

Ahuvia, 1998).

RenqingRenqing, another central concept of the Chinese culture

system, has several meanings. It may mean:. human feelings – the basic emotional responses of an

individual in confrontation with various daily life

situations;. a set of social norms and obligations that require keeping

in contact with those of one’s guanxi network and

participating in exchange of gifts, greetings, visits, and

assistance;. a kind of resource, such as a favor or gift, and can be used

as a medium of social exchange; and. finally, in certain contexts as a synonym for guanxi (Yan,

1996).

Renqing is a complicated social relationship concept that refers

to social favors that are exchanged by interacting individuals

in the form of money, goods, information, status, services,

and affection according to an implicit set of rules (Hwang,

1983, 1987). It is the main conceptual tool to study patterns

of personal relations (King, 1994). Developing renqing is a

precondition for the establishment or use of guanxi, but the

advantages run both ways. In weaving their guanxi network,

Chinese people also weave web of renqing obligations; while

enjoying the benefits of a network, they also take on a

reciprocal obligation which must be “repaid’ in the future

(Hwang, 1987).

ReciprocityReciprocity consists of three inter-related aspects of social

action – bilateral contingency, interdependence for mutual

benefit and equality of exchanges – between two individuals

(Lebra, 1976). A cornerstone of social intercourse in the

Chinese society that emphasizes the necessity of social

interactions in maintaining a harmonious social order, it

directly links gift-giving activities to the notion of propriety

(li). Propriety – widely known to have played a central role in

traditional Chinese culture – constitutes “the basic concept of

Confucianism” (Weber, 1968). A good person will always

interact with others in a reciprocal way. For example, visiting

someone without bringing anything is very unusual, and

accepting a gift and not reciprocating is morally wrong

(Steidlmeier, 1999). In a Chinese society, reciprocity is

characterized by the obligation of giving, receiving, and

returning gifts in the long run, as captured in the Chinese

proverb li shang wanglai.

Chinese cultural values and gift-giving

Yan (1996) studied exchange of food and labor during routine

visits between relatives and neighbors and exchange of gifts

between friends on special occasions. Using an

anthropological approach with particular interest in the gift

items, the types of gift-giving, and the hierarchical

arrangement of givers and receivers of gifts, he constructed

a classification of exchange behavior in a village society and

presented new interpretations of renqing and guanxi. He noted

that elaborate social networks had adjusted to and survived

the radical social changes that took place during four decades

of socialism. In a later study, Yau et al. (1999) found that the

behavior of gift-giving among Hong Kong consumers was

mediated by such Chinese cultural values as face saving,

reciprocity and guanxi. They developed a more parsimonious

model to explain the influence of Chinese cultural values on

gift-giving and made some suggestions based on this

comprehensive model for future testing.

Hypotheses

The discussion presented above indicates that the Chinese

cultural value as a whole and its various components such as

family orientation, guanxi, yuan, face, renqing, and reciprocity

may have an impact on the gift-giving behavior of the Chinese

people. More specifically, these might have influenced the

perceived importance of gift-giving, the amount/dollar value

of the gift-given, the gift-selection effort, and the brand of the

gift given. Hence, in the light of the literature discussed above,

the following hypotheses are proposed. It should be noted that

each of the hypotheses H1a, H2a, H3a, and H4a are

composite hypotheses with sub-hypotheses (for each

component):

H1a. Chinese cultural value components are associated

positively with the perceived importance of gift-giving.

H1b. Chinese cultural value as a whole is associated

positively with the perceived importance of gift-giving.


positively with the perceived amount given.

H2b: Chinese cultural value as a whole is associated

positively with the perceived amount given.


positively with the perceived gift selection effort.

H3b. Chinese cultural value as a whole is associated

positively with the perceived gift selection effort.


positively with the perceived brand orientation.




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H4b. Chinese cultural value as a whole is associatedpositively with the perceived brand orientation.

Research methodology

The sample

The objectives and the nature of this investigation dictated theadoption of survey research using a self-administeredquestionnaire as the most appropriate method for datacollection. However, given the respondents’ general lack ofexposure to such research, each questionnaire was handdelivered by an interviewer with specific instructions to helpthe respondent to complete it if assistance was sought. It isworth noting that the presence of an interviewer increasesresponse rate, generates quality response, and allows the useof probing and open-ended questions (Churchill, 1995).

The data for this study were collected from Tianjin, thelargest port city and trade center in North China.Neighboring Beijing, Tianjin has been known as thegateway to the Chinese capital. In addition, a largepopulation base of over 9.3 million spread over six centraldistricts, seven suburbs, and five counties makes the Tianjindwellers a good representation of the urban consumers ofPRC.

