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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 personally feel.

Knowing that there is a big difference in population, Taiwan has a population of 23,373,517, this data estimated at the end of December 2013, and Honduras has a population of 8,326,822, this data was estimated at the beginning of 2014, and also another big important difference being the minimum wage, in Taiwan is about NT $ 19,273 (about US $ 640) in 2014, and in Honduras is Lps. 7,495 (about US $ 357) in 2014, and as being other important differences that can be taken into consideration, like religion, also people are being raised and educated in a different way in each country, I still do think that people spend on things in a different way too.

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As human beings it doesn’t matter which gender or culture you belong to, but in my study is nice to see how the two cultures interact with each other, and for me is really fascinating, because in both countries is proven that what people spend more is in a basic physiological need that is food, and being a necessary basic need in an individual’s life, it is still the first item that consumers will spend on, no matter what, and is part of a person’s daily life, so people still think it is important to spend on, and the satisfaction that food gives to anyone is unmeasurable and people really won’t really care how do you spend on this item. Having from the results of this study, from the Taiwanese data, 61% of the respondents are likely to spend more money on food, and 67% of the Honduran data are likely to spend more money on food.

Taiwan and Honduras are two very different countries culturally and financially speaking, because in Taiwan, since it can be classified as a developed country, there are more options in this country so people can spend their money on, for example from the results, Taiwanese will lightly spend more on Rent, Clothing, to Travel, on Investments, and also will save more money from their income and since in Taiwan is more convenient to Travel around the country or abroad, Taiwanese people will prefer to spend and will have more Life satisfaction towards themselves, so for me, it is really interesting to notice how Taiwanese people tend to save more money than Hondurans, while in Honduras we can see that appearance is very important that people will like to spend more on material things, such as:

Accessories, Cars, Entertainment, and Gifts, than using this money for their own personal savings.

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5.2 Buying Behavior that influence an individual’s life satisfaction.

Personally, I can tell that there are many different things between our cultures, and when it comes to spend money, every individual likes to spend money in different ways, but as mentioned in my objectives, people still don’t focus on some important factors that gives us that impulse to buy that are our feelings.

As Taiwan being more developed than Honduras, we can see that there are many factors that can make people spend more in some things than in others, such as that the quality from imported products is expected to be good, so their prices will be expensive so they would like to spend on that product, and maybe in Honduras they would prefer to spend less and buy a similar product, but not with the same quality. Also, might influence their personal income, because as we know Taiwan’s minimum wage is still higher than Honduras’s minimum wage, so people in Taiwan still will prefer to save money knowing that they will have more money in case of emergency or for rainy days, particularly different from Honduras, that knowing they are not earning a lot of money but still will need to spend it in some other things, that maybe won’t be necessary but they still don’t save that much. Their age, also can be considered too, since most of the respondents that filled the survey from both cultures were between 26 to 30 years old, this can influence them to spend more on some items that for some reason can be seen as very important but maybe for people between 30 to 35 years wouldn’t seem that important but maybe they would like to spend more on some other items too, and vice versa. Their marital status can influence also, since the majority of the respondents from both cultures are single, this might change their habits too, to spend more on personal items, on friends or maybe on dates that in contrast married respondents won’t try to spend on those things because they are married and have to spend on some other things that they will considered to be more important as a family, not only for one person.

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Looking at this final results from the Regression Model, I could understand more about how people will perceive a kind of feeling towards something that they buy, how an item or some kind of thing can fulfill our feelings, giving us that sense of joy, contentment, or happiness and satisfaction in our daily life.

Marking up some cultural differences, we can say that in “Personal Entertainment”, it really shows how people from Honduras will spend more on these items than people from Taiwan. Meaning that spending more on these items can really make them get their own life satisfaction and a sense of happiness to themselves without even noticing it, and for people in Taiwan might not even notice it, so perhaps they see it that important.

