對金錢的终级性价值观與工具性價值觀 - 以德國與台灣文化的比較為例

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(1)國⽴立臺灣師範⼤大學管理學院管理研究所碩⼠士論⽂文. Graduate Institute of Management College of Management National Taiwan Normal University Master Thesis. 對⾦金錢的终级性价值观與⼯工具性價值觀 - 以德國與台灣⽂文化的⽐比較為例. The perception of money value as terminal versus instrumental – a cultural comparison of Germany and Taiwan.. 費安娜. Anna Fischmann. 指導教授：沈永正博⼠士. Advisor：Yung-Cheng Shen Ph.D.. 中華民國 104 年 7 ⽉月. July 2015.

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(3) 國⽴立臺灣師範⼤大學管理學院管理研究所碩⼠士論⽂文. Graduate Institute of Management College of Management National Taiwan Normal University Master Thesis. 對⾦金錢的终级性价值观與⼯工具性價值觀 - 以德國與台灣⽂文化的⽐比較為例. The perception of money value as terminal versus instrumental – a cultural comparison of Germany and Taiwan.. 費安娜. Anna Fischmann. 指導教授：沈永正博⼠士. Advisor：Yung-Cheng Shen Ph.D.. 中華民國 104 年 7 ⽉月. July 2015. .

(4) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Yung-Cheng Shen. His lectures inspired me and without him I probably would not have decided to extend my stay in Taipei, writing my thesis at the National Taiwan Normal University. His continuous motivation, support and strong believe in my work helped me throughout the writing process. His guidance and immense knowledge supported me at all time of my research. I am also grateful to the Associate Professor Chung-Chiang Hsiao, lecturer at the Graduate Institute of Management. I am extremely thankful and indebted to him for sharing his expertise as well as his support and encouragement extended to me. I would like to express my special appreciation and thanks to my classmate Linda and my friend Scarllet, who supported me tremendously, especially with their continuous encouragement and moral support. Furthermore, my sincere gratitude to my teacher Janice, who helped me with the translation process and spared no effort to support me. I would also like to express my gratitude to all faculty members, students and everyone else, who participated in the survey for their effort and support. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family, in particular my parents for their unceasing support at every step of the way, always encouraging me in everything I do. Thank you so much for making my stay in Taiwan possible and enriching me with this amazing experience. . . . I .

(5) ABSTRACT The study presented in this paper is examining the perception of money as a terminal and instrumental value among Taiwanese and German culture. After an extensive research and literature review, several hypotheses have been developed. The data was collected through an online survey. In total, 245 people, of whom 106 were Germans and 139 were Taiwanese, participated in the study. The analysis yielded unexpected results, showing first of all that the perception of money is rather terminal than instrumental for both, German and Taiwanese participants. Furthermore, the variables age and income seem not to have a strongly significant impact on the perception of money value. There are also similarities displayed in terms of value and money importance. Implications for further research and practice are discussed.. . II .

(6) Table of Content I . ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT . II . LIST OF CHARTS . IV . LIST OF TABLES . V . 1 INTRODUCTION . 1 . 1.1 RESEARCH CONTEXT 1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION 1.2.1 RESEARCH PURPOSE 1.2.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS . 1 3 . 4 4 . 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 . 5 5 7 8 13 . THE MEANING OF VALUES THE CONCEPT OF MONEY VALUE IN CROSS-‐CULTURAL CONTEXT HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENT . 3 METHODOLOGY . 15 . 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 . 15 16 18 19 20 20 . RESEARCH METHOD & DESIGN RESEARCH INSTRUMENT: DEVELOPING A MEASUREMENT METHOD SAMPLE DATA COLLECTION DATA PROCESSING RELIABILITY & VALIDITY . 4 RESULTS . 21 . 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 . 21 27 30 31 . MONEY AS A TERMINAL VERSUS INSTRUMENTAL VALUE THE IMPORTANCE OF MONEY THE IMPORTANCE OF INSTRUMENTAL AND TERMINAL VALUES SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS . 5 DISCUSSION . 33 . 5.1 CONCLUSION 5.2 LIMITATIONS 5.3 FURTHER RESEARCH . 33 35 36 . APPENDIX . VII VII XIII XX XX XXI . ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE – CHINESE VERSION ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE – GERMAN VERSION VALUE RANKING – UNIMPORTANT ITEMS TAIWAN VALUE RANKING – UNIMPORTANT ITEMS GERMANY MONEY IMPORTANCE STATEMENTS -‐ ROTATED COMPONENT MATRIXA . . III .

(7) List of Charts Chart 1: Hofstede Cultural Dimensions - Comaprison Germany & Taiwan 9 Chart 2: Cultural Map (2010-2014), World Values Survey ................................ 12 Chart 3: Money Value Score in Relation to Age ..................................................... 23 Chart 4: Terminal Value Scores in Relation to Income ....................................... 25 Chart 5: Instrumental Value Scores in Relation to Income ............................... 25 Chart 7: City of Residence for German participants ............................................. 32 Chart 8: City of Residence for Taiwanese participants ....................................... 32 . . IV .

(8) List of Tables Table 1: T Test for Money Value Scores – Group Statistics ............................ 22 Table 2: T Test for Money Value Scores - Significance Testing .................... 22 Table 3: Income Levels according to each country ............................................... 24 Table 4: Paired Sample T Test for Money Value Scores in Relation to Income Level .................................................................................................................... 27 Table 5: KMO & Barlett's Test for Values ................................................................... 27 Table 6: Factor Analysis - Total Variance Explained ........................................... 28 Table 7: Paired T Test of Money importance Score and Money Value Scores ................................................................................................................................. 29 Table 8: Gender distribution .............................................................................................. 31 Table 9: Age distribution ...................................................................................................... 31 Table 10: Employment distribution ................................................................................. 31 . . V .

(9) „’When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less.’ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean different things.’ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master – that’s all.’ “ (Lewis Carroll, 1865/1966, p. 185). 1 Introduction The first chapter has the aim of introducing the topic of the present research. A general overview is given, describing the broader subject as well as the current situation. The topic is set in context, followed by the problem discussion, emphasizing on the existing gap in literature. Following that, the research purpose is outlined, ending with the research questions of the thesis. 1.1. Research Context. Globalization is not a new concept anymore. Starting from the early nineties scientists have tried to capture the pure definition of globalization, associating the term with internationalization, removal of trade barriers, modernization, connectivity and so on. A journalist, who extensively addressed this topic, is Thomas Friedman. According to his published work The Lexus and the Olive Tree, globalization took place in three different stages, starting back in 1492. Friedman described globalization as an “international system” that “directly or indirectly influence(s) the politics, environment, geopolitics and economics of virtually every country in the world” (Friedman, 1999). One of the sources for globalization is said to be technological progress. The immense development in technology, new advances in telecommunication as well as transportation paved the way to a single global market. In particular, the invention of the Internet and World Wide Web with applications such as electronic mail and VoIP, voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet protocol networks, enormously facilitated and accelerated information flow. Major beneficiaries of those developments where consumers. With all kind of information becoming easy accessible at any time, end users got the opportunity to compare the desired products and services across all available channels and could choose the best fit, disregarding regional boundaries. 1 .