The survey was participated by a total of 550 respondentswho were selected in two stages. First, residential committeeswere randomly chosen from each of Tianjin’s six districts.This was followed by the selection of households. Residentsaged between 20 and 60 were randomly selected from theinhabitant records (names, addresses, and telephonenumbers, etc.), maintained by the sampled residentialcommittees. A packet containing a cover letter, a surveyquestionnaire, and a gift worth 10 CNY(1 CNY ¼ US$0:12)as an incentive for completing the questionnaire was handdelivered to each respondent by an interviewer. The coverletter explained the purpose of the survey and promised theconfidentiality of the information provided. As therespondents have little or no knowledge of English,Mandarin questionnaires were administered to them. First,an English questionnaire was developed. This was thentranslated into Mandarin and back translated to English bytwo bilingual researchers to ensure congruency with theoriginal instrument.

Since gift-giving is a matter of personal choice and to someextent a sensitive topic, participants were asked to completethe survey by themselves in the privacy of their homes. Almost90 percent of the completed questionnaires were returned tothe interviewers on the spot. However, the remainingquestionnaires were returned on the following day. Sincemost of the questionnaires were completed by the respondentsthemselves, social desirability bias, common in most face-to-face interviewing (Dillman, 1978), was reduced. Datacollection was completed over a six-week period betweenFebruary and March 2000.

Measures

A total of 32 items were used in operationalizing the Chinesecultural value measures. Four of these items representingharmony with universe, were adopted from Yau’s (1994)scale. Another four items representing family orientation weretaken from the work of Tai and Tam (1997). The remaining24 items representing renqing, reciprocity, guanxi, yuan, andface-saving were specifically developed for this study.

For measuring the amount spent for gifts and gift-selectioneffort aspects, eight statements reflecting the importance ofChinese New Year were developed. These statements are inline with the work of Beatty et al. (1991). Another eightitems used to measure the perceived importance of gift-giving and brand orientation were selected from anexploratory study conducted among PRC students inSingapore, involving 13 statements describing theimportance of gift-giving and brand orientation. All itemswere measured on a seven-point Likert-type scale, rangingfrom “1 ¼ strongly disagree” to “7 ¼ strongly agree” with 4as “neither agree nor disagree”.

Analyses and findings

Sample profile

Of the 550 completed questionnaires received, 504 (91.6percent) were usable. The high response rate is attributable tothe dedication of the field staff employed for the datacollection. The demographic characteristics of therespondents are shown in Table I.

Validity and reliability assessmentThe validity of the scale items used was assessed throughfactor analysis using Principal Component Analysis (PCA)with Varimax rotation. Factor loadings (Tables II and III)ranged between a low 0.507 and a high 0.913 and exceededthe minimum cut-off point of 0.5 suggested by Zikowsky(1985).

Reliability of the scales is measured by computing theCronbach alpha (a) values for all the multi-item measuressuch as gift-giving behavior and Chinese cultural values. Forall the ten factors used in this research, the reliability valuesranged between 0.700 and 0.811, which exceed or equal theminimum acceptable value of 0.7 suggested by Nunnally(1978).

Exploratory factor analysis

A correlation matrix was computed for each of the scales-one with 16 items for the gift-giving behavior scales and theother with 32 items operationalizing the Chinese culturalvalues. Only those items having high correlation ($ 0.5)with other items were used in factor analysis. Of the 16items examined in the gift-giving behavior scale, four hadloadings below 0.5 and were deleted from the scale. Factoranalysis of the remaining 12 items resulted in four factorslabeled as importance of gift-giving, amount given, gift-selection effort, and brand orientation, accounted for 51.65percent of the total variance. On the other hand, 27 of the32 Chinese cultural value items examined showedacceptable levels of factor loading and communality.Factor analysis of theses items yielded six factors relatedto Chinese cultural value components, and were labeled asrenqing, reciprocity, yuan, guanxi, saving-face, and familyorientation. Together, they explained 55.9 percent of thetotal variance.

Data analysisNull model (impact of Chinese cultural value on gift-giving)As mentioned earlier, Chinese cultural value as a whole (Cv)and its components were hypothesized to have direct positiveimpact on the components of gift-giving behavior. Based onthe theoretical model, a path diagram is constructed usingAMOS (Figures 1 and 2). The constructs are drawn as bigger




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ovals, indicators are represented by rectangles, error terms are

shown as smaller ovals and the relationships between

constructs are represented by arrows. A straight, single-

headed arrow indicates a direct causal relationship of one

construct with another. The AMOS notations for the

exogenous variables for Chinese cultural value (Cv) in the

model are: Rq ¼ renqing, Re ¼ reciprocity; Gx ¼ guanxi;

Yu ¼ yuan; Fo ¼ family orientation; and Sf ¼ saving face.

The notations for endogenous variables for gift-giving (Gb),

on the other hand are: Im ¼ importance of gift giving; Am ¼amount given; Ef ¼ gift selection effort and Bo ¼ brand

orientation.

