Understanding Chinese Consumers

Here are my notes from my last day in Chinese Marketing:



Cognitive Bias:

- Overconfidence



Major Differences in Eastern and Western Culture

Origin - Greek (Essence, abstractions, perceive object in isolation, static and unchanging)

Origin - Chinese (Taoism, Confuciansimsm, contradictions, harmony)



Individualism vs. Collectivism

- Independent vs. interdpendent self

- Attention to context vs. focus

- Continue vs. change

- Categorizaiton: rule vs. relation

- Dispositional vs. situational causal attributions: fundamental attribution error



East Asians are less happy.

East Asians are more pessimistic in comparative predictions of futrue prospect.

East Asians are more likely to exhibit hindsight bias.



Risk Attitudes

- Stereotype and reality

Both Americans and Chinese think Chinese are more risk averse financially but the reverse is true



Self Regulatory focus theory

- Promotion - westerners

- Prevention - easterners

Persuasiveness of Advertisment

Language as a prime for decision style: Cantonese vs. English



Increasing Inequality in China

- Urbanization

- Greying population

- Rising National Pride



153 million people over 65 according to 2007 data.



Wealthy Consumers in China

- 80% of them younger than 45 years old

- 1% of population



Legal system on Business

- Confucian principles + socialist style laws + European civil law style laws

- Hierarchy: no instructions , latest more authority



Chinese Companies

- State-owened

Low market orientation

Support from government

Financing

- Private

Market oriented

Low Labor costs



AAA Triangle of Global Strategy

- Adaption (Advertising to Sales)

- Aggregation (R&D to Sales)

- Arbitrage (Labo to Sales)



One discussion on the case analysis - if you understand KFC and Google.