Lecture 6:
Regional Segments of Consumer
Market in China
Introduction
• China as a consumer society
• The biggest of the Big Emerging Markets (BEMs)
• Attracted Multinational Corporations from
around the world.
• Perception of a single market and homogeneous
consumers
• Problems in Assessment of demand and marketing
strategies.
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The biggest “single” market?
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China's population is 1.28 billion,
The Chinese language.
Population density high in the East
GDP reached RMB24,662 billion in 2007
MNCs of mass fast moving consumer goods
(FMCGs) such as Coca-Cola and Avon
• Retail market RMB4.93trn in 2007
• “If every Chinese buys one of our products, ....”
• A growing number of MNCs profitable
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Misconceptions about China
• The China Syndrome
• Big and Homogeneous, Reinforced by Decades
of Communist Rule
• Speak the same language
• Common cultural heritage
• Uniform lifestyles
• Rapid economic growth
• Surging consumer purchasing power and
demand for Western products
In Search of the Chinese consumer
• Per capita income was $681 in 1996 and to nearly
double in 2005
• Consumer are pragmatic and plan carefully
• Most Chinese are rather value conscious.
• China is still a developing country and hardly a single
market
• Multicultural and multi-ethnic, regional disparities
and protectionism
• Regional differences in economic development,
infrastructure, distribution consumer purchasing
power, language (dialects) and culture, and lifestyles
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Realities in China
• Large areas of different topographic
characteristics, from coast areas, flat plains, basins,
deserts to plateaus and mountains,
• Regional disparities in economic and market
development, based on the sequence of opening
and historical development
• Multicultural Consumer Groups
• Coastal (opened first) vs. Interior
• Four worlds of China:
• Three or four tiers of markets/cities
– First: BJ, SH, GZ, SZ
– Second: QD, HZ, NJ, TJ, CQ, DLetc.
– Third: JN, SJZ,
Urban (vs.) Rural Disparity
• Urban (heavy investment) vs. Rural Differences
– Concentrations of resources and infrastructure development
in urban area
• Edu., health care, transportation, etc..
– Urban income is nearly 3 times as much
– Concentration of purchasing power
– Even within cities, there are great disparities
• Household registration system (hukou), lack of
freedom to move, or access to services
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Annual Per Capita Living Expenditure of Urban and Rural Households (Yuan)
1989
1997
2002
2003
Urban
1211
4186
6030
6511
Rural
515
1617
1834
1943
Ratio
2.351
2.589
3.288
3.351
Year
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Implications for Marketing
• Overestimated the Demand, Underestimated
Competition (Davies, 1994)
• Capacity Building, Aggressive Expansion,
Overshooting Local Demand, especially during the
early days of opening, e.g., Yaohan Dept. Store
• Under-estimating the cost of doing business and
competition (copy cats)
• Short of Critical Mass, Cost Containment, and
Lackluster Performance
• Unsustainable growth pattern
China's Regional Markets
• Historical Development, Physical Proximity, Cultural
Similarity -"Natural Markets"
• Resource Endowment, Economic Disparity, and
Government Policy
• Consumer Spending Power, Language, and Culture,
Lifestyles
• Several Segmentation Studies: Ariga, Yasue And Wen,
1997; Sum, 1997
• Twelve Nations of China (Swanson, 1989, 1998, Cui
1999)
• Growth, Emerging and Untapped Markets (Figure 1)
from Cui & Liu (2000).
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China's Eight Regional Markets
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South China
East China
North China
Northeast China
Central China
Southwest China
Northwest China
West China
Regional Markets of China
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Growth markets
• "Regional markets in the South and East represent China's "growth
markets".
• They are more advanced in economic development and have more affluent
consumers than hinterland provinces.
• South China (Hua-nan) includes Guangdong, Fujian, and Hainan
Provinces (Figure 1). This regional economy was the first to attract foreign
investment with its four original special economic zones (SEZs), and
become the most outward-oriented. In recent years, it has embarked on
transforming itself from labor-intensive operations to high tech
manufacturing.
• Guangdong has become more integrated with the economy of Hong Kong,
presenting the “Lingnan culture”.
• Fujian has many investors from Taiwan, and is renewing its ties with the
island.