Testing the factorial validity of CFA modelBefore proceeding with structural equation modeling (SEM),

confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed on the

exogenous variables to test if the specified indicators load

correctly and highly on the constructs and to estimate the

measurement model. The model can be used to validate the

scales measuring the constructs (Hair et al., 1998).As mentioned earlier a total of ten components constitute

the array of independent and dependent variables in this

study. These include six Chinese cultural value components

(renqing, reciprocity, guanxi, yuan, family orientation, and

saving face) and four gift-giving behavior components

(importance of gift-giving, amount given, gift-selection, and

brand orientation). The accompanying scale items extracted

from the exploratory factor analysis were further subjected to

CFA. The path diagrams for the null-CFA (CFA1 and

CFA2) are presented in Figures 3 and 4.

First-order for Chinese cultural value and gift-giving behaviorCFA1 (Figure 3) was conducted using the six factors

representing Chinese cultural value. This produced a chi-

square (x2) statistic of 387.588 (df ¼ 125), with goodness-of-

fit (GFI), root mean square error of approximation

(RMSEA), Tucker-Lewis coefficient (TLI), and adjusted

goodness-of-fit (AGFI) indices of 0.915, 0.065, 0.906 and

0.884, respectively. CFA2 (Figure 4) was conducted using

four components of gift-giving behavior resulting in a x2 of

112.709 (df ¼ 48) with GFI, AGFI, TLI, and RMSEA of

0.964, 0.941, 0.935, and 0.05, respectively. The x2 statisticsof the two models along with p value significant at ,0.001

indicate an unacceptable model fit. It is worth noting that this

p value is typical for such measurement models (Post et al.,1999); and the x2 value increases rapidly (Arbuckle, 1997)

with large degrees of freedom. However, values for all the

other indices such as GFI, AGFI, TLI, and RMSEA fall into

the acceptable ranges. Given the larger sample size (n ¼ 504)

these values indicate that the two factor null models related to

Chinese cultural value and gift-giving behavior display

reasonably good model fits and are acceptable overall.

Assessing the reliability of indicatorsThe reliability of an indicator can be interpreted as the extent

to which its variance is explained by the construct that it is

loaded on. Although the indicator reliabilities should exceed

0.5, which equals to a standardized loading of 0.7 (Hair et al.,1998), indicators with factor loadings of 0.5 and above

(reliability estimate of 0.25) are acceptable. Hence, for further

analysis, indicators with factor loading #0.5 were dropped

from the model (with the exception of constructs with two

indicators) because of their low explanatory power. This led

to the deletion of Cv22 (loading ¼ 0:478) and Cv29

(loading ¼ 0:490) from the model before carrying out

subsequent analysis (see Table IV). Consequently, all the

indices of measures of fit for Chinese cultural value, i.e. GFI

(0.965), AGFI (0.949), TLI (0.970), and RMSEA (0.041),

indicate a good fit for the constructs.

Second-order CFA model for Chinese cultural valueThe purpose of specifying a second-order factor model is to

confirm that the first-order factors estimated are actually sub-

dimensions of a broader and more encompassing construct.

In this study, Chinese cultural value (Cv) is second-order

factors. The CFA-3 model (Figure 5) hypothesizes a priori

that responses to 25 items can be explained by six first-order

Table I Demographic profile of the respondents

Demographics Frequency Percentage

SexFemale 270 46.4

Male 234 53.6

Total 504 100.0

Age 78 15.5

Below 20 years 118 23.4

20-29 years old 93 18.5

30-39 years old 91 18.1

40-49 years old 96 19.0

50-59 years old 28 5.6

60 years old and above

Total 504 100.0

OccupationProfessional 84 16.7

Managerial 85 16.9

Technician/salesman 76 15

Clerical 69 13.7

Machine operator 57 11.3

Student 59 11.7

Retired/housewife/not-working 74 14.7

Total 504 100

Marital statusMarried 329 32.5

Single 164 65.3

Other 11 2.2

Total 504 100.0

Highest education levelPrimary school and below 40 8

Junior middle school 63 12.5

Senior middle school 125 24.8

Diploma holder 121 24.0

University 126 25.0

Postgraduate 29 5.8

Total 504 100.0

Gross monthly income (RMB)Below 399 112 22.2

400-799 153 30.4

800-1,199 142 28.2

1,200-1,599 63 12.5

1,600 and above 34 6.8

Total 504 100.00




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Table II Factor loading, mean, reliability estimate, eigenvalue, and percentage of variance for gift-giving behavior

Item Factor Loading Mean

Factor 1: importance of gift-giving (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7266, EV ¼ 2:690, VAR ¼ 15:450)

3 Gift-giving always accompanies Chinese New Year 0.698 4.9544

6 Gift-giving is part of Chinese culture and tradition 0.672 5.1627

7 I think that gift-giving during Chinese New Year is important 0.661 4.5952

Factor 2: amount given (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7312, EV ¼ 2:122, VAR ¼ 13:612)

