Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
CULTURAL VALUES AND CHOICE OF INTERNATIONAL TERTIARY EDUCATION
Kim-Choy Chung
ψ
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Abstract
Cultural values are recognized as a powerful force shaping consumers’ motivations, lifestyles and
product choices (Bednall & Kanuk 1997; McCort & Malhotra 1993). Despite the plethora of studies on
choice in international education, there is a scarcity of discussion on the impact of cultural values in
education purchases. In a review of the literature, hypotheses are developed and validated by
questionnaire survey in Singapore and Malaysia. The result of this study suggests that cultural values
had an impact on students’ intended choice of international tertiary education and their preferred
sources of information for university enrolment. The findings of this study add to the extant literature
regarding educational choice factors and also offer useful practical contributions.
Keywords: Cultural values; Preferred sources of information; International tertiary education.
JEL Classification Codes: I2; I21 ; M31.
1. Introduction
There are more than 1.6 million students studying outside their home country (Dahlman 2003),
contributing significantly to the economy of the education exporting countries. Among those studying
outside their home countries, ethnic Chinese form the largest single group in New Zealand (Education
Count 2004) and Australia (Australian Education International 2006). Despite the plethora of studies
on choice in international education, few view students’ decisions from a cultural perspective. This
paper investigates the following issues among ethnic Chinese students in Singapore and Malaysia:
i) How cultural values influence a students’ decision on study destinations?
ii) How cultural values influence students’preferred sources of information for university enrolment?
The Chinese are predominant in Singapore and constitutes about 30% of Malaysia’s population
(Wikipedia). In this study, the purchase intention is used as the predictor for the preferential choice of
students regarding the destination country (New Zealand) as a provider of undergraduate and postgraduate studies.
2. Cultural values
Culture is a set of control mechanisms- plans, recipes, rules, instructions for governing of behavior
(Geertz 1973). Culture includes things that have worked in the past, shared beliefs, attitude, norms,
roles and values found among speakers of a particular language who live during the same historical
period in a specific geographic region (Triandis 1994). A value is an enduring belief of a very specific
kind that guides people’s lives (Rokeach 1973) or an individual’s broad tendency to prefer certain
states of affair over others (Hofstede 1980). Schwartz (1994, p. 88) defines human values as “desirable
goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in people's lives” consistent with
definitions suggested by Rokeach (1973).
Group orientation and harmony in relationship are some of the prominent characteristics in Chinese
society (Bond 1991; Luk, Fullgrabe & Li 1999). These characteristics have their roots in the teaching
of Confucianism where its core doctrine is the maintenance of harmony in relationship (Bond 1991).
According to Bond, the following values and norms greatly contribute to the maintenance of harmony
in relationships: group orientation, respect for authority, interdependence (‘guanxi’), friendship
(‘ganqing’), and reciprocity (‘renqing’).
In consumer behavior literature, values are recognized as a powerful force shaping consumers’
motivations, lifestyles and product choices (McCort & Malhotra 1993; Bednall & Kanuk 1997). Gray
ψ
Corresponding author. Kim-Choy Chung. Department of Marketing, University of Otago, Dunedin,
New Zealand. E-mail: [email protected].
Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
et al. (2003) suggest that cultural integration characteristics are not important influencing factor in
students’ choice of tertiary education.This study proposed:
Hypothesis one: Cultural values have a positive influence in student’s choice of international tertiary
education.
Schwartz (1994) presents ten human motivational value types at the individual level (Figure 1) and
seven values at the cultural level, structured into two bipolar dimensions: Autonomy (Intellectual &
Affective) versus conservation; Hierarchy and Competency versus Egalitarian compromise and
Harmony. There exists a variety of replication studies supporting Schwartz’s division of values (Bilsky
& Koch 1996; Bilsky & Jehn 1999). Schwartz’s definition of human values is adopted in this study,
providing the basis and guidance to all discussion relating to values within a cultural context.
