Online Consumer Culture in China by Chinese Journal of Communitcation,

Xinkai Huang (2012): Lifestyles in virtual communities: collaborative consumption and interaction, Chinese Journal of Communication, 5:1, 109-127

Online consumer culture in China

Web participation has been integrated into many Chinese people’s daily lives. The majority of online consumers in China are made up of young netizens (Liu, Huang, Liu, & Qiao, 2004), who use the Internet as a means of seeking friends and romantic partners, relieving loneliness, learning, working, and buying (Lu, 2005). Liu et al. (2004) summarized the characteristics of Chinese online consumers: they are self- centered and impatient; they seek novelty and are thirsty for knowledge; they try to outdo others; and they make rational consumption decisions.

The interactive nature of the Internet allows retailers to establish an active dialogue with consumers to facilitate their decision making and build direct customer relationships (Butler & Peppard, 1998; Hazel, 1996). The Internet enables certain products and services to be delivered easily to consumers, without geographical limitations (Chuanlan, 2004). Chuanlan (2004) noted that online shopping in China keeps increasing. China’s rapid progress towards economic modernization and globalization has given rise to the emergence of electronic commerce (Ling, Wong, & Nah, 2001). Ling et al. (2001) found that many electronic-commerce transactions in China typically involved selecting a product online but paying offline, usually via cash- on-delivery, because the online payment and credit systems were still not mature enough. They argued that online shopping networks provided many creative ways for Chinese consumers to spend more of their disposable income. The Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese consumers use the Internet to get discounts on goods by team buying; potential buyers meet in chat rooms and agree to go to a store at a certain time and try to convince the salespeople to give them a group discount (Areddy, 2006).

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