8 I spend a lot of money on gifts during Chinese New Year 0.787 4.7460

15 I almost never give gifts to people for Chinese New Year (reverse scored) 0.714 4.6242

2 I give many gifts during the Chinese New Year 0.650 4.9496

Factor 3: gift-selection effort (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7506, EV ¼ 2:080, VAR ¼ 12:410)

12 I often wait until the last minute to purchase Chinese New Year gifts (reverse scored) 0.851 4.9683

11 I always try to spend a lot of time for gift-shopping during Chinese New Year 0.760 4.8817

16 I always make a special effort to select or make Chinese New Year special for others 0.686 5.2282

Factor 4: brand orientation (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7003, EV ¼ 1:635, VAR ¼ 10:177)

9 I look for well-known brands when choosing Chinese New Year gifts 0.749 4.8135

5 I prefer to buy Chinese brands as Chinese New Year gifts 0.649 4.1369

4 I think that the brand-name of Chinese New Year gifts is important 0.652 4.8671

Table III Factor loading, mean, reliability estimate, eigenvalue, and percentage of variance for Chinese cultural values

Item Factor Loading Mean

Factor 1: renqing (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:8109, EV ¼ 7:119, VAR ¼ 12:318)

4 I do not like to owe other people renqing (favors) 0.782 5.9246

7 I do not feel obligated to return someone a renqing (favor) (reverse scored) 0.780 5.8075

10 It is easy enough to repay a debt, but hard to repay renqing (favors) 0.758 5.4742

14 It is more urgent to pay back renqing (favors) than debt 0.753 5.6647

Factor 2: reciprocity (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7789, EV ¼ 1:638, VAR ¼ 10:736)

28 The reciprocity is important to me 0.728 5.9861

25 No matter what you are doing, you should understand reciprocity 0.674 4.8532

11 I believe that one should treat others as one wishes to be treated 0.628 5.3333

Factor 3: guanxi (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7371, VE ¼ 1:872, VAR ¼ 9:841)

9 I prefer to do things on my own rather than relying on guanxi (connection) with others (reverse scored) 0.818 4.9940

15 I believe that getting things done depends more on guanxi (connection) than on personal effort 0.711 5.3135

2 I would like to follow different customs in different places 0.674 5.6448

5 I believe that developing guanxi (connection) is necessary in one’s daily life 0.599 5.3770

20 I like to retain good guanxi (connection) with others 0.578 5.4067

26 When in Rome, do as the Romans do 0.512 5.7857

Factor 4: Yuan (destiny) (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7229, VE ¼ 2:319, VAR ¼ 8:193)

21 I believe that marriage is based on yuan (fate) 0.913 5.9802

6 I do not believe yuan (fate) that everything in life is far beyond our control (reverse scored) 0.705 5.9246

16 Yuan (fate) brings together people who are far apart 0.630 6.0774

17 I think that everything in life is dictated by yuan (fate) 0.618 6.0913

1 Do all that is humanly possible and leave the rest to the will of providence 0.519 5.2154

22 Let those who comply with Heaven thrive and those who resist Heaven perish 0.507 5.6215

Factor 5: family orientation (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7123, EV ¼ 1:213, VAR ¼ 7:818)

12 I listen to the advice of elders 0.754 5.9425

8 My family is the most important thing to me 0.718 4.9362

23 I am always proud to have a close-knit family 0.624 5.8909

29 Youngsters should have more respect for elders 0.531 4.6865

Factor 6: saving face (Cronbach alpha ¼ 0:7011, EV ¼ 1:173, VAR ¼ 6:998)

13 I do not mind suffering hardships in order to preserve face 0.793 5.9996

3 I worry about losing face in daily life 0.754 5.9325

18 I am concerned about how others perceive me 0.620 5.1231

27 I believe that it is important to give “mainzi”(face) to others 0.529 6.2361




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factors (renqing, reciprocity, guanxi, yuan, family orientation,

and saving face) and one second-order factor (Chinese

cultural value). The model produced a x2 statistic of 321.642

(df ¼ 128, p , 0:001), with GFI and AGFI indices of 0.965

and 0.931, respectively. Therefore, all of the multiple

goodness-of-fit measures for second-order factor of Chinese

cultural value indicated a reasonably good model fit.