(10) Critics of globalization argue however, that it might lead to cultural homogeneity, flattening the diversity of demand and diminishing consumer differences (Bhawuk, 2008; Mittelman, 2000; Pieterse, 2009). In relation to that, Friedman talks about the tension between the globalization system and forces of culture, geography, tradition, and community (Friedman, 1999). Starting from the early decades of the 21st century, Western companies started facing the problem of saturated demand and exhausted growth in their home markets. On the other hand, Asian countries revealed a substantial potential for rising demand with a rapid growth in middle class, which is said to reach 3.2 billion people by 2030 (PWC, 2014). With Western businesses increasingly expanding to the Asian region it has become crucial to understand the underlying values that drive people's behavior. According to studies of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, 47 percent out of 2.500 companies that participated in the survey claimed to increase their international operations this year (Creutzburg, 2015). Daimler for instance, one of the biggest automobile manufacturers in Germany, states that China has become one of the most important foreign markets for German companies, not only for large-scale, but also medium-sized enterprises (Nitsche, 2014). Culture and the underlying values have been identified as strong influencing factors on human behavior. One of the most acknowledged scientists, especially known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural groups, is the social psychologist Geert Hofstede. Even though originally developed in the early 70s, his cultural dimensions theory can still be used as a tool for understanding and analyzing today's cultures (G. Hofstede, 2001; Solomon, Polegato, & Zaichkowsky, 2009). A clear and extensive understanding of human values is provided by the social psychologist Milton Rokeach. His work on the nature of human values yielded two sets of values that can be distinguished into terminal and instrumental values. The former refer to desired ends of state whereas the latter describe desired modes of behavior (Rokeach, 1973). The research of this paper is mainly based on Rokeach theory, combining his findings with other theories that fit the stated research purpose. . 2 .

(11) Another underlying factor for consumer behavior, which is relevant throughout all cultures, is money. According to Furnham and Lewis, money affects people's personal and social life, influencing among others motivation and well-being (Adrian Furnham & Lewis, 1986). Originally, money was related to socio-economics and was studied upon its usage and functions. Over the last few years researchers from different fields such as psychology and behavioral science started investigating this term from different angles: People's attitudes towards money, money as a motivator and influencing factor on behavior as well as psychological and symbolic meaning of money, just to name a few (A. Furnham & Argyle, 1998; Ger & Belk, 1996; Lea & Webley, 2014; Mitchell & Mickel, 1999; Wernimont & Fitzpatrick, 1972).. 1.2. Problem Definition. Although human values, attitudes toward money and general differences in culture each have been analyzed in the past, as mentioned in the previous section, no attempt has been made to examine the overall combination of money as a value in a cross-cultural context. Money is a factor that determines people’s way of consumption. Consumption or rather demand for products and services, on the other hand, affects companies by indirectly influencing the produced output and productivity. One of the reasons for companies to extend their business to foreign markets is the opportunity to reduce potential macroeconomic volatility risk for output and consumption. Meaning, by expanding into new regions they can serve new demand, and this subsequently creates new potential channels for distributing the produced output (Pologeorgis, 2010). Thus, it is important to understand the value of money, each nation or culture perceives, since this is one of the very starting points in the consumer decision.. . 3 .

(12) 1.2.1 Research Purpose This thesis seeks to examine the different perceptions of money value in the cultural context. Based on the assumption that money can be categorized as a human value, its perception among Germans and Taiwanese is being measured. The analysis outcomes are expected to yield results, upon which money can be classified in terms of either an instrumental or a terminal value. Hence, to gain deeper understanding of the actual value perception and importance of money for an individual is the main focus of this study. Conclusively, further applications and implications for future research are derived. 1.2.2 Research Questions In the following, questions are defined that have to be answered during the research. This ensures, that all the information needed will be obtained in order to achieve the research purpose. The main research question is, whether there are differences in the German and Taiwanese perception of money value. In order to answer this question, several issues have to be addressed. First of all it has to be determined, how money value can be measured in this specific context. Secondly, evaluate whether money is purely instrumental or if it can be classified as a terminal and instrumental value. Last but not least, examine if there are differences in perception among different cultures.. . 4 .

(13) 2. Literature Review. The following chapter provides an overview of existing literature on human values, research related to money and a short implementation of both into the cultural context. The first section explains the basic understanding and definition of values, followed by ways of categorization and different measuring methods. The second part examines different aspects of money, explaining its usage and applications. Subsequently, both aspects are put into a contextual relationship with culture in order to establish a sound foundation for the present research. 2.1. The Meaning of Values. Even though a lot of research has been conducted on values for the last decades, social scientists did not reach a common understanding of what this concept is actually about nor did they create a common definition of it. The psychologists Valerie Braithwaite and William Scott stated: „in spite of widespread acceptance of the relevance of values to human activity at both the individual and social levels of analysis, developments in the field have been hampered by problems of definition and doubts about the empirical viability of the construct.” (Braithwaite & Scott, 1991). Back in the early nineties the German sociologist Helmut Klages, one of the pioneers of research into changing values in society, stated that even though value research is claimed to be multidisciplinary, it is lacking strongly for interdisciplinary character, implying that there is neither a satisfactory standardization of measurement tools nor common agreement about the conceptual characteristics of values. (Klages, 1992) The Australian psychologist Meg Rohan said that “definitional inconsistency has been epidemic in values theory and research” (Rohan, 2000). Apparently the term value seems to be so complex that it can comprise miscellaneous concepts but at the same time this multifaceted item becomes even more difficult to comprehend. Since there are numerous definitions for values proposed by literature, this paper will focus on one specific explanation proposed by a social psychologist named Milton Rokeach. He set the theoretical foundation for 5 .

(14) psychological research on values. By trying to determine what people regard as valuable, he defined the term value as “a psychological construct enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence” where the term terminal value describes the desired end state of existence and the term instrumental value refers to the desired mode of conduct (Rokeach, 1973). Rokeach’ value survey yielded two sets of 18 values, each corresponding to the instrumental and terminal function. Those sets of values are still frequently used as an instrument for contemporary research on human values (Beatty, Kahle, Homer, & Misra, 1985; Lynn R Kahle, Beatty, & Homer, 1986; L.R. Kahle, Homer, O'Brien, & Boush, 2014; Rose, 2014) and will be also applied in this thesis. An important finding of his theory points out the relative conception of values. According to Rokeach, each single value, considered on its own, has an absolute importance. However, when related to other values, a relative importance is created based on the current situation and values considered at that moment (Rokeach, 1973). Subsequently, the order of priority of values might change due to influencing factors such as personal experience, society or culture. Nonetheless, the overall value system or construct, that contains all employed values, is stable and enduring as a whole over time (Rokeach, 1973). Lynn Kahle, professor for marketing and researcher in the field of social and consumer psychology, was one of many using Rokeach findings (Lynn R Kahle & Kennedy, 1989; Richins & Dawson, 1992; Schwartz, 2003). Kahles work addressed the issues of social values in relation to other constructs such as attitudes and behavior. He developed the List of Values (Lynn R Kahle, 1983), based on the prior work of Rokeach (Rokeach, 1973) and Maslow (G. H. Hofstede & Hofstede, 2001). It distinguishes between external and internal values, focusing on those playing a central role in peoples lives, for example marriage, work, leisure and so on. Kahle sees values as an important means for psychographic segmentation in addition to demographic characteristics. In turn, psychographic segmentation provides a means of assessing the similarity of values and lifestyles across nations. The list of values had proved to be a valid tool for examining the values across different countries like United States, France and Scandinavian countries in a variety of consumer research settings (Lynn R Kahle, 1983; Lynn R Kahle et 6 .

