How Social Media Platforms Influence Chinese Teenagers' Spending Habits by Promoting Consumerism

This study examines how social media use is associated with symbolic consumption, impulse buying, and comparison consumption among Chinese teenagers. A questionnaire containing 19 items was distributed online to respondents aged 15-19, and the reported analyses used 100 observations. Independent-samples t-tests assessed gender differences, one-way analysis of variance examined variation across platform-use and usage-time groups, and Pearson correlations tested associations between daily social media use and the three consumption measures. No statistically significant gender differences were found for symbolic consumption, impulse buying, or comparison consumption. Platform analyses indicated differences in symbolic-consumption scores associated with Xiaohongshu and Bilibili use, while the linear correlation was significant only for Bilibili. Daily social media use was positively correlated with all three consumption measures, with the strongest association observed for impulse buying. However, usage time was not significantly associated with the proportion of allowance spent, instalment use or overspending, or financial planning. These findings suggest that heavier social media exposure is linked to consumer attitudes and impulsive tendencies without, in this sample, corresponding evidence of more problematic financial behaviour.