3.3. Main Design
3.3.4. Dependent Variable
The participants in this study were requested to measure how they were feeling during that moment when they were filling the survey, using a measure between strongly agree, agree, in between, disagree, and strongly disagree having an amount from 5 to 1 respectively that it is added with a scale within the Life Satisfaction Scale. Each respondent, after looking at each questions, they only can choose one response.
Happiness is heterogeneous, heavily influenced by demographics, psychographics and culture, and all the associated emotions around the world that also have a big influence in our Life Satisfaction and the consuming behavior of each person. That is why life satisfaction (or happiness) is my Dependent Variable that will help me understand more about each culture’s feelings towards the items that they spend on, and also including in which of these categories each culture will be more relatively to have an impact on the items that they are willing to spend.
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Chapter 4: Research Results
4.1 Demographics
4.1.1 Honduran Demographics Gender
Representing the Latin American culture from Honduras in the final results were a total of 45 respondents, being most predominant the females’ respondents with 62%
and 38% of them were males.
Age
The age of the respondents, being most predominant with a mean age of 28 years old with 62%, second predominant with a mean age of 33 years old with 13%, and
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22.5 years old, with above 46 years old, both with 9%, and a mean age of 38 years old was the least predominant with 7%.
Marital Status
The marital status of the respondents was single 67% being the most predominant, married 24%, divorced 7%, single parent 1%, and Widowed 0%.
Personal Income
And to show their fixed income, the average consumer that took both ranges from 500 to 1,000 US$ and 1,000 to 1,500 US$ was 48% of the respondents, so it becomes that they had a fixed income range from 500 to 1,500 US$, in Honduras currency being: 10,600 Lps. up to 32,000 Lps.
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4.1.2 Taiwanese Demographics Gender
Representing the Asian Culture, from Taiwan in the final results were a total of 44 respondents, being most predominant the males’ respondents with 52%, and 48%
were females.
Age
The age of the respondents, being most predominant with a mean age of 28 years old with 52%, second predominant with a mean age of 33 years old with 30%, and 22.5 years old, with 38 years old, both with 7%, and a mean age of 43 years old was the least predominant with 5%.
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Marital Status
The marital status of the respondents was single with 93% being the most predominant, married 7%, divorced 0%, single parent 0%, and Widowed 0%.
Personal Income
To show their fixed income, the average consumer that is 25% of the respondents, had a fixed income range from 35,000 NT$ up to 45,000 NT$ (1,150 to 1,480 US$)
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4.2 Life Satisfaction
The basic descriptive statistics for the life satisfaction variables and predictors are shown in Table 1. As can be seen in the first question, “I’m satisfied with my life”, the average respondent was a relatively happy person and the majority “agreed”
that they were very satisfied with their lives, and most of them who judged their feelings at that moment between positive and negative feelings were above neutral.
From the second and third questions: “In most ways my life is close to my ideal”, and “The conditions of my life are excellent” respectively, as show in Table 1, we can see that from both cultures the majority of the respondents replied “in between”
this can be interpreted that for that moment when they were filling the survey had no emotions towards these 2 questions.
For the fourth question: “So far, I’ve gotten the important things I want in life”, the majority of the respondents from both cultures answered that they “agreed” with this questions.
For the fifth question: “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing”, as we can see, the majority of the respondents from both cultures “disagreed” with this question.
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Table 1, Life Satisfaction between Latino Culture and Asian Culture.
Life Satisfaction
Hondurans Taiwanese
I’m satisfied with my life 24% strongly agree 2% strongly agree
47% agree 57% agree
22% in between 39% in between 7% disagree 2% disagree
0% strongly disagree 0% strongly disagree
In most ways my life is close to my ideal. 24% strongly agree 0% strongly agree
24% agree 36% agree
38% in between 61% in between
11% disagree 2% disagree
2% strongly disagree 0% strongly disagree
The conditions of my life are excellent. 20% strongly agree 7% strongly agree
31% agree 39% agree
36% in between 50% in between
9% disagree 5% disagree
4% strongly disagree 0% strongly disagree
So far, I’ve gotten the important things I want in life. 18% strongly agree 7% strongly agree
38% agree 57% agree
27% in between 23% in between 18% disagree 11% disagree 0% strongly disagree 2% strongly disagree
If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing. 24% strongly agree 0% strongly agree
20% agree 32% agree
24% in between 30% in between 31% disagree 36% disagree 0% strongly disagree 2% strongly disagree
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Showing a final add-up coming up with the results from the “Satisfaction Scale” for all Hondurans respondents, a 24% were Extremely Satisfied, followed by the highest score 29% were Satisfied, an 18% were Slightly Satisfied, a 4% were Neutral, a 16% were Slightly Dissatisfied, a 7% were Dissatisfied, and only a 2%
were Extremely Dissatisfied.