(15) al., 1986; Rose, 2014). Existing data on Germany, however, was based solely on samples from Western Germany until the early nineties due to the separation of West and East Germany. Therefore, additional research data for this country should be conducted in relation to other nations. Kahles List of Values and Rokeach value survey are only one way to measure values (Lynn R Kahle & Xie, 2008). Examinations of consumer lifestyles, such as the Values and Lifestyle (VALS) approach (Homer & Kahle, 1988; Lynn R Kahle et al., 1986), revealed new findings in regard to values (Sun, Horn, & Merritt, 2004). Furthermore, the analysis of the relationship between values, attitudes and behaviour lead to an hierarchy model, implying causal sequencing from values to attiudes and finally to behavior. Accordig to this statement, any product or service has to contribute in any way to value fulfillment, otherwise it will become obsolete (Homer & Kahle, 1988). Hence, understanding the significance of each value is of very high importance for socio-economics. 2.2. The Concept of Money. One of the first and most conventional definitions of money originated from the economists and is based on the statements of its functions: medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account (Belk & Wallendorf, 1990). An extensive amount of research was conducted in psychological science during the past three decades, examining money upon various aspects: symbolic & psychological meaning, influence on behavior, attitudes toward money in general and in relation to gender differences (Belk & Wallendorf, 1990; Bonsu, 2008; Buechel & Morewedge, 2014; A. Furnham & Argyle, 1998; Adrian Furnham, von Stumm, & Fenton-O’Creevy, 2014; Mitchell & Mickel, 1999; Nelms & Maurer, 2014; Wernimont & Fitzpatrick, 1972). A particular study examining the meaning of money for children and adults obtained findings stating that value preferences can be associated with perceptions of money. People who tend to value extrinsic aspects of life more, in this case enjoyment, security and achievement, tend to assign a higher significance to money, than those, who preferred pro-social and maturity values (Lau, 1998). Lea and Webley examined money as a tool for need satisfaction and came to the conclusion that based on the different kind of usage, for example means of exchange, store of value and unit of account, money has to be 7 .

(16) instrumental (Lea & Webley, 2014). This claim shall be tested throughout this research. A recent study revealed that consumption is significantly influenced by the household’s economic situation (Karlsson, Dellgran, Klingander, & Gärling, 2004). Moreover, money has been established as an influencing factor on behavior, suggesting that the way people use money depends on the circumstances, in which it was acquired. The researchers Levav and McGraw called this phenomenon strategic accounting, demonstrating the influencing effects that feelings about a sum of money have on consumption. Simply said, if money was obtained under negative circumstances, people do “strategic consumption” and try to alter the bad feeling by doing something, form their stand of view, positive or useful with that sum. Those findings will be partially used in this research, serving a basis for developing the hypothesis that income is an influencing factor on money perception. 2.3. Value in Cross-Cultural Context. During the last several decades, the impact of values in the cross-cultural context has been examined extensively in relation to different kind of aspects. Cross-cultural research in regard to money and materialism was often linked to attitude or behavior (Bonsu, 2008; Ger & Belk, 1996; Lynn R Kahle & Xie, 2008; Kilbourne, Grünhagen, & Foley, 2005). A common tool for cross-cultural analysis are Hofstede Cultural Dimensions (G. Hofstede, 2001). Originally resulting from a company survey conducted among IBM employees, the 5 dimensions have proven to be valid throughout different applications in research. Countries, or better cultures, are assigned a score from zero to one hundred on the dimensions individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and long vs. short-term orientation. Based on those scores, comparisons throughout different cultures can be made. For this research in particular, Taiwan and Germany are described in terms of those five dimensions.. . 8 .

(17) CULTURAL DIMENSIONS ▼ (CULTURAL-DIMENSIONS.HTML). Select a Country. CULTURAL TOOLS ▼ (CULTURAL-TOOLS.. Germany. Taiwan in comparison with Germany. 93 83 67. 66. 69. 65. 58 49. 45. 40. 35 17. Power Distance. Individualism. Masculinity Taiwan. Uncertainty Avoidance. Long Term Orientation. Indulgence. Germany. . Chart 1: Hofstede Cultural Dimensions - Comaprison Germany & Taiwan Compare your personal score on Hofstede's model to a country of your choice — take the new cultural su. The first dimension, power distance (PDI), describes the extent to which the less powerful members of a society within a country expect and accept that. What about Taiwan?. power is distributed unequally. The scores show that individuals in Taiwan (58) will be seen as less equal than individuals in Germany (35), implying a If we explore the Taiwanese culture through the lens of the 6-D Model©, we can get a good overview of world cultures.order within its society. hierarchical The dimension individualism (IDV) deals with the degree of interdependence Power Distance. aThis society maintains refers,areamong others, to dimension deals withamong the fact its that members. all individualsThis in societies not equal – it expresses the attitude. Power Distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and org people’s self-image and whether it is defined in terms of “I” of “We”. With a power is distributed unequally.. score of 17, Taiwan is perceived as a very collectivistic culture in comparison. Taiwan has an relatively scoreindividualistic of 58 on this dimension which indicates that it is a hierarchical society to Germany, which ishigh clearly with a score of 67. Collectivistic. which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. Hierarchy in an organisation is se. cultures value relationships of told anywhat kind, may be extended family orautocrat. any popular, subordinates expect to be to do andthat the ideal boss is a benevolent other extended relationship. Long-term commitment is expected towards the Individualism. The fundamental issue addressed dimensiondefined is the degree. of interdependence a society main group, which can refer to familybyorthis otherwise membership.. people´s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “We”. In Individualist societies people are supposed to. The masculinity (MAS) dimension addresses the issue of what aspects Collectivist societies people belong to ‘in groups’ that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. motivate and drive people within a society. A high score, like 66 points for. Taiwan, with a score of 17 is a collectivistic society. This is manifest in a close long-term commitment to th extended relationships. Loyalty in a collectivist culture is paramount and overrides most other societal and success,where wherein success defined as the field – aofvalue relationships, everyone takesis responsibility for best fellowinmembers their system group. In collectivistic Employer/employee relationships are perceived in moral terms (like a family link), hiring and promotion tak that starts in school and continues throughout organizational life. A slightly the management of groups.. Germany, indicates that the society is driven by achievement, competition. Masculinity. A high score (Masculine) on this dimension indicates 9 that the society will be driven by competition, achieve winner/best in field – a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational life..

(18) lower score, 45 in the case of Taiwan, means that dominant values might be rather caring for others and quality in life. The dimension of uncertainty avoidance illustrates (UAV) the extent to which the members of a culture feel threatened by unknown or ambiguous and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these. Both, Taiwan and Germany show a high preference for uncertainty avoidance, displaying a score of 69 and 65 respectively. Those cultures tend to have an emotional need for rule and regulations; rigid codes of belief and behavior dictate a certain way of living. Members of this society have an inner urge to be busy and work hard, precision and punctuality are the norm and security is an important element in individual motivation. Last but not least, the index of long-term orientation describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future. Again, both cultures show quite a high score, indicating its long-term orientation, which can be manifested in aspects such as pragmatism, or a strong propensity to save and invest. (G. Hofstede, 2015) Updated research on the Hofstede model has been performed since then to make it applicable over time. Yet, a recent study named THE CLOBE was published by the Center for Creative Leadership (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004), revealing findings from their cross-cultural research. New dimensions of cultural values are presented, some of which can be compared to Hofstede’s preceding work. However, the GLOBE’s results are focusing a lot on leadership and managerial skills, which makes it unemployable for this thesis. A polarizing dispute initiated by Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew addressed the issue of the so-called “Asian Values”. The debate was concerned with the question whether a country or nation can flourish under the control of an authoritarian regime and how democracy would be the best way towards a stable economic growth. The Asian values thesis is grounded in the ideas that there is a set of Asian values that strongly represent standards such as hard work and discipline, and that these social structures transfer to political structures. One of the differences in comparison to . 10 .