SEM

In order to examine the effect of each of the components of the

Chinese cultural value and Chinese cultural value as a whole on

gift-giving behavior, SEM for the effects of the independent

variables on dependent variable was carried out. Similar to the

procedure for CFA discussed earlier, a null-SEM1 and SEM2

path diagram was first constructed in AMOS for the expected

main effects. Based on the fitted CFA model, a null structure

model was constructed to test for any impact of components on

gift-giving behavior (Figures 1 and 2).The results of the null-SEM1 and SEM2 are presented in

Tables V and VI. The AMOS outputs reveal that the x2

statistics for SEM1 (x2 ¼ 772:309, df ¼ 204) and for SEM2

(x2 ¼ 657:176, df ¼ 221) are both significant at p , 0:01,

indicating an unacceptable fit. However, all of the additional

goodness-of-fit measures for the two models (i.e. GFI ¼

0:939 and 0.951; AGFI ¼ 0:901 and 0.923; CFI ¼ 0:942 and

0.965; IFI ¼ 0:949 and 0.968; TLI ¼ 0:928 and 0.920; and

RMSEA ¼ 0:047 and 0.041, respectively) indicated a good

model fit. Therefore, in summary, the multiple goodness-of-

fit measures validated the model as an acceptable

representation of the hypothesized constructs.In order to avoid the problems of mis-specification, Hoelter

(1983) recommended 200 as the “critical sample size”

(Critical N or CN) for SME with maximum likelihood

estimate (MLE) as the estimation procedure. MLE becomes

“too sensitive” for larger samples (such as 504 as used in this

research) often resulting in goodness-of-fit measures that

indicate a poor fit (Hair et al., 1998). This justifies the use of

additional goodness-of-fit measures.

Measurement model fit

All the indicators are sufficient in terms of how the

measurement model is specified as their loadings are above

0.5 and significant at p , 0:001. The factor loadings of first-

order constructs related to renqing, reciprocity, guanxi, yuan,

family orientation, and saving face are all significant at

p , 0:001. This means that the second-order construct

Chinese cultural value (Cv) is well explained by these six

first-order constructs.

Figure 1 SEM-1 of Chinese cultural value components on gift-giving behavior




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220

All ten constructs related to Chinese cultural values and gift-

giving behavior have reliability values exceeding

recommended level of 0.70. Renqing (0.808) and yuan(0.804) showed relatively high levels of reliabilities

respectively, while other constructs such as reciprocity

(0.773), guanxi (0.791), family orientation (0.752), saving

face (0.772), importance of gift-giving (0.744), amount given

(0.736), gift-selection effort (0.774), and brand orientation

(0.706) also have acceptable reliability values. Hence, the

indicators are sufficient representations of the constructs that

they load onto.

Testing of the hypotheses

Before estimating the hypothesized model, the variance

inflation factor (VIF), the inverse of (1 2 R2) is computed.

To indicate little or no multicollinearity, its value should be

1.00 or near 1.00. However, Hair et al. (1998) suggest a cutoff

VIF value of 10.00 as acceptable. Among the variables used in

this study, the highest VIF occurs in equation 2 (VIF ¼ 2:01,

R2 ¼ 0:42) indicating a negligible multicollinearity effect

among the variables.One-tailed tests of significance were used to determine the

significance of each path coefficient. Tables V and VI, which

show the structural parameter estimates from the

hypothesized model, also presents the findings of the final

fitted model’s coefficients and the coefficients of

determination (R2). R2 is a measure of the entire structural

equation and provides a relative measure of fit for each

structural equation. R2 values ranged from 0.104 to 0.423 for

equations 1-8 in SEM using AMOS.

Findings of hypotheses testing

H1a and H1b, predict that components of Cv and Cv as a

whole have positive and significant effects on gift-giving

behavior. The relationship between Chinese cultural value

components and Chinese cultural value as a whole

(independent variables) and gift-giving behavior components

(dependent variables) reflected in Tables V and VI suggest

that most of the sub-hypotheses referred to in H1a are

supported at p , 0:05 or better. Results of the parameter

estimates reveal that with the exception of family orientation

(b ¼ 0:056, p ¼ 0:219) all the other five components of Cv

have positive and statistically significant effect on the

perceived importance of gift-giving. While each of renqing(b ¼ 0:195), reciprocity (b ¼ 0:233), and yuan (b ¼ 0:351)

are significant at p , 0:01 level, guanxi (b ¼ 0:154) and

saving face (b ¼ 0:135) is significant at p , 0:05. These lend

support to H1a. Moreover, the results (Tables V and VI) also

Figure 2 SEM-2 of Chinese cultural value as a whole on gift-giving behavior




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221

show that the parameter estimates for Chinese cultural value

as a whole (Cv) on perceived importance of gift-giving are

positive and significant (b ¼ 0:512, p , 0:01). Therefore,H1b is supported.

