新中产人群消费行为的文化回归与文化自信——基于红木家具消费者的访谈

Cultural Return and Cultural Confidence in the Consumption Behavior of New Middle-class Group ——An Empirical Study Based on Interviews of Rosewood Furniture Consumers

消费动机往往蕴含特定文化因素。商品消费常常不是为了满足人们的基本生活需要,而是出于审美和情感诉求,因之商品的符号象征价值格外受到重视。近些年流行的红木家具的消费也是如此。调查发现,红木家具的消费者大部分属于年龄较为成熟的新中产人群,他们的消费动机并不是为了彰显自己的身份和社会地位,而是基于红木家具背后的文化意义,呈现出从"炫耀性消费"和"小资情调生活"回归到"中国式生活审美"的文化取向。这反映了新中产人群在中国特殊语境下对中式生活方式的继承和演绎,也说明国人对民族文化的认可和文化自信心的提升。

Motivation for consumption usually implies specific cultural interpretation, and commodity consumption is to meet people’s aesthetic and emotional needs rather than to the basic needs of life. Therefore, the symbolic value of commodities is particularly valued, which can be seen in the popularity of rosewood furniture consumption in recent years. This paper shows that most of the consumers of rosewood furniture belong to the new middle-class group usually in middle age. Their motivation for consumption lies in the cultural connotation behind rosewood furniture instead of showing off their identity and social status. The consumer tastes of this group return to the cultural orientation of "life aesthetics of Chinese style" from "conspicuous consumption" and "petty bourgeoisie lifestyle". This consumption trend actually reflects the inheritance and interpretation of the Chinese way of life by the new middle-class group in the contemporary context of China, and also shows Chinese people’s recognition of their own culture and the improvement of their cultural confidence.