(19) western cultures is the view on individualism vs. collectivism. Lee states that East Asian values emphasize that an individual is not a separate entity, but part of a family, which is then part of society. Therefore, individualistic aspects are still present, but in a way subordinate to the overall societal structure. (Elgin, 2010; Zakaria, 1994) Another way of distinguishing cultures was introduced by the World Values Survey Association ("The world values survey association," 2015). Their research follows the so-called “revised theory of modernization”, stating that with each further step towards modernization values hold by individuals or cultures change in a certain direction. Two major dimensions were proposed for defining the variation of cultural value systems across the world: Survival vs. Self-Expression and Traditional vs. Secular-Rational. Traditional values emphasize the importance of religion, parent-child ties, deference to authority and traditional family values. People who embrace these values also reject for example divorce or abortion. These societies have high levels of national pride and a nationalistic outlook. Secular-rational values express the opposite preferences to the traditional values. These societies place less emphasis on religion, traditional family values and authority. Divorce and abortion are seen as relatively acceptable. Survival values place emphasis on economic and physical security. It is linked with a relatively ethnocentric outlook and low levels of trust and tolerance. Self-expression values give high priority to environmental protection, growing tolerance of foreigners, gays and lesbians and gender equality, and rising demands for participation in decision-making in economic and political life. ("The world values survey association," 2015). . 11 .

(20) Chart 2: Cultural Map (2010-2014), World Values Survey. Chart 2 displays a map of different cultures or rather countries according to their orientation on the two-dimensional value scale. It is to be noted that Taiwan and Germany are located nearly on the same level of SecularRational Values. However, looking at the second dimension, there is a distinction between the to countries: Taiwan seems to be less self-expression oriented than Germany.. . 12 .

(21) 2.4. Hypothesis development. Based on the previously outlined literature, hypotheses are formulated for the present study: First of all, a null hypothesis is created. It has to be rejected in order to be able to proceed with the analysis. If the hypothesis is confirmed, there is no valid justification for further examination and interpretation of the data. H0:. The differences in instrumental and terminal value perception will not. be significant. Based on prior research, the first hypothesis states a presumed condition of the current perception towards money among Taiwanese and Germans. H1:. German people perceive money value as a rather instrumental,. whereas Taiwanese people perceive money as a rather terminal value. According to literature, discussed in the previous chapters, people’s values are not only shaped by their surrounding but is also determined by the amount of time that they spend within a certain culture. The next hypothesis is based on this assumption: H2a: The perception of money value in terms of rather terminal or instrumental will be different among different age groups within one culture. Nonetheless, differences are to be expected for people within the same age category of different cultures, since their environment and experiences shaped their values and perceptions differently over time. H2b: There will be significant differences between the two countries regarding the perception of money value within the same age group. The subsequent two hypotheses are partially based on the assumptions of H1. Taiwanese participants are expected to perceive money in general more terminal, therefore higher value scores are presumed for terminal than for instrumental statements. Additionally, the personal financial situation, as in income, is considered to be an influencing factor on money value perception.. . 13 .

(22) Meaning, the more money a person makes, the more important it becomes in his life and therefore leads to a more terminal view of money value. H3a: The overall score for the perception of money as a terminal value will increase with higher income level for Taiwanese participants.. H3b: The overall score for the perception of money as a terminal value will be higher than the overall score for the perception of money as an instrumental value within the high-income level for Taiwanese participants. Following those statements, the hypotheses for Germany are designed according to their presumed money value perception. Since money is expected to be strongly instrumental rather than terminal, an increase in income should not yield significantly different results from a lower income level. H4a: The overall score for the perception of money as a terminal value will not increase with higher income level for German participants.. H4b: The overall score for the perception of money as an instrumental value for Germans will always be higher than the overall score for the perception of money as a terminal value across all income levels.. . 14 .

(23) 3 Methodology This chapter describes the methodological aspects of the present research, such as research design, data collection methods and the research instrument used for the measurement. At the end, the chapter provides considerations about validity and reliability of the investigation. 3.1. Research Method & Design. In the present study the descriptive method is used for obtaining the desired data. It is conducted for revealing facts and accurate descriptions of the analyzed sample. Among other applications, it can be used to determine perceptions. Since this study is aiming to examine the differences in perception of money value, this method is considered to be appropriate. Several hypotheses are previously formulated based on extensive research and prior knowledge of the author. The information needed is clearly defined prior to the actual data collection. The online survey approach was chosen for the quantitative research. A formal questionnaire is designed containing questions in a prearranged order. The participants have to select their answer from a predetermined set of responses. This ensures a structured and standardized data collection. Those aspects lead to several advantages: first of all, the questionnaire can be simply administered. Secondly, the fixed-response questions yield reliable data since the participants are limited to their choice of answers. Finally, the data can be easily coded, analyzed and interpreted. This is in particularly useful for the current research, since the survey is conducted in two languages, which makes a clear and precise questionnaire structure even more important. The Web survey technique, used in this case, eliminated potential interviewer bias, since the questionnaire was self-administered. High speed of data collection and low costs served as further advantages of this tool. Since money is a delicate subject, special attention was paid to the sensitivity of the topic. Online surveys provide high-perceived anonymity for respondents. This motivates them to participate and respond sincere. Moreover, low social desirability ensures that participants disclose their actual perceived answers . 15 .

(24) instead of any other answer, which they think might be more socially desirable. Furthermore, high respondent control allows the participants to arrange their time of response more flexible and go through the questionnaire at their own pace. Considering the extensive amount of statements that had to be evaluated in this case, this aspect was very essential. To avoid potential low response rates, which are common for Internet surveys, a specific sample group was chosen. The elements for this research consist mainly of students and faculty members. Those tend to be more willing to participate in research studies, than others. The disadvantage of low sample control can be handled by screening respondents upon their eligibility to participate in the survey based on the set of previously determined demographic criteria, which are collected in the last part of the questionnaire (Mitchell & Mickel, 1999). For instance, participants were initially grouped by the language that they choose at the beginning of the survey – either Chinese or German. An English version was not provided, since it would not attract the desired target group. The next segmentation was based on their nationality, which had to be either German or Taiwanese. Another criteria that was considered, is the current place of residence. Living in a different country for a long period of time might influence a persons value system and therefore bias the results. However, the majority of the participants stated to live in the country of their nationality. 3.2. Research Instrument: developing a measurement method. The questionnaire was designed to yield specific information. The questions were formulated in a clear and understandable way, in order to prevent response error due to misunderstanding or inaccurate answers. Furthermore, the participants of online surveys were encouraged to complete their task by informing them about their progress by displaying a progress bar. Research Instrument: Online Survey Part 1:. statements about terminal and instrumental values had to be rated on a 6-point Likert scale according to their personal level of agreement.. . 16 .

