Growing up in Macao: A study of materialistic values among children and adolescents = 在物質主義社會中成長: 澳門研究

Materialism among the younger generation has become a hot topic among parents, educators, marketers and policy makers. While marketing professionals are keen to promote spending, parents and policy makers are concerned with protecting young consumers from perceived declining moral standards. Educators want to develop a better way to communicate with young people about wealth. Macau is one of the most dynamic economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The gaming and tourism sector boosted the Macau's economy with a real growth of 13 percent in the third quarter of 20082004, setting new record in the estimates of GDP and per-capita GDP at current prices. The influx of tourists and the expanding gaming facilities bring the potential threat of materialism and the erosion of traditional family values. Based on a probability sampling of primary and secondary schools in Macau in May and June 2008, we obtained a final sample of 667 respondents studying in grade 4 of primary schools as well as form 1 and form 5 of secondary schools. Their ages ranged from 8 to 17. Children and adolescents in Macau did not endorse high level of materialism values. The mean score of materialism measured by the Youth Materialism Scale was 2.8 on a five point scale. Analysis of materialistic values scores by demographic groups will be reported. Children and adolescents in the sample were asked how they would like to spend if they were given a windfall of $1,000 Macau dollars. Materialism values affected respondents’ intentions to allocate the windfall money on different uses. Children and adolescents were also asked to use different adjectives to describe a person with or without a lot of material possessions. The difference in perceptions will be reported.