A cross-national study of intergenerational influence: US and PRC

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to examine the intergenerational influence across dyads of mothers and daughters from the USA and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with a particular interest in discovering the cross-national differences in terms of the level of mother–daughter brand preference agreement, the directional influence from daughter to mother and leading factors for the observed differences.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a parallel survey method, responses were obtained regarding participants’ brand preferences, as well as their perceptions of their dyad partners’ preferences, for 20 product categories. A total of 76 dyads in the USA and 114 dyads in the PRC were collected.

Findings

Results not only confirmed the existence of intergenerational influence in mother–daughter dyads’ brand preferences after removing the nominal bias that previous studies commonly suffered but also suggested two interesting cross-national differences. Specifically, the authors find that US mother–daughter dyads possess a higher level of brand preference agreement than their PRC counterparts; however, the influence from daughters to mothers in the PRC is greater than in the USA. The authors further find that two potential leading factors contribute to the observed cross-national differences; mother–daughter communication is stronger but less influential in the USA than in the PRC, while children’s peer influence, measured as information influence of peers, is weaker but more influential in the USA than in the PRC.

Research limitations/implications

Understanding intergeneration influences in different cultural contexts may be applicable in developing communication strategies leading to brand preference.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the consumer socialization literature by examining the cross-national differences of intergenerational influence in brand preferences and their leading causes of such differences in the context of the two biggest economies.

Citation

Mandrik, C., Bao, Y. and Wang, S. (2018), "A cross-national study of intergenerational influence: US and PRC", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 91-104. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-02-2016-1717