(25) Part 2:. a list of 14 values, terminal and instrumental, was presented to the participants. They had to choose the three most and least important items and rank them in a corresponding order. Values with rankings between 4 and 11 were disregarded in the analysis. This part aimed to determine whether there are differences in value preferences among Germans and Taiwanese in order to get a better understanding for the following money value analysis.. Part 3:. Statements measuring the overall importance of money to an individual were presented to the participants. The computed scores were analyzed in relation to. Part 4:. this part aims to measure the value perception of money. The term is set equal to a list of terminal and instrumental values. Participants are asked to rate each statement according to their level of agreement.. Part 5:. Demographic data such as age, income, nationality, gender and so on where collected at the end of the survey, in order to receive more detailed information about the participants and being able to create a more precise analysis of the overall findings.. The following section describes the main aspects of the online survey tool. A questionnaire consisting of five parts was created to obtain specified information. The most important section, part 4, examined the character of money value, namely being instrumental or terminal, perceived by each individual. Since the statements were formulated in a direct and sometimes polarizing way, the researcher decided to extract this kind of information at the end of the survey, after trust had been established and the legit purpose of the research became clear. Using Rokeach terminal values, extracted from his value survey, each terminal value was set equal to the term money. For example: Being happy means having a lot of money. Respondents were asked to rate each statement on a Likert scale according to their level of agreement. The first section displayed statements related to general values. The purpose was to analyze, what kind of values were important to each individual and further to validate these outcomes in comparison to part 4. Equally to the 4th . 17 .

(26) section, participants were asked to indicate their level of agreement on each statement. The values and statements were partially derived from Rokeach value survey, Kahle's List of Values and Mitchell et al. Money Importance Scale (Lynn R Kahle, 1983; Mitchell & Mickel, 1999; Rokeach, 1973). The online survey gathered two types of information: first, basic information, related directly to the research problem, was obtained. The last part was asking for classification information like demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Those questions served simultaneously as a filter in order to assure the respondents qualification for the survey. In order to increase the respondent's willingness to disguise sensitive information about their income, this question was stated at the last section of the questionnaire. Hence, participants had time to overcome their mistrust and to assure themselves of the legitimacy of the research. Furthermore, income categories are provided to simplify the responding process and reduce the effort for the respondent. Response. categories. were. defined. objectively. in. order. to. avoid. misinterpretation. Due to the multidimensionality and complexity of the topic at hand, descriptions are included in the text to facilitate the right articulation of the response. 3.3. Sample. The next important step before data collection is the sampling design process. Several aspects including the definition of the target population, the sampling frame and sampling technique as well as the sample size had to be considered. Due to several limitations the selection of the sample might not be fully representative of the original population. The determination of the sampling frame was obtained based on the available resources and the author's judgment, which might lead to a sampling frame error. However, this error can be eliminated by screening the respondents in the data collection phase for certain criteria to ensure they comply with the target population. This way, inappropriate elements contained in the sample frame were excluded. Nevertheless, screening can not account for the elements that have been omitted due to the biased determination of the sampling frame (Malhotra, 2010).. . 18 .

(27) The samples for the empirical study where chosen according to the nonprobability convenience technique. Based on the author's judgment and conscious decision, elements that were easy accessible and met certain selection criteria were included in the sample. This is the least expensive and least time-consuming method, which is indispensable for this research. Using online sampling for the descriptive research, sampling units could be reached easily, being cooperative and easy to measure. Convenience sampling however, is not generating representative results in descriptive research for any population due to several selection biases. Nonetheless, it yields first outcomes on the stated problem and gives suggestions for further investigations, which was one of the main goals of this thesis. Individuals meeting the following criteria were included in the sample: •. Male or female above the age of 18. •. German or Taiwanese nationality or living in either of this countries. The target population for this study was defined as following: Elements:. mostly, but not limited to students and faculty members of National Taiwan Normal University as well as Munich Business School.. Extend:. Germany and Taiwan. Time frame: 22. June - 08. July 2015 The determination of the sample size was influenced by time-wise and financial resources constraints. The initial sample size consisted of 475 participants. With a response rate of 51.58% and after eliminating invalid cases, an overall amount of 245 responses was collected. Within those responses, 106 accounted from Germany and 139 from Taiwan.. 3.4. Data Collection. After an extensive analysis of existing literature and the development of an appropriate measure instrument, the next step consisted of collecting the research data. The online questionnaire was distributed via social media in both countries. Additionally, a link to the questionnaire was send out through. . 19 .

(28) the mailing system of National Taiwan Normal University and Munich Business School. 3.5. Data processing. For processing and analyzing the data, the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used. The data set, obtained from the online survey tool, was implemented into the system and some of the variables recoded in order to be suitable for further analysis. Different tools within SPSS have been used in order to reveal best possible results. R, a programming language and software environment, has been used to analyze the data from the value ranking part of the questionnaire.. A. probability distribution displayed the expected value for each item. A code has been developed to yield statistically valid results out of the lists with most and least important values.. 3.6. Reliability & Validity. Reliability and validity are very important characteristics in research that can assess the quality of both, the obtained data and method. Reliability refers to the stability and precision of a measurement and examines whether a scale produces consistent results in case of repeated measurements. Content validity reflects whether differences among participants established with the measurement tool illustrate the actual differences (Malhotra, 2010). An ideal measurement tool is not only reliable, but also valid. In order to ensure reliability, items from the questionnaire where tested using the SPSS system.. . 20 .

(29) 4 Results This chapter displays the data collected trough the online survey and interprets the results by using statistical software. 4.1. Money as a terminal versus instrumental value. First of all, the obtained data was checked for reliability. A reliability test was conducted, analyzing the value of Cronbach’s Alpha, which is used as an internal consistency estimate of reliability of test scores. Values above 0.70 are considered to be satisfactory for this research. All items related to money as a terminal value yielded an overall value for Cronbach’s Alpha of .817, indicating the reliability and hence justifying the interpretability of the scores. The value for items measuring money as an instrumental value equals .795. In the following step, mean values where computed for each participant, summing up the score for terminal and instrumental statements regarding their perception of money. A paired Samples T Test was conducted to test the relation between money as a terminal and instrumental value. The significance test shows a p-value lower than 0.001, therefore stating that there are significant differences among participants and their perception of money as a terminal versus instrumental value. Since the null hypothesis is rejected, further analysis can be conducted. Next, participants were spilt according to the language variable, creating groups of German and Taiwanese respondents. The test showed significant differences among Taiwanese and German participants regarding the extent to which they see money as instrumental. No significant differences (p>0.05) where found between Taiwanese and German participants in their perception of money as a terminal value. The test also yielded information about the overall perception of money value within each country. Both, Taiwanese and Germans showed higher overall agreement score (mean) on instrumental than terminal statements. For Germany, the overall mean equals 48.67 for instrumental and 30.71 for terminal value. For Taiwan, the scores were 40.73 and 31.98 respectively (see table 1). This leads to the rejection of the first hypothesis, stating that Germans perceive money value as rather instrumental than terminal, whereas Taiwanese . 21 .