Results also indicate that Chinese cultural value

components such as renqing (b ¼ 0:364, p , 0:01),reciprocity (b ¼ 0:254, p , 0:01), guanxi (b ¼ 0:211,

p , 0:01), yuan (b ¼ 0:144, p , 0:05), and saving face(b ¼ 0:322, p , 0:01) have positive effect on the amount

given, respectively. Therefore, all sub-hypotheses of the

composite hypotheses H2a are supported. The parameterestimate for Cv as a whole on the perceived amount given,

which is 0.480 (p , 0:01) tends to support H2b.For H3a and H3b, the influence of Cv components on gift-

selection effort, the results reveal that renqing (b ¼ 0:159,

p , 0:05), reciprocity (b ¼ 0:176, p , 0:01), guanxi(b ¼ 0:169, p , 0:01) and yuan (b ¼ 0:148, p , 0:05) arepositively associated with gift-selection effort. These render

partial support to H3a. Review of H3b reveals that Cv as a

whole is associated with an increase in gift-selection effort.Furthermore, the parameter estimate is positive and

significant (b ¼ 0:29, p , 0:05). Therefore, H3b is supported.Finally, for H4a and H4b, the results indicate that brand

orientation is significantly and positively influenced by

Chinese cultural value components such as renqing(b ¼ 0:162, p , 0:01), reciprocity (b ¼ 0:296, p , 0:01),

guanxi (b ¼ 0:154, p , 0:05), yuan (b ¼ 0:167, p , 0:01),

and saving face (b ¼ 0:208, p , 0:01). Therefore H4a is alsosupported. H4b posits that Chinese cultural value as a whole

(Cv) has positive effects on the brand orientation. H4b is

supported, as the parameter estimate for Chinese culturalvalue as a whole on brand orientation is positive and

significant (b ¼ 0:366, p , 0:01).

Discussion and managerial implications

The results of this investigation have several important

implications for both marketing practitioners and researchers.

They provide a broad understanding of the generalconsumption patterns of urban consumers in the PRC by

offering insights into three antecedents of gift-giving namely,Chinese cultural values, personal values and motivation for

gift-giving. They also highlight some other related aspects

such as importance of gift-giving, amount given, gift-selectioneffort, and brand orientation. The results suggest that the

choice of gift may not depend only on personal values and

motivation for gift-giving; it may also be a function of theircultural values. For example, Chinese consumers generally

put more emphasis on brand orientation in buying Chinese

New Year gifts. Hence, marketers should take note of thebrand orientation in developing market strategies.

This study can also help marketers better segment theirmarket based on consumers’ personal values, cultural values,

and motivation for gift-giving and establish appropriate

marketing strategies for their target market. Knowledgeabout gift-giver and gift-receiver orientation and

consequences of gift-giving will help them develop better

strategic decisions regarding the gift-market. In developing asuitable strategy for the target market, marketers should note

that gift-giving behavior in the PRC is influenced by Chinese

cultural values, social value orientation, and recipientorientation as well as giver orientation rather than self-value

orientation alone. For example, values such as renqing, guanxi,

Figure 3 Null model (CFA for Chinese cultural value)

Figure 4 Null model (CFA for gift-giving behavior)




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yuan, saving-face, and reciprocity influence more consumers

in China.While the study has reconfirmed Hou’s (1999) observation

that Chinese New Year is special occasion, in which Chinese

consumers are willing to spend much money on gift, it has

further revealed that the levels of expenditure are related to a

number of demographic factors. Hence it makes sense for

marketers to pay more attention to these variables in

developing their marketing mix for the gift market in the

PRC.Last but not the least, the results tend to suggest that

marketers should be aware that although social orientation

and Chinese cultural value have positive influence on

recipient orientation, they also have negative influence on

giver orientation. This particular finding is useful as it

provides food for thought for marketers regarding the best

ways to promote their products as gifts.It is worthwhile to note that this research develops a scale

for measuring Chinese cultural values. In addition, by using

AMOS in discovering causality between the various variables

such as Chinese cultural value, personal value and motivation

for gift-giving and gift-giving behavior, it also displays a

methodological improvement over previous research in the

area that used LISREL.

Limitations and future studies

Like other survey-based studies, the study has some

limitations as well. Since the sample from Tianjin may not

have represented all the sub-cultures of PRC, it may not be

Table IV Squared multiple correlations of indicators (null model CFA)

Construct First-order-factor Indicator Estimates Standardized factor loading

Chinese cultural value (Cv) Renqing (Rq) Cv4 0.681 0.825

Cv7 0.594 0.771

Cv10 0.494 0.703

Cv14 0.520 0.721

Reciprocity (Re) Cv30 0.527 0.726

Cv25 0.621 0.788

Cv11 0.555 0.745

Guanxi (Gu) Cv9 0.681 0.825

Cv15 0.501 0.708

Cv2 0.539 0.734

Cv5 0.549 0.741

Cv20 0.251 0.508

Cv26 0.267 0.517

Yuan (Yu) Cv21 0.846 0.921

Cv6 0.449 0.673

Cv16 0.367 0.632

Cv17 0.360 0.604

Cv1 0.250 0.500

Cv22 0.222 0.478Family orientation (Fo) Cv12 0.548 0.742

Cv8 0.336 0.583

Cv23 0.490 0.705

Cv29 0.240 0.490Saving face (Sf) Cv13 0.562 0.753

Cv3 0.423 0.654

Cv18 0.578 0.762

Cv27 0.250 0.503

Gift-giving behavior (Gb) Importance of gift-giving (Im) G6 0.469 0.685

G3 0.500 0.707

G7 0.389 0.624

Gift-section effort (Ef) G12 0.663 0.814

G11 0.511 0.715

G16 0.362 0.602

Amount-given (Am) G8 0.428 0.654

G15 0.480 0.693

G2 0.493 0.702

Brand orientation (Bo) G9 0.742 0.861

G5 0.353 0.607

G4 0.304 0.583




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appropriate to generalize these findings to all other cities or

