Abstract:
Given the unmistakable trend toward a more integrated global economy and the
tremendous impact of vanity on consumer demand for countless goods and services, there
exists a need for more cross-cultural research on the important psychological construct known
as consumer vanity (Netemeyer, Burton, and Lichtenstein 1995). Survey data was collected
from 400 university students in Australia and China. This study followed the comprehensive
analytical framework proposed by Steenkamp and Baumgartner (1998) to assess measurement
equivalence in cross-cultural consumer research through the use of multiple-group
confirmatory factor analysis. The 21-item consumer vanity measure was found to possess
adequate metric invariance and scalar invariance for factor mean comparisons across the
countries. Several theoretical perspectives were used to generate research hypotheses
regarding cultural differences in each component of the consumer vanity construct.
Hypothesis testing results lent support to most of the research hypotheses.