(30) T-Test Group Statistics Std. Error. N Mean terminal Std. Deviation Language perceive money value as rather than Mean instrumental. It should be M_Terminal. German. 106. 30.7075. 7.22689. .70194. Taiwanese 139 31.9784 9.56251 .81108 noted that German participants yield a significantly (p<0.001) higher M_Instrumental. German. 106. 48.6698. 7.30260. .70929. Taiwanese 139 43.7338 9.95976 .84478 instrumental score than Taiwanese participants, meaning that they might see Independent Samples Test. T - T e s t as more instrumental than the later. (see table 2) money Levene's Test for Equality of Variances. Group Statistics. M_Terminal M_Terminal. M_Instrumental M_Instrumental. F Mean. N. Language Equal variances German assumed. 106 139 106 139. Taiwanese Equal variances German not assumed Taiwanese Equal variances assumed. t-test for Equality of Means. Sig.Deviation t Std.. 30.7075 10.122. Std. Error Meandf. 7.22689 .002 -1.142 9.56251 7.30260 - 1 . 1 8 5 9.95976. 31.9784 48.6698 43.7338 6.759. .010. Independent Samples Test variances Table 1: T Test forEqual Money Value Scores – Group Statistics not assumed. .70194 243 .81108 242.985 .70929 .84478. 4.296. 243. 4.475. Levene's Test for Equality of Variances Independent Samples Test. .237. . .000. 242.657. .000. t-test for Equality of Means. t-test for Equality of Means. F. .255. Sig.. t. df. M_Terminal. Equal variances assumed. M_Terminal. Equalvariances variances Equal not assumed assumed. .255. -1.27087. -1.185 1.11300. 242.985 -3.46322. .237. M_Instrumental. Equal Equalvariances variances not assumed assumed. .237 6.759. - 1 . 2 7 0 8 7 .010. 1.07265 4.296. - 3 . 3284337 4. .000. M_Instrumental. Equal Equalvariances variances assumed not assumed. .000. 4.93600. 1.14887 4.475. 2.67299 242.657. .000. .000. 4.93600. 1.10306. Equal variances not assumed. Mean 10.122 .002 Std. -Error 1.142 Difference Difference Sig. (2-tailed). Independent Samples Test. 243. . .255. 2.76320. Table 2: T Test for Money Value Scores - Significance Testing t-test for Equality of Means. Sig. (2-tailed). Mean Difference. Money value perception Equal variances in relation to age: M_Terminal .255 -1.27087 assumed. Std. Error Difference 1.11300. -3.46322. The data set was split by the variable age and language in order to explore .237 -1.27087 1.07265 -3.38374 Equal variances not assumed. Equaldifferences. variances M_Instrumental further potential A .000 Paired-Sample T 1.14887 Test was2.67299 conducted 4.93600 assumed. Page 1. Equal variances examining the mean scores of instrumental and terminal statements. .000 4.93600 1.10306 2.76320 not assumed. Participants in the first four age categories of both countries showed significant differences (p<0.05) in their scores on terminal and instrumental value perception. Meaning, people up to the age of 54 tend to see money as rather instrumental than terminal. Participants above the age of 54 showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in their perception of money as terminal vs. instrumental. Nonetheless it can be observed, that their scores on money as Page 1. an instrumental value are higher than the scores on money as a terminal value.. . 22 .

(31) Chart 3: Money Value Score in Relation to Age. Following those observations, hypothesis H2a has to be rejected. It is stating that the perception of money value or rather the tendency towards a certain direction, either terminal or instrumental, will be different among different age groups within one culture. However, participants from both cultures seem to perceive money as a rather instrumental than terminal value and this tendency is present in each age group. In the second part of the analysis, the data set was split by the variable age, followed by an Independent-Sample T Test. Language was set as the grouping variable, testing the variables Terminal and Instrumental. Mean scores for terminal and instrumental values between Germans and Taiwanese in each age group where compared and tested for significance (p<0.05). Participants above the age of 34 did not show significant differences in their perception of money as either instrumental or terminal. Their mean values on both categories did not differ significantly (0.087≤p≤0.744). For example, people in the age group 45 – 54 had a mean score for Terminal of 32.42 in Germany and 30.44 in Taiwan. The mean scores for Instrumental were 47.00 and 48.13 respectively. The second age group (25 – 34) showed significant differences between the two countries for terminal (p=0.027) and instrumental (p<0.001) scores. This implies a significant difference in the perception of money as an instrumental and terminal value. Germans and Taiwanese participants in the first age group (18 – 24) showed a significant (p=0.03) difference in their perception of . 23 .

(32) money as an instrumental value. The perception of money as a terminal value did not differ significantly (p=0.07). Following those observations, hypothesis H2b has to be rejected. Most of the age groups do not differ significantly in their money value perception between the two nationalities. The only two cases that support this hypothesis are the second age group (25 – 34) on both, terminal and instrumental perception and perception of money as an instrumental value in the first age group (18 – 24). Money value perception in relation to income: The data set was split by the variable income and language in order to explore further potential differences. In order to make the data of the different languages and therefore different income levels more comparable, general levels of income where used in the analysis. The particular levels are listed in the table below: Income Level. Germany. Taiwan. Income level 1. ≤ 500€. ≤ $15,000 NT. Income level 2. 501€ - 900€. $15,001 NT - $30,000 NT. Income level 3. 901€ - 1.300€. $30,001 NT - $50,000 NT. Income level 4. 1.301€ - 1.500€. $50,001 NT - $70,000 NT. Income level 5. 1.501€ - 2.100€. $70,001 NT - $90,000 NT. Income level 6. 2.101€ - 3.100€. $90,000 NT - $120,000 NT. Income level 7. 3.101€ - 4.500€. $120,001 NT - $150,000 NT. Income level 8. > 4.500€. > $150,000NT. Table 3: Income Levels according to each country. A Paired-Sample T Test was conducted examining the mean scores of instrumental and terminal statements in relation to income. German participants showed a high significance (p<0.05) throughout all income levels, besides income level 4. Meaning, there is a statistically significant difference between the means of terminal and instrumental scores. Looking closer at the mean scores, an upward trend can be observed for terminal values, wherein the score rises constantly with each continuing income level except in level 6. This leads to the rejection of hypothesis H4a, stating that the overall score of German participants for the perception of money as a terminal value will not increase with higher income level.. . 24 .

(33) Chart 4 also shows that Taiwanese participants tend to have a higher score for money as a terminal value, than German participants, with the exception of level 4 and 7, although there is no upward trend with a higher income level, like in the case of German participants. The hypothesis H3a has to be rejected since the overall score of Taiwanese participants for the terminal money-value-perception did not increase with higher income level.. Chart 4: Terminal Value Scores in Relation to Income. Taiwanese Mean Score: 31.98. German Mean Score: 30.71. Chart 5: Instrumental Value Scores in Relation to Income. Taiwanese Mean Score: 43.73. German Mean Score: 48.76. Chart 5 displays the instrumental scores of German and Taiwanese participants in relation to income. Germans tend to have a higher score . 25 .

(34) value, implying a stronger tendency towards perceiving money as an instrumental value. Following the two previous charts it can be said, that hypothesis H3b has to be rejected. The overall score of Taiwanese participants for the perception of money as a terminal value is not higher than the overall score for the perception of money as an instrumental value within the high-income level. Hypothesis H4b is retained, showing that the overall score for the perception of money as an instrumental value for Germans is always higher than the overall score for the perception of money as a terminal value across all income levels. All together, participants of the survey show an overall higher score for money as an instrumental value, rather than terminal. When purely looking at the value scores, the biggest differences in the perception occur in the lowest income (1) and second highest income (7) group with scores of 47.50 to 30.00 and 49.66 and. 29.55. respectively. People within the highest. income. category (8) seem to see the least differences between. money. as an instrumental (43.14) terminal. and value. Chart 6: Overall Money Value Scores in Relation to Income Level. (33.35). However, the paired T Test results in table 4 showed significant (p<0.05) differences between terminal and instrumental scores among all income levels, with the exception of income level 4. At this stage of the T Test, cases were not distinguished in the two cultural groups.. . 26 .

