A cross-cultural study was conducted during the summer of 1985. Data concerning American values, roles, and consumption patterns were collected in the Hartford area, Connecticut. The Chinese data were collected in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The theoretical framework is one in which the constructs of value internalization and role-enactment are posited to influence patterns of consumption behavior. Preliminary results show significant variations between the two cultures; but not significant when compared among individuals within each of the two cultures. Recently developed computer program, LISREL, was then used to isolate the direction of influence between the theoretical constructs of value internalization, role-enactment, and consumption pattern. The hypothesized model that value internalization affects consumption behavior as well as role-enactment, and that role-enactment further affects consumption behavior, has been shown to be invariant for the two cultures. In other words, while the expressions of values, role-expected behaviors, and consumption patterns may be different between the U.S. and China, the motivating forces or the direction of influence between such constructs are the same. The aim of this study is to compare and understand the prevailing forces that motivate consumption patterns in two cultures quite different in their socioeconomic structures. The study also delineates various inventory of cultural and social issues as they relate to consumption in the U.S. and in China. Some basic marketing guidelines are generated that may be of use to American marketers doing business with China.