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1010200910张博文10自动化3班ChoicesandusingofwashingmachinesinChinesehouseholdsLailiWang,XuemeiDing,RuiHuang,XiongyingWuInternationalJournalofConsumerStudies,2014,Vol.38(1)AbstractRapidurbanizationandimprovementinlivingstandardskyrocketthedemandforwashingmachinesinChinesehouseholds,especiallyinurbanhouseholds.Thispaperdiscussestheowningrateofdifferenttypesofwashingmachines,usingfrequency,loadcapacity,factorsaffectchoicesofwashingmachines,etc.inChinesehouseholdsandsuggestpossiblestrategiesinchoosingwashingmachinesconsideringeconomicexpenditure.Quantitativeinformationrelatestochoiceanduseofhouseholdwashingmachineswascollectedthroughin-depthinterviewofthekeypersonwhocarriedouthouseholdlaundering.Atotalof993householdsthatwererandomlyselectedineightprovincesandamunicipalityweresuccessfullyinterviewed.Impellerwashingmachineisstillinadominateplacewhereasdrumwashingmachineincreasingsteadily.Householdswithhigherincometendtobuydrumwashingmachinesfortheirbetterperformancesindetergencyandsuperiorquality.Loadcapacitybetween4 and6 kgisverycommonatpresent.LargerloadcapacityisatrendofwashingmachinechoicesinChinesehouseholds.Washingmachinewithbetterenergyefficiencyismorepopularforitslowerexpenditureinuse.Thisismoreobviousfordrumwashingmachine.Washingmachinesareoftenusedonceevery1or2daysinsummer,whereasonewashperweekandtwowashesperweekareverycommoninwinter.Consumerwillexpendmuchmoremoneywiththechoiceofadrumwashingmachine,notonlyforpayingforthemachine,butalsofortheconsumedelectricityandwaterandwastewaterdischargesineveryuse.IntroductionWashingoflaundry,suchasclothesandhometextiles,isoneofthemostcommondomesticactivitiesinhumandailylife.Itisatotallyhandworkbeforewashingmachinecametotheworld,whichisconsideredasoneofthegreatesthumaninventionsthat‘rescuedwomen’fromtheirdailydrudgeryofchores.Asaresultofsocioculturalchangesandtechnologicaldevelopments,launderinghabitsinprivatehouseholdshavechangedovertime.Forexample,washingfrequencyincreasedfrom3.9timesaweekin1980to4.8timesaweekin1991inDutch(Breebaartet al.,1981;VanDijkandSiderius,1991)andarecentresearchreportedthatwashingfrequencyinJapanwasapproximately10timesaweek(PakulaandStamminger,2010);washingtemperaturesdropped,boilingdownto60°Cinthe1980s(Klepp,2003)andasurveyinNorwayin2010indicatedthatNorwegiansloweredthewashingtemperaturesfrom60to40°C(Laitalaet al.,2012).Today,householdelectricwashingmachinesarewidespreadinindustrializedcountriesandtheowningrateofelectricwashingmachinesinprivatehouseholdsisalsoincreasingindevelopingcountries.Therearetwomaintypesofwashingmachinesinhousehold:impellerwashingmachine(verticalaxis)anddrumwashingmachine(horizontalaxis)(LinandIyer,2007).Traditionally,thewholetubisfilledwithwaterinimpellerwashingmachineandwaterintensiveisitsshortcoming.Fordrumwashingmachine,itisoftenadvertisedaswatersaving,bettercleaningandhavingsuperiorquality.Indeed,onlythebottomofthewashtubisfilledwithwaterwhenlaundering.Heatingandalongerwashcycleassistabettercleaning.However,drumwashingmachineconsumesmoreelectricitycomparedtoimpellerwashingmachine.Chinaisthelargestdevelopingcountryandithasthelargestpopulation(morethan1.35billionpeopleattheendof2011)(NBSC,2012).Afteryearsoffastdevelopment,Chinahasbeenthesecondlargesteconomyoftheworld(TWB,2012).Rapidurbanizationandimprovementinlivingstandardskyrocketthedemandforhouseholdappliances(e.g.washingmachine,refrigerator)inChinesehouseholds,especiallyinurbanhouseholds(Fig. 1).ThehugepopulationmakesChinathelargestmarketforwashingmachines.Figure1.AverageownershipofwashingmachinesinChinesehouseholds.Researchesrelatedtolaunderinghabits,launderingmethodsandchoicesofhouseholdwashingmachinesgainedmuchattentioninrecentyears.Forexample,Groot-MarcusandMoll(1996)investigatedtherelationbetweenlaundrymethodsandthecompositionofwashloadsthroughasurveyaboutlaundrypracticesof1026Dutchhouseholds.KatayamaandSugihara(2011)conductedastudyofwashingmachinesinordertoprovideJapanesecustomerswithmoreaccurateinformationinregardtotheirpurchases.Yamaguchiet al.(2011)evaluatedwashinganddryingwithheat-pumpwasher-dryerscomparedwiththeconventionalwasher-dryerbasedontheJapanesesituationswiththelife-cycleassessmentmethod.Laitalaet al.(2012)discussedthechangeinlaunderingpracticesduringthepast10yearsinNorway.Hustvedtet al.(2013)describedthepurchaserpatternsofallwashertypes,theattitudestowardsandexperienceswithfront-loadingwashersandtheadoptionofsustainablelaundrytechnologies.However,therearefewliteraturesfocusonchoicesanduseofwashingmachinesinChinesehouseholds.Thispaperaimedtofillthegapsthroughprovidingquantitativedatatoillustratethecurrentstatus(suchasowningrate,usingfrequency,factorsaffectchoicesofwashingmachines,etc.)ofwashingmachinesinChinesehouseholds.Finally,wesuggestpossiblestrategiesinchoosingwashingmachinesconsideringeconomicexpenditure.MethodsQuantitativeinformationofconsumers'experiencesconcerningwashingmachinesinurbanhouseholdswascollectedthroughasurveyineightprovinces(Zhejiang,Jiangsu,Jiangxi,Hunan,Hubei,Henan,HebeiandLiaoning)andShanghaimunicipalityinChina.Specialattent