The Structure of Leisure Consumption in China:Empirical Analysis and Optimizing Strategies

With the arrival of a leisure age,leisure consumption is becoming a new engine of economic growth. It not only creates a substantial amount of job opportunities,which helps relieve employment pressure and maintains social stability,but also functions as a very effective approach to the regeneration of human resources and animation of human capital.The significance of leisure consumption makes it an urgent mission to strengthen the theoretical research in this area. It is against this background that the paper is written,an attempt of a systematic study on leisure consumption structure. Firstly,this paper,having empirically analyzed the low-level of leisure consumption structure in China,points out that the current structure of leisure consumption in China is dominantly characterized by low-standard prosperity in terms of consumption level. In terms of content,the leisure consumption in China has three preferences in consumers' choice: recreational and pleasure leisure over developmental and intellective leisure; conspicuous leisure over spontaneous leisure; and passive consumption over active consumption. Secondly,from the perspective of overall development of leisure economy and satisfying the diverse needs of leisure,the paper explores the need for improvement of leisure consumption. Once again,it analyzes the reality feasibility of improvement of leisure consumption in depth. The continuing decline of the Engel coefficient for leisure consumption provides the basis and space. The larger stock of financial assets and higher level of growth rate and sustaining income growth of urban and rural residents provide a strong basis for the improvement of leisure consumption structure. The formation of income gradient also provides conditions for the transformation of leisure consumption structure and formation of leisure consumption gradient. Finally,it raises countermeasures of optimizing leisure consumption structure in China. These countermeasures include: (1) High-quality leisure consumption subject is to be cultivated to promote leisure consumption knowledgeable and rich. On the one hand,the government should strengthen leisure education,raise consumer spending and leisure skills; on the other hand,it should use scientific values and consumption concept to guide leisure consumption activity,and use high-level spiritual culture to command people's leisure consumption behavior. (2)Spontaneous leisure consumption concept is to be fostered to promote healthy and civilized leisure consumption. The government could consider fostering spontaneous leisure consumption concept from two facets: cultivating and initiating a kind of giving-up ethics which has the sense of obligation,respect consciousnessand self-restraint idea as connotation,namely,limiting and giving up squandering material desire which surpasses boundary of essential leisure consumption; fostering the habit of seeking the reason for leisure consumption behavior in self rather than out of self. (3) Leisure industry is to be promoted wholly to improve leisure supply-demand relationship. The new consumers who are highly personalized,independent and well-informed are rising rapidly,exerting formidable innovation pressure on leisure industry in China. Therefore,to consummate standardized leisure facilities,create the system of diversified and network leisure places,open up the leisure content using modern science and technology,and endow the leisure product and service with some ultra-basic character like individuality and emotion is the key link to optimize the leisure consumption pattern and improve leisure supply-demand relationship.