The current study examines how Mainland Chinese parents communicate with their children about consumption and advertising. A survey of 1,665 parents of children aged six to fourteen in Beijing, Nanjing and Chengdu was conducted in December 2001 to March 2002. Using Moore and Moschis's (1981) typology of family communication patterns, Chinese parents are classified into four types including laissez-faire, protective, pluralistic, and consensual parents. Results indicated Chinese parents are

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... ified primarily as consensual type with both high socio-as well as concept-oriented communication. Family communication patterns differ among parents of different demographic groups as well as among different dyad relationships. Parents with higher education level and families with higher household income engaged more frequently in concept-oriented communication. Pluralistic and consensual parents discussed with children about television commercials more often than laissez-faire and protective parents. Consensual parents perceived they have higher influence on children's attitude toward advertising than laissez-faire parents. Implication for marketers and advertisers are discussed. (156 words) Parent-child communication 3 JCM_famcomm.doc PARENT-CHILD COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT CONSUMPTION AND ADVERTISING IN CHINA Parent-child communication 4 JCM_famcomm.doc questions: 1. How do Chinese parents' communicate with children about consumption? 2. How does culture influence the family communication patterns? 3. Do family communication patterns vary with demographic variables of the parents and the children? 4. Are family communication patterns related to parental mediation of television viewing? Research literature indicates that family communication patterns are related to parental control of consumption and media usage (Carlson and Grossbart, 1988; Carlson et al., 1990). A cross-cultural study of American and Japanese mothers reflected that family communication patterns are culturally specific (Rose et al., 1998). As predicted by the difference in general patterns of parent-child interactions in the United States and Japan (Power et al., 1992), American mothers who emphasize independence and individualism more frequently engaged in concept-oriented communication. Japanese mothers who emphasize respect for authority and family harmony more frequently engaged in socio-oriented communication (Rose et al., 1998). Based on previous studies, we develop a theoretical framework to predict family communication patterns and parental mediation of children's use of media and advertising (see below). External variable: Culture Family communication pattern Parental mediation of TV viewing Internal variables: Demographics of parents and children We first review the literature about family communication patterns and the impact of culture on family communication. After discussing the hypotheses, we report the method and Parent-child communication 5 JCM_famcomm.doc the results of this study. The implications and applications of the findings are discussed.