And for all Taiwanese respondents, a 7% were Extremely Satisfied, followed by the highest score, a 34% were Satisfied, a 27% were Slightly Satisfied, an 18% were Neutral, a 11% were Slightly Dissatisfied, a 2% were Dissatisfied, and a 0% were Extremely Dissatisfied.
This comes to results that the majority of the respondents in both cultures they are SATISFIED with themselves at the moment of the survey, but we also can see a slightly difference between both cultures that a big number of Hondurans were EXTREMELY SATISFIED compared to Taiwanese, and also can see a big difference that Taiwanese were only NEUTRAL with themselves, and only a few number were DISSATISFIED from both cultures, this might occurred that at the moment of filling the survey they were not feeling comfortable or had something in mind that was not making the respondents happy.
Please refer to Fig 3, Diener’s Satisfaction Scale for the values.
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Fig 3, The Satisfaction Scale
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4.3 Spending Items
As we can see the second part of my study included some items to understand respondents’ buying behavior, and the majority of respondents in the second part of the survey had their physiological needs met to some extent.
4.3.1 First category: “Personal Entertainment”
Using this category to understand which items each culture consider as
“entertainment” and in which items will spend more or less.
Percentages were as follows: these years that the whole world has been experiencing the energy saving issue, we can see that most of the Taiwanese respondents won’t spend too much on this than Hondurans.
Category / Culture Telephone and Cellphone
More Less
Hondurans 24% 75%
Taiwanese 21% 34%
Showing that there’s big difference in percentages from each culture when they want to spend less in this item. For Taiwanese seems less important to spend on this item.
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Category / Culture T.V. Cable & Internet Services
More Less
Hondurans 44% 56%
Taiwanese 44% 56%
Showing us that both cultures this item is equally important, and they use and pay for this item exactly the same amount.
Category / Culture Pets
More Less
Hondurans 11% 36%
Taiwanese 0% 32%
Showing us that both cultures tend to spend almost the same on their Pets, but only a minor percentage of Hondurans will try to spend more on their Pets.
Category / Culture Electronics & Home Appliances
More Less
Hondurans 2% 20%
Taiwanese 0% 36%
Showing again that for Taiwanese is not that important to spend more money on this item.
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Category / Culture Education
More Less
Hondurans 32% 13%
Taiwanese 5% 62%
Showing that a high percentage of Taiwanese adults prefer to spend less on this item.
Can take into consideration that most of them are single and don’t spend too much in other type of education.
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4.3.2 Second Category: “Physiological Needs”
This category is to understand which items each culture consider as
“physiological needs” and will be more important and also in which items will spend more or less.
Meaning that respondents are willing to spend more money to have basic dairy food items in their homes, and this does not include going out to have dinner or lunch, compared to Taiwanese respondents.
Category / Culture Toiletries & Household Products
More Less
Hondurans 4% 96%
Taiwanese 9% 91%
Showing us that in this item, both cultures will basically spend the same amount.
Category / Culture Healthcare
More Less
Hondurans 15% 84%
Taiwanese 16% 83%
In this item, we can see that for both cultures is really important to spend more money, and their percentage is relatively the same.
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Category / Culture Clothing
More Less
Hondurans 38% 62%
Taiwanese 53% 48%
As being one of the important basic needs, we can see that each culture have different way of thinking when spending money towards clothes, showing that there is a big difference that Taiwanese culture will try to spend more money on this item than Honduran culture.
Category / Culture Transportation
More Less
Hondurans 55% 45%
Taiwanese 9% 91%
Showing another big difference between both cultures, that people in Honduras spend more on Transportation, due to in Honduras’ big cities nowadays public transportation is not very convenient, so for their protection will spend more for a private transportation which is expensive, compared to the Taiwanese transportation because it is cheap and easy to move from one place to another, having that their fares are not that expensive as in some other Asian countries.
