Bridging cultural gaps through consumption: how social media and perceived value shape international students'...

With the rapid growth of the international student population in China, understanding their cross- cultural consumption behavior has become increasingly important. However, existing studies have primarily focused on immigrants or long- term residents, leaving the psychological transformation process from value perception to consumption integration among short- term international students largely underexplored.

This study integrates perceived value theory, cultural adaptation theory, social identity theory, and the theory of planned behavior to construct a dual- mediation and dual- moderation framework. Survey data were collected from international students studying in China, yielding 450 valid responses. Structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results show that: (1) product value and service value influence purchase intention through two parallel mechanisms - an adaptation- based pathway (value → cross- cultural consumption adaptation → cultural identity → purchase intention) accounting for over 50% of the total mediating effect, and an emotional pathway (value → emotional value → purchase intention) explaining approximately 35%; (2) cross- cultural consumption adaptation has a strong effect on cultural identity β = 0.553, p < 0.001), indicating that cultural adaptation is a key prerequisite for identity formation; (3) social media usage significantly moderates both pathways, with high- frequency users demonstrating greater efficiency in translating perceived value into purchase intention.

This study extends sociocultural adaptation theory to the consumption context by conceptualizing cross-cultural consumption adaptation as a multidimensional construct encompassing cognitive, emotional, and behavioral adaptation to host-country consumption practices. The study develops a three-dimensional measurement framework, identifies both adaptation-based and emotional mediating mechanisms, and reveals the dual moderating role of social media. Practically, the findings provide empirical evidence for firms to design differentiated cross-cultural marketing strategies and for universities to develop support systems that facilitate international students' cultural adaptation. Limitations include the use of cross-sectional data and potential sample representativeness issues. Future research could employ longitudinal or experimental designs to further validate the proposed mechanisms.