parts of the country. Second, the gift-giving occasion selected,

i.e. the Chinese New Year, may not be representative of other

occasions when gifts are exchanged.Keeping these limitations in view, future research may be

conducted in other cities or regions of PRC to detect if there

are significant differences among the consumers there. The

study can also be extended to other areas such as Taiwan,

Hong Kong, Macao and Singapore where Chinese cultural

value is also well established. These studies would help

generalize if Chinese cultural value exerts the same degree of

influence on gift-giving behaviors across all these areas. It

would also be useful to conduct studies on gift giving behavior

during occasions such as birthday and the Lantern Festival to

establish if gift-giving behaviors differ.

Summary and conclusions

The main objective of this study was to assess the role played

by various components of Chinese cultural value and Chinese

cultural value as a whole in influencing gift-giving behaviors.

To this end, an explicit and comprehensive model was

developed and tested in this study that provides a good

explanation of consumers’ gift-giving behavior in the PRC.

Behavioral measurements studied include the importance

attached to gift-giving, the amount/dollar value spent on gift-

given, brand orientation and gift selection efforts. Survey

results based on a large sample of respondents indicated that

the Chinese cultural value as a whole had positive effects on

these behaviors. In addition, components of Chinese cultural

values such as renqing, reciprocity, guanxi, and yuan were

found to exert influence on all aspects of gift-giving behaviors.

The “face” component was found to have effect on

importance attached to gift-giving, the amount given and

brand orientation. However, the “family orientation”

component did not seem to have any positive effect on the

four behavioral elements studied.In summary, the results of this study illustrate the need for

marketers to engage in different approaches when dealing

with Chinese consumers with different value orientations; and

consider the importance of motivations (i.e. recipient and

giver orientations) of consumers in segmentation, advertising

and product brand orientation. The results further imply that

Western international operations must familiarize themselves

with Chinese culture value when they extend their business to

the PRC.

Figure 5 Finally hypothesized second-order model of Chinese culturalvalue

Table V Relationships between Chinese cultural values and gift-giving behavior components

Endogenous constructs

Importance of

gift-giving Amount given

Gift selection

efforts Brand orientation

Exogenous constructs (bs) (bs) (bs) (bs)

# Equation 1 Equation 2 Equation 3 Equation 4

Chinese cultural value components and

gift-giving behavior components

Renqing 0.195 * * 0.364 * * 0.159 * 0.162 * *

Reciprocity 0.223 * * 0.254 * * 0.176 * * 0.296 * *

Guanxi 0.154 * 0.211 * * 0.169 * * 0.154 *

Yuan 0.351 * * 0.144 * 0.148 * 0.167 * *

Family orientation 0.056 0.108 0.069 0.065

Saving face 0.135 * 0.322 * * 0.092 0.208 * *

Structural equation fit (R2) 0.312 0.423 0.15 0.29

Model-fit measures Chi-square ¼ 772.309 p , 0.01 df ¼ 204

GFI ¼ 0.939 AGFI ¼ 0.901 CFI ¼ 0.942

IFI ¼ 0.949 TLI ¼ 0.928 RMSEA ¼ 0.047

Notes: * Significant at 0.05; * * Significant at 0.01




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Table VI Relationships between Chinese cultural values and gift-giving behavior components

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Gift selection

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About the authors

Wang Qian is a Lecturer and Department Head with theSingapore Chinese Chamber Institute of Business. She

obtained her undergraduate education in the People’sRepublic of China and her MSc from the National

University of Singapore. Wang Qian has been engaged inteaching, research, and business consultancy in China,

Singapore, and Malaysia for almost two decades.Mohammed Abdur Razzaque is affiliated with the School of

Marketing at the University of New South Wales (UNSW),

Sydney. Before joining the UNSW, Mohammed was anAssociate Professor in the Department of Marketing, NUS

BusinessSchool,NationalUniversityofSingapore.Mohammedhas published in and served as a reviewer for several

internationally refereed marketing journals and conferenceproceedings.Mohammed AbdurRazzaque is thecorresponding

author and can be contacted at: [email protected] Ah Keng is presently the deputy director of the NUS

Entrepreneurship Centre. Previously a Professor ofMarketing, he was the Head of the Marketing School and aVice Dean of the NUS Business School, National University

of Singapore. Professor Ah Keng has published in manyinternationally refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Executive summary and implications formanagers and executives

This summary as been provided to allow managers and executivesa rapid appreciation of the content of this article. Those with aparticular interest in the topic covered may then read the articlein toto to take advantage of the more comprehensive description ofthe research undertaken and its results to get the full benefit of thematerial present.

