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Article published In: Journal of Asian Pacific Communication
Vol. 35:1 (2025) ► pp.4–28

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A study on the impact of Xiaohongshu on university students’ consumption behavior

ORCiD logo with link | Shanxi Vocational University of Engineering and Science Technology
ORCiD logo with link | Woosong University
Published online: 14 April 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00113.wei
Abstract
University students’ consumption plays a leading role in the level of social consumption. Taking Xiaohongshu, also called RED, meaning “little red book”, a popular social media in China, as a case, this paper scrutinizes the consumption characteristics of Chinese university students. To serve that purpose, a survey was administered in a university located at a second-tier city of China (n = 531). This paper mainly investigates whether contemporary university students have over-consumption behavior under the impact of social media and the factors and preferences that worry them in the consumption process, such as the senior style of bloggers, the type of recommended products, and so on. The result shows that product type, degree of trust, interactivity, quality of blog posts and videos, and consumption intention all have a positive and significant impact on students’ consumption behavior.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Impact of Xiaohongshu on university students’ consumption behavior
    • 2.2Comparative analysis of consumption behavior on Xiaohongshu and Instagram
    • 2.3Factors influencing the degree of trust on Xiaohongshu
    • 2.4Factors influencing the purchase intention on Xiaohongshu
    • 2.5Significance of the study
    • 2.6Research questions
  • 3.Method
    • 3.1Research context and sample
    • 3.2Study instrument and data collection
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Demographics
    • 4.2Analysis of the survey
    • 4.3Factor analysis
    • 4.4Comparative tests
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
    • 6.1Implications for practice
    • 6.2Study limitations
    • 6.3Implications for further research
  • References
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