Expected Happiness in Chinese Lunar New Year, Christmas and Western New Year: A Survey Study in Hong Kong

Abstract

Hong Kong is a city with a mix of both Chinese and Western cultures. The major populations in Hong Kong are Chinese, yet the lifestyles of the people are highly westernized. Hong Kong is thus a suitable place in which to study the effect of the mixture of Chinese and Western cultures, especially as the process of world globalization is accelerating. This paper examines some of the determinants of expected happiness of the people in Hong Kong during the Chinese Lunar New Year, Christmas, and Western New Year festivals. The self-reported expected happiness data were collected by means of a survey conducted by “Economics and Well-being Research” of Hong Kong Shue Yan University in November 2006, using randomly selected telephone numbers from residential telephone directories. A total of 1476 respondents were successfully interviewed. This paper seeks to answer the following questions: 1) Do age, gender marital status, income, or education level affect expected happiness in the forthcoming festive seasons in comparison with the previous year? 2) How does their perception of the economic prospect affect respondents' expected happiness in the forthcoming festive seasons in comparison with the previous year? 3) Do these factors affect respondents' planned changes in consumption in the forthcoming festive seasons in comparison with the previous year?