Gift-giving has been investigated by researchers from a wide

range of disciplines. It is accepted that gift-giving is a complex

ritual in most societies, not least because of its symbolic

nature. People give gifts on numerous occasions like birthdays

and weddings, and during festivities unique to specificcultures. The Chinese New Year is one such occasion.

Many observers point out that Western organizationshoping to do business in China must strive to understand

the market and the behavior of Chinese consumers.As within other cultures, gift-giving behavior in China is

partly determined by personal values. Research has also

shown that motivation can result from self-gratificationobjectives on the part of the giver or from a desire to please

the recipient. However, as analysts have noted, personal

values in China are heavily influenced by the historical andcultural traditions held in the country.

Chinese cultural values

The family is at the heart of Chinese society and plays the

principal part in educating children about their role within thefamily and wider society. Family teaches key emotional and

cultural values and enlightens children about loyalty,

obedience, respect and the importance of suppressingindividuality. The hierarchical family structure is mirrored

within Chinese organizations.Chinese culture regards saving face as important and

adherence to this value demands compliance with expected

social roles and behaviors. People are assessed on how theyperform to expectation and losing face attracts strong societal

condemnation. Analysts claim that this value has importantimplications for buying decisions because, for example,

presenting an unsuitable gift negatively impacts on the

giver’s social standing.Guanxi relates to an individual’s network of contact and

determines the strength of interpersonal relations. The largerthe guanxi network, the more powerful an individual can

claim to be. Chinese culture advocates firm belief in destiny

(yuan) to the extent that many events are felt to bepredetermined and thus out of one’s control. This can

include relationships and even marriage. Nature plays a key

role and man should strive to remain harmonious with it.Renqing denotes complicated social relationships that

involve the exchange of social favors in the form of such asmoney, goods, services and information. A key aspect of this

value is an obligation to return the favor in the future. This

value has parallels with reciprocity, which promotes thenotion that a decent person interacts with others in a

reciprocal way. One manifestation of this is an expectancy thatindividuals who accept a gift give one in return.

The effect of cultural values on gift-giving behavior

Earlier research found some evidence of Chinese cultural

values influencing gift giving in Hong Kong and Qian et al.aim to build on this by illustrating the impact of these valueson gift giving during the Chinese New Year. The authors

hypothesize that the cultural values individually andcollectively impact on the perceived importance of the

occasion, gift selection, the amount given and brand

preference.The study involved randomly selected participants

completing a self-administered questionnaire in Tianjin, aport city neighboring the capital Beijing. The 504 survey

respondents were aged between 20 and 60.




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Qian et al. found that all the values have a significantlypositive effect on the perceived importance of gift-giving, theamount given and brand orientation. The only exception wasthe lack of influence from family orientation, which wascontrary to expectations. Results also indicated a positiveinfluence on gift selection from renqing, guanxi, yuan andreciprocity. Chinese cultural values taken as a whole werepositively associated with gift giving, the amount given, giftselection and brand orientation.

The results corroborate previous assumptions that gift-giving behaviors may not solely depend on personal valuesand whether the decision is motivated by a reasons connectedto self-fulfillment or a desire to please the recipient. The roleplayed by Chinese cultural values also appears highlyimportant.

Marketing recommendations

Additionally, the authors noted evidence that consumers inChina put a greater amount of emphasis on brand selectionwhen buying gifts for the Chinese New Year festivities andsuggest that marketers should incorporate brand orientationwhen developing strategies. They also believe that the studyfindings indicate that market segmentation based onconsumer personal values, Chinese cultural values and themotivation for giving gifts would be an appropriate strategy toadopt.

The importance of motivation is likewise emphasized and

marketers are advised to be aware of tendencies toward giver

or recipient orientation within segmentation and advertising.

Qian et al. further observe that Chinese cultural values exert

significant influence when gift-giving activities are driven by

an aspiration to please the beneficiary, though it is seemingly

not the case when self-gratification is the objective. This is

another reason to develop various approaches in order to

effectively reach different consumer segments within the vast

Chinese market.Qian et al. acknowledge that the study sample may not be

representative of all sub cultures in China and concede that it

would be inappropriate to generalize findings without

conducting additional research in other cities or regions of

the country. They likewise point out that the Chinese New

Year is a unique event and that consumer behavior during the

period may not necessary be replicated at other times when

gifts are given. It could therefore prove beneficial to build on

the present study by carrying out studies into other occasions

when gifts are exchanged. The authors also recommend that

research is also carried to compare the influence of Chinese

cultural values in Taiwan, Singapore or other countries where

the values are recognized.

(A precis of the article “Chinese cultural values and gift-giving

behavior”. Supplied by Marketing Consultants for Emerald.)




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