• This region also represents the culture of the South, i.e. Min-Yue Culture,
with plenty of contact with the outside world and great emphasis on
mercantile entrepreneurship. Each province has its own main dialect,
Cantonese and Fukienese. Consumers in this area, about 7 percent of the
country's population, are among the most prosperous in China. Close to
Hong Kong and Taiwan, they have long been exposed to foreign products
and tend to emphasize conspicuous consumption (Ariga et al., 1997).
Growth markets
• East China (Hua-dong), around the mouth of the Yangtze River, consists of
the municipality of Shanghai and the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu
(Figure 1).
• This regional market is densely populated and highly urbanized.
• The most prosperous in Chinese history, this region is productive in both
agriculture and industries. In recent years, it has become China's industrial
powerhouse, boasting 30 percent of the country's industrial output (Batson,
1996). The delta area is also sprawling with medium-size cities such as
Wuxi and Suzhou that specialize in textile and light industry
manufacturing.
• Known as the "head of the dragon," Shanghai is the industrial and financial
center of China and the gateway to the 200 million consumers in East
China. Shanghai is also the regional cultural nucleus, representing the "Haipai" culture, well-known for having the best amenities and products for
enhancing the quality of life. Consumers in this regional market are the
most innovative and cosmopolitan, setting trends in fashion and lifestyles.
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"Emerging markets"
• North China (Hua-bei), including Beijing, Tianjin, and the
provinces of Hebei and Shandong, historically has been the
geopolitical base of this country (Figure 1). This regional
economy has been growing fast over the last few years and
attracted investment from many countries (Batson, 1996).
• Close to the center, with access to key government agencies,
this region is making tremendous investment in industries such
as telecommunications, computer technology, and
pharmaceuticals (Child and Stewart, 1997). With a number of
port cities, this regional economy is increasingly open.
• Shandong is the biggest agricultural province in China and has
some of the best township enterprises in China.
• Beijing as the nation's capital also represents the culture of
North China - the Jing-pai culture - attaching great value to the
Confucian doctrines of hierarchy, stability and control.
Consumers here are relatively conservative and emphasize
intrinsic satisfaction, yet are still open to new product ideas
(Ariga et al., 1997).
"Emerging markets"
• Central China (Zhong-yuan) includes the provinces of Henan,
Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi and Anhui, is the heartland of China
with heavy emphasis on agriculture (Figure 1). The perennial
flood and drought pose a great threat to its natural resources,
and make some parts of the region the most impoverished in
the country. Despite its industrial base, this region is relatively
less developed due to its landlocked location. In recent years,
these provinces have been trying to energize their economies
and catch up with coastal areas.
• Headed by the industrial city of Wuhan, they have shown
more respectable growth than in the past and emerged as an
excellent opportunity for foreign investment. This region also
has diverse local cultures in dialects, cuisine, and operative
styles, etc. With limited purchasing power, consumers in this
region largely follow the trends in major metropolitan and
coastal areas.
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Southwest China (Xi-nan),
• including Yunan, Guizhou, Guangxi and the most populous
province of Sichuan (over 110 million people), has always
been of interest to foreign companies (Figure 1). Despite its
industrial output and tremendous population, most foreign
firms find the consumer market there sluggish (Batson, 1996).
• The topography of plateau and basin makes this region closedin and less accessible. Headed by the new municipality of
Chongqing, this region is expanding its economic base to
develop various industries. Its subtropical forest in the far
south is as exotic as the Shangri-La, attracting a huge influx of
tourists every year. With rich endowment of natural resources
and better transportation infrastructure, this region has great
potential as both a manufacturing base and a consumer market.
Many of the country's ethnic minorities reside in this area,
making it the most culturally diverse region of the country.
Relatively isolated from other parts of China, consumers have
a slow pace of life and are less exposed to foreign goods.
Northeast
• remain the "untapped markets", still waiting to be explored by
foreign firms. Northeast China (Dong-bei) refers to the three
provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, with the port
city of Dalian. This region emphasizes heavy industries such
as mining, automobile and machinery manufacturing found in
its old industrial cities.
• In the far north of China, this region has the longest winter,
limited agricultural output, and little variety in food products.
