Abstract/Summary

The world is facing a situation without precedent: We will have more elderly people than children and more people at extreme old age than ever before. It is not the scope of this paper to address the breadth of the issues brought about by the transforming demographic force of population ageing in the world. This paper focuses on the exploration of attitudinal support for institutional elderly care services in China. China is chosen for the study as it is a developing country with one of the fastest aging society in the world whilst its elderly care infrastructure is still at its infancy in comparison with the developed countries. The perceptions of individuals with different demographic characteristics are studied to understand the influence and stability of Chinese cultural beliefs on decision-making for elderly care services. An online survey was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Data was interpreted in the context of the Chinese traditional practices. Findings revealed majority respondents were not supportive of institutional elderly care due to traditional values, social stigma, superstitions, the tradition of collective decision-making, perception of current institutional care’s quality and financial ability. However, the study also revealed certain demographic profile responded positively to institutional care, providing informative inputs to more targeted marketing efforts for investors. Findings also contribute to the knowledge base of cultural understanding for elderly care business models.