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4.3.3 Third Category: “Safety Needs”
This category is to understand which items each culture consider as “safety needs” and will be more important for them and also in which items will spend more or less.
Percentages were as follows:
Category / Culture Personal Savings
More Less
Hondurans 52% 30%
Taiwanese 71% 30%
Showing us that for both cultures they have the same percentage to save less, but we can see there’s a big difference that for Taiwanese is more important to save more money.
Category / Culture Entertainment
More Less
Hondurans 42% 57%
Taiwanese 2% 98%
Showing us a big difference that maybe for Taiwanese might not be that important to spend more on entertainment as Hondurans do. Can consider the social patterns that people have around Latin America that will prefer to spend more on personal or social entertainment.
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Category / Culture Dining Out
More Less
Hondurans 29% 71%
Taiwanese 18% 82%
Showing us a relatively big difference that Hondurans will spend more money in this item, it can be trying to gather around with family members or friends, compared to Taiwanese, the majority will try to spend less money.
Category / Culture Home Repairs & Maintenance
More Less
Hondurans 8% 91%
Taiwanese 0% 100%
The majority of the respondents won’t focus on this, and will prefer to spend less on this item.
Category / Culture Rent
More Less
Hondurans 19% 80%
Taiwanese 38% 61%
Showing us that in this item there is a slightly difference, and Taiwanese will try to spend more on Rent, due to high costs of living in the city, and also the big difference will make each culture spend less because most of them will rather spend on their own private place to live and try not to spend on Rent.
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4.3.4 Fourth Category: “Recreational Needs”
This category is to understand which items each culture consider as
“recreational needs” and will be more important and also in which items will spend more or less.
Showing us, in this case for Taiwanese will not spend more money on this item, they might think it might not be important to spend on their own personal hobbies than Hondurans.
Category / Culture Recreation
More Less
Hondurans 9% 75%
Taiwanese 7% 65%
Showing in this item, that in both cultures, the majority of adults prefer to spend less.
Category / Culture Mortgage
More Less
Hondurans 4% 6%
Taiwanese 6% 16%
There is a slightly difference that the majority of Taiwanese prefer to spent less in this item.
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Category / Culture Investments
More Less
Hondurans 4% 11%
Taiwanese 27% 14%
Showing us a big difference, that for Taiwanese is more important to make more investments than Hondurans, and for the markets, it also might be the facility to invest on the markets here in Taiwan and around Asia.
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4.3.5 Fifth Category: “Personal Accessories”
This category is to understand which items each culture consider as “personal accessories” and will be more important and also in which items will spend more or less.
Percentages were as follows:
Category / Culture Car Payments
More Less
Hondurans 35% 18%
Taiwanese 2% 26%
Showing us that in Honduras the respondents will spend more on this item, due to transportation problems, because public transportation is not as convenient as in Taiwan, and people will prefer to buy its own personal car.
Category / Culture Accessories
More Less
Hondurans 18% 82%
Taiwanese 9% 91%
Showing us a slight difference between both cultures when they spend less in this item.
Category / Culture Income Taxes or Other Taxes
More Less
Hondurans 29% 20%
Taiwanese 10% 30%
Showing us that in both cultures when they spend less on this item is relatively the same, but we can see a big difference when they spend more on this, seeing that
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Hondurans will spend more on this, might be due to the higher rates when they pay for loans or other type of taxes.
4.3.6 Sixth Category: “Spiritual Needs”
This category is to understand which items each culture consider as “spiritual needs” and will be more important and also in which items will spend more or less.
Percentages were as follows:
Category / Culture Regular Gifts and/or Donations
More Less
Hondurans 18% 38%
Taiwanese 5% 64%
This item can show us another comparison that is another big difference that sometimes Latin American cultures would like to spend more money on Gifts than Taiwanese culture.
Category / Culture Travel for Pleasure
More Less
Hondurans 11% 29%
Taiwanese 21% 45%
Showing us that for Taiwanese it is more convenient, and more advantageous to travel than Hondurans, might be the region, because traveling around Asia is more convenient than to travel around Central America, because most of the people will try to travel only to USA or South America, but still the majority of Taiwanese will spend less.
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4.4 Dependent Measure
Another approach to understanding the relation between income and well-being is to examine the regression between the two, and it is presented in the following tables.
