bstract:

In recent years, with the rapid development of economy, the pursuit for higher standards of consumption is increasing. Moreover, the forms, contents and perceptions of consumption have more or less changed, both in China and America. On the other hand, owing to the differences in geography, social security system，family education, cultural values and economic level, the consumption concepts for Chinese and American differ a lot. This paper compares the Sino-American consumption concepts based on the analysis of some popular and typical films and gets a further understanding of the cultural factors that influence their consumption patterns and concepts. In addition, it provides some practical suggestions to cross-cultural communication related to consumption culture.

Key words: consumption culture; films; differences; cross-cultural communication

摘 要：

近年来，随着经济的飞速发展，人们开始追求更高品质的消费。不仅如此，人们消费的形式、内容、以及观念都发生了或多或少的变化。由于地理，社会保障制度，家庭教育，文化价值观以及经济体制方面的不同，中西方的消费观念也互不相同。本文通过对中美影视作品中的具体事例进行比较分析，探究了中西方两种不同消费观念的文化差异及其形成原因。在此基础上，提供了一些在进行跨文化交际时有关消费文化方面的实用建议。

关键词：消费文化；影视；差异；跨文化交际

1 Introduction
In recent years, under the strong influence of western consumption, most Chinese people agree with the saying that “high incomes, high consumption level and high quality of life” (Wang Ya, 2012). Today, more and more Chinese people begin to pay much attention to their living standard. It not only exists in the range of the high-income people, but also in the low-income people who are ready for pursuing higher consumption in the future. A well-known fact, in different nations and countries, is that people have different cultures and values which may play a very important role in their daily life, including consumption concepts. And those kinds of cultural differences can not be overlooked in cross-cultural communication.
Film as a production of culture and arts, obviously provides us with the access to further and better understanding of cultural differences. This article is meant to discuss on the distinctions in Chinese and American consumption culture based on the appreciation of the films, working out the constructive elements of Chinese and American consumption culture by making profound comparisons. Distinguished from the previous researches on films and consumption culture, this paper will discuss not only the influential factors more comprehensively, but also focus on the contemporary changes and interactions of Sino-American consumption concepts, in the hope of acquiring some revelations on cross-culture communication.