Children's Influence on Chinese Families' Newfound Leisure Time and Its Marketing Implications

Abstract

In 1995 China instituted a 40‐hour work week resulting in what is now called “long weekends.”The purposes of this research was to determine what Chinese children prefer to do during the new long weekend, and the extent of their influence on what the family does. The study was conducted among 618 third and fourth grade children who were asked to “Draw what comes to your mind when you think about the long weekend.” The children were also asked to take home a questionnaire to their parents. The drawings were assessed using content analysis. The drawings mainly show that children want to play, preferably away from home. The results of the questionnaire to the parents reveal that the children pretty much determine what the entire family does on the weekends, and that in general they will go places and do things that provide fun for the children. Some indicators of spending for family weekend leisure were obtained that have significant marketing implications.

Citation

McNeal, J.U. and Mindy, F.J. (1996), "Children's Influence on Chinese Families' Newfound Leisure Time and Its Marketing Implications", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 32-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb010277