The respondents for this study were a total of 89 individuals, which only 88 of them were valid, and 1 was excluded for the regression of this study, using the independent variable (culture) and the dependent variable (happiness) to come with the results between them, and the results were as follows:
Table 2 – Regression outcome for Personal Entertainment
Culture Model B Std.
The results shown in Table 2, coming from both cultures in the First Category of Personal Entertainment, none of them are significant.
As we can see, we can make a comparison between both results and Hondurans with (.161) are more relatively to have an effect on Life Satisfaction and Happiness towards these needs, with the possibility of the results that Hondurans tend to be
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more satisfied when they spend on these items than Taiwanese with (.825), and as we have mentioned before, for this category Hondurans will like to spend more, therefore it becomes a happiness feeling when they spend more on these items.
Table 3 – Regression outcome for Physiological Needs
Culture Model B Std. Category of Physiological needs, none of them are significant.
As we can see, we can make a comparison between both results, and Hondurans with (.483) are more relatively to have an effect on Life Satisfaction and Happiness towards these needs, with the possibility of the results that Hondurans tend to be more Satisfied when they spend on these items than Taiwanese with (.706), and as we have mentioned before, for this category Hondurans will like to spend more, therefore it becomes a happiness feeling when they spend more on these items.
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Table 4 – Regression outcome for Safety Needs
Culture Model B Std.
The results shown in Table 4, coming from both cultures in the Third Category of Safety Needs, none of them are significant.
As we can see, we can make a comparison between both results, and this time it shows that Taiwanese with (.301) are more relatively to have an effect on Life Satisfaction and Happiness towards these needs, with the possibility of the results that Taiwanese tend to be more Satisfied when they spend on these items than Hondurans with (.864), and as we have mentioned before, for this category Taiwanese will like to spend more, therefore it becomes a happiness feeling when they spend more on these items.
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Table 5 – Regression outcome for Recreational Needs
Culture Model B Std. Category of Recreational Needs, none of them are significant.
As we can see, we can make a comparison between both results that Hondurans with (.673) are more relatively to have an effect on Life Satisfaction and Happiness towards these needs, with the possibility of the results that Hondurans tend to be more Satisfied when they spend on these items than Taiwanese with (.959), and as we have mentioned before, for this category Hondurans will like to spend more, therefore it becomes a happiness feeling when they spend more on these items.
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Table 6 – Regression outcome for Personal Accessories
Culture Model B Std.
The results shown in Table 6, coming from both cultures in the Fifth Category of Personal Accessories, none of them are significant.
As we can see, we can make a comparison between both results that Hondurans with (.385) are more relatively to have an effect on Life Satisfaction and Happiness towards these needs, with the possibility of the results that Hondurans tend to be more Satisfied when they spend on these items than Taiwanese with (.760), and as we have mentioned before, for this category Hondurans will like to spend more, therefore it becomes a happiness feeling when they spend more on these items.
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Table 7 – Regression outcome for Spiritual Needs
Culture Model B Std.
The results shown in Table 7, coming from both cultures in the Sixth Category of Spiritual Needs, none of them are significant.
As we can see, we can make a comparison between both results, and shows that Taiwanese with (.214) are more relatively to have an effect on Life Satisfaction and Happiness towards these needs, with the possibility of the results that Taiwanese tend to be more Satisfied when they spend on these items than Hondurans with (.577), and as we have mentioned before, for this category Taiwanese will like to spend more, therefore it becomes a happiness feeling when they spend more on these items.
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Chapter 5: Conclusions and Discussions
5.1 Consumer’s spending cultural system
5.1.1 Consumer’s spending differences and similarities.
Throughout the years learning more about Taiwanese culture and the Hondurans on how they handle money differently or the same. My opinion on this question is that I think they handle money differently if you ask me. I want to clarify that I’m writing in the point of view of the upper-middle class, and I was researching this question online and this article came up “Chinese Money Habits-How my culture Influences My Attitude Towards Money” (Lu, 2008) caught my attention because it tells you what Chinese people use money for and what is important for them.
During the time that I have lived here in Taiwan, that it has been a total of 9 years, I can tell there are a lot of differences and some similarities in the way that people consume and somehow I think it does have to do with the way that they
During the time that I have lived here in Taiwan, that it has been a total of 9 years, I can tell there are a lot of differences and some similarities in the way that people consume and somehow I think it does have to do with the way that they