Figure 1: Schwartz’s (1994) motivational value types and measurement items
Individual motivational value types
i)
Achievement: Personal success through the demonstration of
competence according to social standards.
ii) Benevolence: concern for the welfare of close others in
everyday interaction.
ii) Conformity: restraint of actions, inclination that likely to upset
or harm others and violate social expectations/norms.
iv) Hedonism: pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself.
v) Power: attainment of social status and prestige, and control or
dominance over people and resources
vi) Security: safety, harmony, and stability of society, of
relationships, and of the self.
vii) Self-Direction: independent thought and action
viii)Stimulation: excitement, novelty, and challenge in life
ix) Tradition: respect, commitment and acceptance of the customs
and ideas that one’s culture or religion impose on the individual
x) Universalism: understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and
protection for the welfare of all people and for nature.
Measurement items
(Schwartz Value Survey)
Success, ambition, influential
Helpful, honest, forgiving
Politeness,
obedient,
honouring
parents/elders
Pleasure, enjoying life
Social power, authority, wealth
Family & national security, social order
(harmony)
Creativity, freedom, independence and
curious
Daring, varied & exciting life
Humble, devout and respect for tradition
Broad minded, social justice, equality and
protecting the environment
3. Preferred sources of information for university enrolment
Hall (1976) distinguishes patterns of culture according to 10 universal anthropological "Primary
Message Systems of which four (context, space, time and information flow) later became popular
among marketers. In particular, the context concept is useful for understanding consumer behavior
across cultures. According to Hall, members of low Context cultures have less personal contact with
each other, and therefore, communications within this culture are very detailed, explicit and direct,
often by way of written texts. In contrast, members of high Context cultures have closer and more
familiar contact with each other, where information is frequently shared via indirect communication,
often based on symbols and pictures. Who says it and when, how, and where it is said can be more
important that what is said in high-context culture (Hall & Hall 1987). This is unlike the low-context
culture where accurate communication is not dependent so much on long-standing personal
relationships or other contextual factors. A study by Kras (1988) argues that high Context cultures
value public appearances, prestigious image and reputation.
Traditionally, university relies on the print media, word of mouth and public relations to recruit
students. Lately, the Internet (Web) has become an alternative communication channel. Gray et al.
2003) argued that advertisements in traditional print media and the Internet are important in student
recruitment. However, Russell (2005) argued that word of mouth and the Website are key influencers
in students’ university enrolment with much less important being attached to the print media. This
study proposed:
Hypothesis two: There is a positive correlation between cultural values and student’s preferred sources
of information for university enrolment
Hypothesis three: In a Chinese society, the preferred sources of information for university enrolment
are reflected by its high Context nature.
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Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
4. Research methodology
Respondents were requested to provide their opinions, using a Likert seven-point interval scale. The
pre-tested questionnaire comprised four sections:
A) Demographic information: Age group, gender, ethnicity
B) Cultural values (16 items): Respondents were asked how well variables identified from a modified
Schwartz’s (1994) Value Survey describe them.
C) Preferred sources of information for university enrolment (10 items): Extracted from Gray et al.
(2003).
D) Intended study destination: Respondents were asked how interested they are in doing a tertiary
study in New Zealand.
The targeted samplings are high school and junior college students in Singapore and Malaysia.
Students in their uniforms are common sights in the various shopping malls in Singapore and Malaysia.
Thus, they are easy to spot and solicit responses for the survey. Students were selected from four malls
in Singapore and four malls in four major towns in Malaysia (Johore Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Kuching,
Miri) over a 2-week period. Interviewers were positioned at the high traffic locations near the mall
entrances to randomly select the respondents. Six hundred and seventy-four questionnaires were
collected but 258 questionnaires were rejected due to missing responses, non-Chinese ethnicity or
respondents disinterested in doing their tertiary studies in New Zealand. Out of the remaining 416
questionnaires, 203 were from Singapore while the rest were from Malaysia.
The scatter plots revealed univariate normality of data while the boxplot chart showed 6 cases of
outliers (retained as it is in the data) . The final 416 samples met the primary requirements for factor
analysis (5:1 case/variable ratio as recommended by Coakes & Steed 2001). All the measurement
scales in the study were subjected to EFA using SPPS’s Principal Component Analysis (varimax
rotation) techniques. Both measurement scales had a KMO index greater than 0.8 and Bartlett’s p<0.5
indicating the appropriateness for factor analysis. Items that did not load to a significant extent
(coefficient of less than 0.3) to a unique factor were deleted. Two components were extracted from the
individual values scale, explaining 51.3% and 23.4% of the variance. Two components were also
extracted from the preferred communication sources scale, explaining 60.1% and 18% of the variance.