(35) Paired Samples Test Paired Differences. Mean. Std. Deviation. Std. Error Mean. 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper. t. df. Sig. (2-tailed). Income Income level 1. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -25.70000. 9.95601. 3.14837. -32.82210. -18.57790. -8.163. 9. .000. Incom level 2. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -17.87500. 11.61536. 2.90384. -24.06439. -11.68561. -6.156. 15. .000. Income level 3. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -20.58824. 17.79768. 4.31657. -29.73896. -11.43751. -4.770. 16. .000. Income level 4. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -14.80000. 13.16055. 5.88558. -31.14098. 1.54098. -2.515. 4. .066. Income level 5. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -19.33333. 14.27410. 4.75803. -30.30538. -8.36129. -4.063. 8. .004. Income level 6. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -16.55556. 15.77269. 5.25756. -28.67952. -4.43159. -3.149. 8. .014. Income level 7. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -17.94737. 11.54447. 2.64848. -23.51163. -12.38311. -6.776. 18. .000. Income level 8. Pair 1. M_Terminal M_Instrumental. -13.00000. 12.79453. 2.79200. -18.82400. -7.17600. -4.656. 20. .000. . Table 4: Paired Sample T Test for Money Value Scores in Relation to Income Level. 4.2. The Importance of Money. The reliability test was conducted for 29 items, which measure the overall importance of money for each participant. The results yielded a value for Cronbach’s alpha of 0.822. Since the value is higher than 0.70, further analysis is conducted. Factor analysis is used in order to identify those items that explain most of the variance within the set of variables. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy is an index examining the appropriateness of factor analysis. A minimum value of 0.5 should be reached for an appropriate fit (Malhotra, 2010) In this case, the KMO is equal to 0.929 and therefore stating the suitability of the factor analysis. Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity shows that the variables are correlated, with high significance and high chi-square value. KMO and Bartlett's Test Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square df Sig.. .929 4837.623 406 .000. Table 5: KMO & Barlett's Test for Values. The principal component analysis produced four factors out of 29 items. Page 1. Varimax rotation was used to minimize the number of variables with high loadings on a factor in order to enhance the interpretability. Factor 1, 2, 3 and 4 accounted for 32.97, 17.12, 8.48 and 5.35 percent of the total variance respectively. . 27 .

(36) possessions. I tell people about my financial situation.. 1.000. .554. Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Total Variance Explained. Component 1 2 3 4 5 6 Table 6: Factor 7 8 9 10 11 12. Total 9.683 5.692 2.102 1.057 .954 .843 Analysis .731 .711 .664 .611 .546 .533. Initial Eigenvalues % of Variance Cumulative %. -. 33.390 19.627 7.248 3.645 3.290 2.907 Total2.522 Variance 2.453 2.291 2.106 1.882 1.838. 33.390 53.017 60.265 63.910 67.200 70.107 Explained 72.629 75.081 77.372 79.478 81.360 83.198. Extraction Sums of Squared Loadings Total % of Variance Cumulative % 9.683 5.692 2.102 1.057. 33.390 19.627 7.248 3.645. 33.390 53.017 60.265 63.910. 9.560 4.963 2.460 1.551. . Most of the factors extracted, correspond with the ones produced in the Mitchel et al. Money Importance Scale (MIS) (Mitchell & Mickel, 1999). The 13 .493 1.699 84.897 14 .435 1.501 86.399 items where categorized as following: 15. .420. 1.449. 87.847. 16 17. .415 .378. 1.431 1.302. 89.278 90.580. .315 .291 .271 .259 .224 .207 .198 .184. 1.175 1.086 1.002 .934 .892 .773 .715 .682 .634. 91.755 92.840 93.843 94.777 95.669 96.442 97.157 97.839 98.473. .163. .563. 99.035. 18 .341 Factor 1 (9 items): 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26. •. Item 13, 16:. Knowledge of Financial Affairs (KFA). •. Item 18, 19, 20:. •. Item 26, 27, 28, 29: Money as a Source of Power and Status (MPS). Comfort in Taking Financial Risks (CFR). The first factor holds items from three different MIS-factors. Majority of the 27. items represent the label.497 Money as a Source of Power. Item 13 “I frequently .144 99.532 use financial terms like fiscal, return on investments or cash flow” Page and2716 “ I know what the stock market does every day” originally represented the factor Knowledge of Financial Affairs. However, in this case, it can be argued that knowledge is power and in this case the possession of this kind of information would be beneficial for making any kind of financial decisions. The third MIS-factor represents items related to financial risks. The willingness to take big risks for a slight chance of winning, borrowing for investment purposes and enjoying risky activities can be seen as part of demonstrating and possession of power. Therefore, it seems reasonable that the factor naming, containing those nine items, will be retained from the MIS and labeled Money as a Source of Power and Status. Factor 2 (12 items):. . •. Item 8:. Personal Involvement with Money (PIM). •. Item 9, 10, 11, 12: Time Spent Thinking about Financial Matters (TIF). •. Item 14, 15, 17:. •. Item 21, 23, 24, 25: Skill at Handling Money (SHM). Knowledge of Financial Affairs (KFA). 28 .

(37) Factor 2 holds the most items from four different MIS-factors. Nonetheless, the overall combination is reasonable when looking into each statement. Item 8 “I set financial goals for myself” is content-wise related to item 11 “I am always on the outlook for good financial investments” as well as item 14 “I read magazines about business or financial affairs” and item 24 “I use strategies to save or make money whenever I can”. They can be categorized into the label Personal Involvement with Money. Factor 3 (4 items): •. Item 1, 2, 3, 4:. Importance of Money (VIM). This factor contains all four items of the original MIS-factor VIM. Therefore, the label Importance of Money will be retained. Factor 4 (4 items): •. Item 5, 6, 7:. Personal Involvement with Money (PIM). •. Item 22:. Skill at Handling Money (SHM). Although this factor holds items of 2 different MIS-factors, and item 22 “I am aware of where my money goes each month” is the only one from a different category, items 5, 6, 7 (“I know how much money I have in the bank”, “I make out a budget for my expenditures”, “I use computer software to help my finances”.) and 22 will be categorized content-wise into the Skill at Handling Money label. The sum and mean value was computed, leading to a score for the overall money importance for each participant. The maximum reachable score value is 174 (29 items x 6 points of agreement on Likert Scale). The maximum mean value is 6, the actual mean for the overall money importance is 3.51. A T Test was conducted to test the relation between the overall importance of money (MIS_Mean) and the scores for money as a terminal (Terminal_Mean) and instrumental (Instrumental_Mean) statements for each participant.. Table 7: Paired T Test of Money importance Score and Money Value Scores. . 29 .

