Tue 21 Apr 2009
So different, yet so much alike.
Posted by Mike Bawden under Marketing
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BIGresearch just published a digest of their latest China Quarterly Panel (Q1 2009). BIGresearch conducts regular consumer research in both China and the US and provides some interesting comparisons to consider.
The findings of this latest survey find that young Chinese (18-34 y.o.) hold many of the same opinions as their counterparts in the US. The economy has been tough on them, too, with nearly half (47.3%) expressing their view that more layoffs are likely over the next six months and 22% of them contending that they are personally worse off than they were a year ago.
Other interesting points of comparison between this market and their American counterparts (Adults 18-34):
- 58.8% of Chinese consumers usually buy clothing when it’s on sale compared to 66.7% of Americans, while 4.8% only buy clothing on sale (vs. 21.4%).
- Year-over-year, practicality among Chinese up 6.3%. 60.5% say they are more practical in their purchases over the past six months. Practicality among Americans is also up with 50.4% saying they are more practical (vs. 43.2% in March 2008).
- Young Chinese more likely to regularly or occasionally use new media formats than their 18-34 American counterparts. An example: percentage of Chinese who blog (86.3%) more than doubles the percent of Americans (41.9%).
- 26.7% of Chinese (vs. 13% of Americans) say blogs trigger their online searches.
- After searching online, 19.6% of Chinese (vs. 9.7% of Americans) are likely to communicate with others about a service, product or brand via blogging.
- 95.8% of 18-34 Chinese regularly/occasionally research products online before purchasing them in a store, compared to 92.7% Americans.
- Top media influence for apparel purchases among Chinese: in store promotion (39.8%), advertising inserts (27.3%) and magazines (26.5%). Americans are influenced by word of mouth (37.5%), coupons (33.2%) and magazines (31.5%).
More information can be found on the ProsperChina web site. Information on purchasing the China Quarterly Report, which aggregates the responses of nearly 8,000 Chinese adults, can be found here.
