Consumer culture of contemporary college students and its guidance

Abstract: Consumer culture is an important part of campus culture in colleges and universities, and it is also a concentrated reflection of the ideological concepts, value orientations and codes of conduct of contemporary college students. Colleges and universities should make full use of the leading role of college counselors to guide the development of college students' consumer culture in the right direction and help college students establish a correct world outlook, outlook on life and values.

Keywords: college students; consumer culture; counselor; guidance

1. Characteristics of contemporary college students’ consumer culture

With the development of the times, the influence from society After consumer culture comes into contact with the special group of college students, the consumer culture of college students shows distinctive characteristics:

1. The consumption structure is diversified and the levels are diversified. The diversification of consumption mainly refers to the transformation of the consumption structure of college students from a relatively single one to an increasingly diversified one. Judging from the consumption structure of college students, in addition to the necessary expenditures required for life and study, there are also increasingly common and diverse non-essential expenditures: social consumption, travel consumption, Internet consumption, entertainment consumption, etc. In the diversified consumption structure, the consumption of daily necessities accounts for the largest proportion, because it is the premise and basis for other needs to be satisfied. A survey shows that college students’ monthly expenditure on basic living expenses is around 400 yuan. This value is still rising as the monthly consumption level of college students increases, but its proportion in the total monthly consumption of college students is increasing. relative downward trend. The diversification of college students' consumption structure reflects, on the one hand, the inevitable trend of economic development and the result of social progress and the increasing improvement of people's living standards; on the other hand, it also reflects the impact of social trends on college students.

The multi-level nature of consumption refers to the fact that due to the imbalance of economic development and family income, different college students have great differences in consumption levels, including high, medium and low-end consumption levels. Generally speaking, students with good family economic conditions have a relatively high consumption level, while students from rural areas and poor families live a relatively difficult life, and some are even very poor. Surveys show that currently more than 70% of poor students in colleges and universities come from "old, young, border, poor and mountainous" areas. The rural economy is sluggish and there is a lack of labor at home. As a result, the income is only enough to maintain food and clothing. It is common for students to be overburdened and financially strapped. Condition. [1] This gap is currently tending to expand further, and is increasingly attracting attention because of its huge impact on the growth of college students. On the surface, the gap between the rich and the poor on campus is a gap in economic consumption. In fact, it is a direct manifestation of social class differentiation. It has already involved deep-seated issues such as social identity, self-identity, and cultural identity. Behind the conflict between different lifestyles is actually a conflict of cultures and values. The campus is a microcosm of society, and the gap between rich and poor among college students is a direct reflection of my country's social class differentiation, uneven regional economic development, and the urban-rural gap. This will have an important impact on the management and development of universities and the stability and justice of society.

2. The proportion of emotional consumption and social consumption continues to increase. According to a survey, there is a comparison phenomenon among some college students about eating and drinking. There are a lot of popular restaurants near universities, and their main consumer groups are college students within the university walls. In order to connect with each other and enhance friendship, we invite roommates and others to dinner; treat guests to dinner because of winning scholarships, awarding awards, being elected as student cadres, joining the party, etc.; giving gifts to each other during festivals or before graduation. These expenditures have accounted for a considerable amount of college students' consumption expenditures. Large proportions.

3. Take into account both fashion and practicality. Price, quality, and fashion are the main factors that attract college students to consume. It is understood that when purchasing goods, the first thing college students consider is price and quality. Among the selection criteria for various products, "moderate price" and "cost-effectiveness" are always the primary factors that college students consider. Due to limited spending power, college students tend to be more cautious when spending money and strive to "get value for money." They will try their best to search for cheap and high-quality products. Between fashion and practicality, more college students choose practicality. The various social activities of contemporary college students have greatly increased compared with before. Coupled with the influence of the urban life atmosphere, they pay more attention to their own image and pursue taste and class. Although they may not necessarily buy famous brands, quality is obviously an important content they pay attention to.

2. Analysis of the defects and causes of college students’ consumer culture

1. Blind impulsive consumption and problems with rationality. For most contemporary college students, the pursuit of fashion and famous brands is a daily topic. Some vanity and flamboyant personality defeated the traditional concept of "living within one's means and being thrifty". Blind consumption, comparison consumption, trend-following consumption and debt consumption are very common among college students. The survey found that nearly 100% of students own mobile phones, and some students even replace multiple mobile phones. Secondly, there are hair styles, clothing, accessories, and daily necessities. There are many "new" people on university campuses. The third is to blindly participate in various training courses, regardless of whether they are suitable for one's own development needs, as long as they are certified training courses, without a reasonable plan. In terms of consumption patterns, credit cards have entered university campuses, causing some college students to become overdrafts. Abnormal consumption phenomena such as advanced overdrafts are reflected in colleges and universities, which not only breeds hedonism and money worship, but also causes young college students to lose the enterprising spirit of struggle that they should possess because of their despondency with playthings. At the same time, it has also increased the financial burden on some families who are not well-off, and has even become an unbearable burden.