We can say that in “Physiological Needs”, respondents were spending likely the same amount, but still made a change for people from Honduras that it showed a slight difference, but still made an impact towards them and also make them feel a sense of happiness and satisfaction with themselves.

We can say that in “Safety Needs”, this took a big turn, because people from Taiwan presented high percentages towards these items, making them to get a sense of happiness and satisfaction when they save money, or to spend more on rent, meaning that in Taiwan is more convenient to do that since the economy is a little bit more stable than in Honduras.

For “Recreational Needs”, classifying these four items in this category, we can see that for people from Honduras made an impact to spend more so it made them more satisfied and happier to consume on this, might be due to the big areas and spaces that can have more recreational areas in Honduras than in Taiwan, that only a few parts in Taiwan have those type of recreational spaces.

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For “Personal Accessories”, was the extra money that respondents were willing to spend on items that are not really important but still mean so much to them that they can get a sense of happiness by buying this, and still can see that for people from Honduras it makes a big impact and they are willing to spend more on this, it can be due to the society, that people tend to focus and have a fixation for material things, can be to impress others or themselves but they are more willing to spend on this that Taiwanese people.

For “Spiritual Needs”, respondents could choose from gifts and traveling, that are willing to spend more on these items, and it showed that for people from Taiwan have an effect to spend more so they can gain a sense of happiness and life satisfaction when they spend on this, might be due to the easiest and fastest way that is to travel within Taiwan and around Asia, also can be cheaper in some ways and better choices from other airlines that makes convenient and easy, compared to Honduras that it is not that convenient due to the lack of airports, also not too much choices on the airlines so ticket fares will raise too much that people can’t afford it unless you have a higher income and you’re forced to go out on a business trip, but not for your own pleasure.

In both cultures, as my survey shows, those who have a fixed and higher income are more satisfied with their lives than the ones who have the minimum wage, because when answering to the question: “I’m satisfied with my life” there was a slightly difference of 10% between each cultures; Hondurans respondents with 47%

and Taiwanese respondents with 57%, so, this might be that their feelings at the moment for some Hondurans was not that happy, so according to Diener’s Scale, (Please refer to Fig 3, Diener’s Satisfaction Scale for the values) adding the results from the satisfaction scale, the majority of the respondents were SATISFIED with themselves, showing us that they feel comfortable with their present lives, and still fulfilling their

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daily needs, without forgetting what they feel, they still know what the media and marketing is trying to sell nowadays, making up new ideas for us to see and for us to spend on and sometimes for things that we don’t even need, but sometimes giving us the that desire of satisfaction that makes us more delighted with ourselves.

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5.3 Academic Implication

There has been many studies about Life satisfaction and Happiness, to help people understand more about consumer behavior, there has been many new studies about consumption and happiness that show that people are happier when they spend money on experiences instead of material objects, because they produce a long-lasting satisfaction, than spending money in something that is not important, also that poor people become happier once they have escaped poverty, but after that the tie between money and happiness tapers off, because once you get money you will want to get more, so it becomes hard to satisfy ourselves.

As I have read many articles from Ed Diener, and all of his theories about Happiness and Life Satisfaction and he tries to explain how we know about our own Happiness: that when it is an experience that is colored by our previous experiences and cannot be wholly recreated after it occurs, but he mainly explains that once our basic needs are met additional income does little to raise our satisfaction of life.

Some other studies we also can have obstacles to happiness that changes and varies over time and culture, because younger people associate with excitement whereas older people associate with peaceful feelings, because in eastern cultures way of thinking, some things can be flexible can have two things combined together, but in some western cultures way of thinking this might exist because they can refer to one thing or another. (e.g. Love: American love songs associate love with either negative

Some other studies we also can have obstacles to happiness that changes and varies over time and culture, because younger people associate with excitement whereas older people associate with peaceful feelings, because in eastern cultures way of thinking, some things can be flexible can have two things combined together, but in some western cultures way of thinking this might exist because they can refer to one thing or another. (e.g. Love: American love songs associate love with either negative