(38) 4.3. The Importance of Instrumental and Terminal Values. Using the R software, factor analysis was conducted in order to extract the three most and least important values out of a list of 14 values according to the participants ranking. Using a probability distribution, the expected value for each item was calculated. The most important values were item 2 (Providing for my family) with the highest score of 22.65 and 5 (Pleasure, enjoying live) with the second highest score of 18.49, followed by item 9 (True friendship) and 10 (Security) with the scores 13.46 and 13.90 respectively. As the least important values, items 8 (Social recognition) with a score of 32.93, item 12 (Success & achievement) with a score of 28.43 and item 1 (Comfortable & prosperous life) with a score of 17.08 where selected. No differences where found when splitting the data according to nationality, implying that participants from Germany and Taiwan have similar value rankings on their top three priorities and least important values. It is to mention that only terminal values were chosen to be the most valuable items, corresponding with the definition of those items, namely being a desired end of state, not solely means to an end. At this point it is to mention that factor analysis using SPSS was not performed, since the coding of the data would not have lead to meaningful results. Every item out of the 14 presented values was assigned a score of three, two or one points according to the participants ranking. If not chosen for the three most or least important values, the item was given a value of zero. Hence, a factor analysis would yield a distorted result for the KMOadequacy testing due to a high amount of zero-cases.. . 30 .

(39) Notes Output Created Comments Input. 4.4. 22-JUL-2015 21:59:39 /Users/annafischmann/ Documents/Master Thesis/Unipark_Data download/Output/data_ project_513861_2015_0 7_21.sav. Data. Sample Characteristics. The sampleActive consists of overall 245 participants, 106 Germans and 139 Dataset DataSet1 Filter. <none>. Split File. <none>. Weight <none> Taiwanese. Several descriptive charts and tables where created in order to N of Rows in 245 get a better understanding of the current sample group. Working Data File Missing Value. Definition of. User-defined missing. Cases Used. Statistics are based on. Handling values are treated as The majorityMissing of the sample consists of female participants with a strong missing. all cases with valid data. groups. Over 60 percent were younger distribution among the younger age FREQUENCIES VARIABLES=v_3 /STATISTICS=SUM /BARCHART FREQ /ORDER=ANALYSIS.. Syntax. than 35 years old, another 30 percent between 35 and up to 54 years old. An importantProcessor factorTimethat should00:00:00.31 be paid attention to is the employment status. Resources Elapsed Time. 00:00:00.00. 30 percent of the participants indicated to be currently engaged in their Statistics Gender studies. About2 4 555 percent indicated to be employed, either self, part-time or N Valid Missing full-time. Sum. 0 334 Gender Frequency. Valid. Percent. Valid Percent. Cumulative Percent. Female. 156. 63.7. 63.7. 63.7. Male Total. 89 245. 36.3 100.0. 36.3 100.0. 100.0. . Table 8: Gender distribution Age Frequency Valid. Valid. 18-24 25-34 35-44 15 8 -- 5 24 4 4. 61 90 Frequency 38 65 1 3. 25 5 -- 6 34 4 5 3 56 -44 4 >. Percent Age 24.9 36.7 Percent 15.5 24.9 14.3. Valid Percent 24.9 36.7 Valid Percent 15.5 24.9 14.3. 97 0 1 34 8. Cumulative Percent 24.9 61.6 Cumulative Percent 77.1 24.9 91.4 61.6 98.4. Page 5. 36.7 36.7 6.9 6.9 15.5 15.5 77.1 1.6 1.6 100.0 45-54 35 5 14.3 14.3 91.4 Total 24 100.0 100.0 55-64 17 6.9 6.9 98.4 Employment 4 4 1.6 1.6 100.0 Table 9:> 6Age distribution Total 245 100.0 100.0 Cumulative Percent Frequency Percent Valid Percent Employment Valid Student (Bachelor) 33 13.5 13.5 13.5 Cumulative Percent Student (Master) 46 18.8 18.8 32.2 Frequency Percent Valid Percent Looking for a Job 8 3.3 3.3 35.5 Valid Student (Bachelor) 33 13.5 13.5 13.5 Unemployed 6 2.4 2.4 38.0 Student (Master) 48 6 18.8 18.8 32.2 Self-employed 1 7.3 7.3 45.3 Looking for(fulla Job 8 3.3 3.3 35.5 Employed 1 0 8 44.1 44.1 89.4 time) Unemployed 6 2.4 2.4 38.0 Emploed (partSelf-employed 10 8 7.3 7.3 45.3 1 4.1 4.1 93.5 time) Employed (full107 8 44.1 44.1 89.4 time) Retired 2.9 2.9 96.3. . Other Emploed (parttime) Total Retired. 9 10 245 7. 3.7 4.1 100.0 2.9. 3.7 4.1 100.0 2.9. Total. 9 245. 3.7 100.0. 3.7 100.0. Bar Chart Other. Bar Chart Table 10: Employment distribution. 100.0 93.5. 96.3 100.0. . Further information about the current place of residence was derived from the questionnaire. Most German participants were located in Munich, Bavaria (see chart 6). Several were located in other German cities like Cologne, Berlin or Hamburg. Some participants indicated currently living in foreign countries such as Russia, Belgium, United States and United Kingdom. . 31 Page 2.

(40) Initially, it would have been worth to consider excluding those participants, since their new surrounding might have shaped their perception of values differently over time from a German, who lives in the corresponding environment. However, in those cases, people mostly indicated, that the stay is rather temporary and therefore their responses were retained in the data set. As displayed in Chart 7, most Taiwanese participants were located in the Taipei area, namely Taipei and Taipei City. For both groups of participants, Taiwanese and Germans, the city of residence did not yield any particular findings. Hence, the analysis for distinguishing those two groups was usually performed by splitting the data set by the “language” variable.. City of Residence for German participants 4 . 4 6 . Munich. 5 . Other German Cities. 7 . Cologne Berlin. 13 . Hamburg. 67 . Other Foreign Cities Moscow - Russia. . Chart 7: City of Residence for German participants. 3 . 3 . City of Residence for Taiwanese participants 7 . 3 5 . Taipei New Taipei City Taoyuan 75 . 43 . Kaohsiung Keelung Taichung Other. Chart 8: City of Residence for Taiwanese participants. . 32 . .

(41) 5 Discussion According to the Australian psychologist Meg Rohan, people – including psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists, and sociologists – seem to use the word values in Humpty Dumpty fashion: They make it mean just what they choose it to mean (Meg Rohan, 2000, p. 255). Just like the word value has been used in several settings and described in many ways, this paper is an attempt to categorize money as an item of value and defining it in terms of value characteristics. Money has always been perceived as a means to and end, a necessity in life in order to survive and make things easier. However, it is known that the underlying value structures of people change, being strongly influenced by their social and cultural environment. Culture has always been one of the most determinative aspects in human life. Nowadays, with the world becoming increasingly smaller due to technological advances, the dispute about the differences between western values and Confucianism has become an increasingly dominant topic. Anyone, who engages with the Asian world in any way, be it trough business or pleasure, will make a mistake if they decide to ignore and disregard the importance of values and traditions in Asia.. 5.1. Conclusion. Overall, this research produced unexpected results that are important to be noted in the following section. The main assumption at the beginning of this study. was. participants. that. Germany would perceive money. as. Germany(. within a. rather. instrumental value and that in comparison to Taiwan they would also see money as rather. Taiwan(. Instrumental+Value+ Percep0on+of+Money+. Terminal+Value+ Percep0on+of+Money+. Table 11: Research Hypothesis about the perception of money value in Germany and Taiwan. instrumental. Taiwanese participants on the other hand were expected to see money as a rather terminal value, both, in comparison to their overall instrumental perception as well as in comparison to Germany. . 33 .