2. Marginal consumption takes time and effort. "The pursuit of quality of life" is the opposite of "diligence and thrift". Under the guidance of these concepts, some college students do not hesitate to become advanced consumers, spending their parents' money with peace of mind. The keen fashion sense of college students determines the particularity of their consumption: dependence on financial resources and confrontational pursuit of trends; their shy wallets determine that their trend-setting must be based on debt consumption, and a large part of college students are in debt. Consumption is characterized by typical ahead-of-time enjoyment and immediate gratification. Most of the consumption objects are non-essential daily consumables used for luxury and waste. Such as holding birthday parties, playing tennis, bowling, dancing in ballrooms, singing karaoke in karaoke bars, etc. There are many kinds of "favor transactions" that these college students cannot overcome in debt consumption. These not only consume a lot of college students' financial resources, but also take up a lot of their time and energy. 3. Lack of consumer knowledge and skills. Nowadays, many students are only children and have been cared for and taken care of by their parents since childhood. Faced with intense study and exam pressure, many parents never ask them to share in the family's financial situation in order to prevent them from distracting their study energy. Many students do not know that money is hard-earned and have no experience in financial management. After going to college and living independently away from their parents, they have no direct experience in facing consumption and no practical knowledge suitable for life. Misled by various incorrect and unhealthy consumer cultures in society, people will not spend in a planned way, but blindly "pursue novelty and difference." The explosive growth of new knowledge, the rapid promotion and application of new technologies, and the profound impact of new information media on daily life have made the formation and popularity of fashion faster, with more distinctive themes and more humane expressions. All of this has produced a huge temptation for college students. However, because their world view, values, and outlook on life are still in the period of being finalized, coupled with the unique vanity psychology of young people and the requirements for personalized consumption, as the opportunities for social contact increase, They are easily influenced by incorrect consumption concepts in society. With the improvement of people's living standards, consumption patterns have begun to change, and traditional consumption concepts have been deeply impacted. The consumption psychology of college students is at an immature stage, which directly affects their consumption outlook. 3. Countermeasures of counselors in guiding college students to consume culture

Counselors are “the backbone of ideological and political education for college students and the organizers, implementers and managers of daily ideological and political education and management of college students. "Guide", [2] "Helping college students establish a correct world view, outlook on life, and values" and "helping college students develop good moral qualities" [3] are the main job responsibilities of counselors, and counselors should take active measures Countermeasures should play a role in guiding students to establish correct consumption concepts, and play a leading role in the construction of mainstream consumer culture in colleges and universities.

1. Basic theoretical education on consumption and market. Basic knowledge education on consumer goods specifically includes: selection, evaluation, appreciation, repair and protection of commonly used consumer goods, etc. Special attention should be paid to improving students' ability to evaluate and select consumer goods. Through education, college students are equipped with necessary market knowledge, including knowledge about consumption concepts, consumption plans, consumption structures, consumption patterns, consumer markets, consumer marketing, etc., and understand the relationship between consumption and the market as well as the basic theories of market economic mechanisms and consumption.

This will not only better protect the interests of college student consumers, but also enable college students to consume based on their understanding of consumer goods, thereby better following the principles of scientific consumption and helping college students establish a scientific concept of consumption.

2. Give full play to the role of college student associations and on-campus media. Through the establishment and development of relevant college student associations, various forms of consumer education activities are carried out to help college students handle consumer complaints, be responsible for the transmission of consumer information and intelligence, and guide college students to conduct self-consumption education, thereby improving college students' consumption ability and enhancing college students' self-consumption protection. consciousness. The autonomy of university societies makes them closer to the interests, hobbies, and real life of college students. These societies can be used to carry out a variety of beneficial consumer education activities, implement consumer education, and guide college students to carry out reasonable consumption activities.

3. Strengthen the construction of campus culture, create a good school spirit, and cultivate correct consumer ethics among college students. Counselors should strengthen the investigation and research of college students' consumer psychology and behavior as an important part of their daily work, clarify the content of college students' consumer ethics education; actively organize questionnaire surveys and discussions on consumption status, and guide students to understand bad consumer psychology and consumer behavior. Conduct self-analysis. Campus culture is an organic part of social culture. It occurs on college campuses, relies on the campus, forms the common ideals and spiritual pillars of all teachers and students as the foundation, takes the ideological and moral construction of teachers and students as the soul, and takes the ideological and moral construction of teachers and students as the soul. The purpose is to create a good campus environment, disseminate scientific knowledge, develop intellectual resources, improve the quality of all teachers and students, and cultivate high-quality talents. It can be said that campus culture is one of the key factors that directly affects the physical and mental health growth of college students. A good campus culture will benefit college students throughout their lives.

Therefore, correct consumer culture should become an indispensable part of a school’s good campus culture. It is necessary to carry forward the main theme to guide college students to establish a hard and simple style that keeps pace with the development of the times; through national conditions education, students can fully understand the basic reasons that my country's current development has great achievements, but is also very unbalanced, and many areas are still very poor. Current situation: Through cultivating students' awareness of talent, attract students' main energy to study and research; through gratitude education, let students understand the hard work of their parents and the hard-earned money. Therefore, the construction of campus culture should create a good cultural atmosphere with the richness and openness of content, the breadth of subjects and the diversity of forms, so as to help college students establish correct consumption awareness and consumption concepts.

4. Counselors should assist school education management departments to strictly regulate the consumption behavior of college students. For example, stop high consumption and extravagant wasteful behavior among college students. According to the conformity and fashion characteristics of college students' consumption behavior, the consumption behavior of lower-grade students is often imitated by senior students. Therefore, it is necessary to effectively strengthen the guidance of senior students’ consumption behavior so that they can serve as a good example for lower-grade students. School faculty and staff should also consciously live a simple life, avoid extravagance and waste, and set a good example for students. At the same time, counselors must strengthen contact with students’ parents, promptly report students’ school conditions, especially their study and living conditions, and work with parents to impose certain financial constraints on high-spending students and promptly control their unnecessary expenses. Expenditure allows students to focus mainly on learning and research, and on improving their own quality and moral cultivation.

References:

[1] Ru Xin, Lu Xueyi, Li Peilin, editors. Analysis and prediction of China’s social situation [M]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Literature Press. 2005.362. < /p>

[2][3]Ministry of Education. Regulations on the Management of Students in Ordinary Colleges and Universities (Order No. 21 of the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China) [Z].2005-03-29. Reference