• As the "rust belt" of the country, this regional economy has
been slow in reforming its economy and state-owned
enterprise. People here are still struggling with the remnants of
the command economy and have been slow in reaping the
benefits of reforms. Manchurian and Koreans are the biggest
ethnic minorities in the region and have great impact on local
cultures.
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Northwest China
• (Xi-bei) includes Shanxi, Shan'xi, Inner Mongolia, Gansu,
Ningxia, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Tibet. Among the high
mountains and expanding desert, this region has the largest
geographic area yet limited arable land and industrial output.
The "Empty Quarter" of the Far West, sparsely populated and
the least accessible, is relatively backward and poor (Barnett,
1993).
• Xi'an, the nation's ancient capital and a tourist hot spot, is the
cultural capital of the region. Mongolians, Muslims, and
Tibetans are the major ethnic minorities in the autonomous
regions. To close the gap between the interior and the coastal
areas, central government has launched a "Fupin" (help the
poor) campaign and encouraged more investment in this
region. Foreign investors have been given the same privileges
previously available only in coastal areas and access to
industry sectors restricted in other regions (Verma, 1995).
Method
• 1997 Gallup National Survey of Chinese
Consumers
• Pure Probability Sample, National Coverage
• Professional Staff, hour-long in-home
Interviews, 400 Questions
• Demographic, Psychographics, Lifestyles,
Media, Consumption Patterns
• Urban Consumers: N=1620 (41 Cities)
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Findings
• Statistically Significant Differences among Regions
• South China: Innovators, East China: Trend Setters,
Yet Uncertain
• Emerging Markets: Conservative Followers
Increasingly Attractive
• Untapped Markets: Relatively Backward and Poor
• Income Affect Regional Variations In Consumption
Patterns
• Typographic, Seasonal and Cultural Factors
Discussion and marketing implications
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food items the most geographically relevant
common household item show little regional differences
discretionary products and income vary
cosmetics -- climate and culture
high ownership of traditional durable goods
new products limited to coastal areas
Guangzhou and Shanghai are early adopters and trendsetters
air conditioners -- geographically relevant: climate, housing
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Foreign vs. Domestic Brands (Chan, Cui & Zhou 2009)
Table 2. Purchase Rate and Mind-share of Foreign Brand Non-durables across Cities
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Implications of the Study
• Although Chinese consumers may prefer foreign brands,
domestic brands now occupy a bigger mind share of
consumers, especially in the traditional durable goods.
• Although consumers in Beijing and Shanghai have more
purchasing power, they are less likely to buy foreign brands,
which may have lost their scarcity value, or because the status
symbols have shifted to other product categories.
• In contrast, consumers in second tier cities like Xi’an and
Chengdu have a stronger desire for foreign brands, which
often have a bigger mind share among the local consumers.
• In the second tier markets and relatively new product
categories where there are fewer domestic rivals, foreign
brands seem to have a greater advantage.
• Thus, the second tier markets, which are repeating what had
happened in the first tier cities years ago, represent the new
opportunities for growth and expansion.
More Marketing Implications
• Target Markets, Demand Assessment, and Strategic
Planning
• Product Introduction and Deferred but Gradual Expansion
• First-tier vs. second-/third-tier cities
– Gome vs. Suning
• Local Factors in Advertising, Promotion, and Distribution
– Values and beliefs
– Advertising appeals
– Promotional techniques
• Local Partnership -Push Strategy, Cost Containment, and
Sustainable Growth
• Proprietary Practices vs. Local Adaptation and Benchmarks
in BEMs
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Discussion
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Marketing to a quarter of mankind
Understanding the china's market structure
Standardized approach to china ?
Regionalism and inter-provincial rivalry
Marketing strategy implications
"Step by step, region by region"
“Law of retail gravitation” towards major cities, but
already saturated and very competitive.
• “Plan nationally and act locally”
Rapid Urbanization
• First-tier cities:
– BJ, SH, GZ, SZ,
– More developed, costly, and competitive
• Second-tier cities:
– NJ, XM, HZ, TJ, CQ, ….
– Emerging, reasonable cost, and opportunities
• Third-tier cities
– Over 100
– Underdeveloped,
• Small towns in rural areas?
– Well, it depends on where? If you are closer to the city, that is a
different story!
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http://shehui.v1.cn/sh/2010-9-28/1285639937548v.shtml
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