Structural Equation Modelling using AMOS ver. 6.0 program on all factorial models showed that the
discrepancy between the sample covariance matrix S and the population covariance matrix Σ(θ) is
minimal (that is, [S - Σ(θ) = minimum]. Elimination of items to improve fits statistics resulted in the respecified model as presented in Figure 2. There is sufficient evidence of goodness-of-fit between the
measuring models and the sample data for further hypothesis testing (CMIN/DF=1.36, RMSEA=0.018,
CFI = 0.997 and GFI= 0.994). In addition, all measurement models showed internal consistency with
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient value greater than 0.7. This confirmed that all the measurement models
were statistically valid.
5. Findings and discussions
Cultural values
As shown in Figure 2, respondents intending to study in New Zealand exhibit the Confucian values of
personal honesty, helping others as a way of life (Schwartz’s benevolence) and living harmoniously in
society (Schwartz’s security). These values seem to be in tandem with the perceived image of New
Zealand as ‘fair-go’ society (Hazeldine 1998), high in individual honesty/low corruption (Transparency
International 2006), and low crime relative to USA, Britain and Canada (Segessenmann 2000), which
contributes to a peaceful/harmonious society. This suggests the ability to integrate into the host country
society and being able to live harmoniously in the host country is an influence factor in students’
choice of study destination. The strong correlation between the exhibited Confucian values and the
intent to study in New Zealand (regression wt=0.47), supports hypothesis one that cultural values have
a positive influence in student’s choice of international tertiary education.
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Proceedings of Applied International Business Conference 2008
aa19
internet
aa18
representative
agent
aa17
sponsorship
Measurement scale Cronbach’s alpha
Individual value
0.732
Advertising media
0.752
.38
.54
.74
information
sources
.76
.71
aa8
trade fairs
aa9
open days
.48
intend to
study in NZ
.43
err13
helping others
as way of life
err3
living in
harmony
err1
r
Model Fit
Summary
CMIN = 25.8
DF= 19
P= 0.136
CMIN/DF= 1.36
RMSEA= 0.018
CFI= 0.997
GFI= 0.994
.47
Standardised regression weight
Estimate
Values (culture)<--- intent to study in NZ? .47
Advt med 1<--- intent to study in NZ?
.48
.76
.76
.57
values
Correlations
Information sources Å> values
honesty
.43
Figure 2: Relationship between cultural values, preferred sources of information for university enrolment
and intention to study in New Zealand among Chinese students in Singapore and Malaysia
6. Preferred sources of information for university enrolment
A review of the mean score statistics for each of the measured variables showed that traditional print
media (magazines, newspapers, and brochures), and television had mean score less than 4.0 (out of
max 7), implying that they are not the effective advertising channels to potential tertiary student from
Singapore and Malaysia. While Gray et al. (2003) point out the importance of using the print media in
delivering promotional messages to potential students in Singapore and Malaysia, this was not reflected
in this study. Those indicating the possibility of studying in New Zealand expressed high preference for
using education fairs, sponsorship, university open day (foreign offshore campuses), representative
agents and the Web as sources of information for university enrolment (regression wt=0.43).
The expressed desire of using open day and education fairs to get educational information means
students in Singapore and Malaysia value some form of physical presence or public appearance (high
context communication) to advice them about overseas study. This explains the expressed importance
of representative agents in disseminating university information in those two countries. Hypothesis two
was supported given that there is a positive correlation between these preferred information sources
and the exhibited Confucian values in the sample (regression wt=0.43). Consequently, Hypothesis
three: In a Chinese society, the preferred sources of information for university enrolment is reflected by
its high Context nature, is also supported.
7. Conclusion
The study suggests that the ability to integrate into the host country society and being able to live
harmoniously/peacefully in the host country is an influence factor in ethnic Chinese students’ choice of
study destination. There is a positive correlation between cultural values and students’ preferred
sources of information for university enrolment. Respondents also expressed the preference of using
education fairs, sponsorship, university open day and representative agents as sources of information
for university enrolment.
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