Trend report Shanghai (Europe vs China)

What Chinese like about EuropeEuropean infl uences that chinese consumers embrace

status of creativity

status of money

Status of creativityHaving the guts to do something wierd. Taking the fi -nancial risk to choose an artistic career. Being confi -dent enough to do/create something totally original when you can’t predict the outcome. Also in China, creativity slowly gains more and more status.

examples

everyday life in China

What you see is...that Chinese love to be cre-ative with their camera’s. Pho-to-zones in museums or malls are always a huge succes. A Europe-theme photo-zone with images and props would be a blast!

how Chinese like to create their own combination-outfi t and show it in the shop-window. They also like to create their own coffee brew and ice-cream.

authenticity

copy / paste

AuthenticityChina already has it’s fake Eifeltower and other su-perfi cial replica’s. After all, the chinese are masters in faking. Europe on the other hand, represents an authentic style that attracts chinese consumers too. The status of having a ‘one of’ piece instead of an mass-produced t-shirt or the charm of presenting real cultural heritage, is something they start to appriciate more and more.

examples

everyday life in China

What you see is...a fake Starbucks needed to close down.

how Chinese love kids and are willing to spend a lot of money on them.

how Chinese also love their dogs and like to dress them up to show them to the world.

irony & self-mockery

taking oneself seriously

Irony & self-mockeryDon’t take yourself too seriously. After years of stay-ing far away from self-mockery, China carefully starts to use irony in fashion and advertisement. Also mild-criticism on the destruction of old houses and area’s is seen in public space.

examples

everyday life in China

What you see is...how Chinese slowly fi nd a way to proces history by means of self-mockery.

what Confucssius looks like in western clothes.

out of the box

following procedures

thinking out of the boxIn China life is all about rules and procedures. Euro-peans are more used to think for themselves. Often the result is a fun and useful solution for an everyday situations. Young Chinese people like and adopt this exploring-way of living.

examples

everyday life in China

What you see is...how Chinese people use IKEA to hang-out, sleep or or-ganise photosessions in the display-livingrooms.

the way people in Shang-hai use the mall as an exten-ded workspace (or to have a power nap).

Shanghai Museum of History

focus on individual

focus on group

Focus on individualDown-sizing events, temperal pop-up café’s, small European-like festivals and concerts... young people don’t want to be part of a mass-event anymore. They want to be in a context, where there is more attention for individuals. Also the way young people dress shows a desire to be noticed.

examples

everyday life in China

What you see is...that apart from shopping in big mega-stores, people are looking for other shopping experiences that are more authentic and small-scale (Taikang Lu, Shanghai).

A mall could construct this same experience with for ex-ample streetmusicians, small restaurants and playing with the outside/inside concept.

quality

quick results

QualityChinese consumers are done with cheap products and want to show that they entered the next level: they have the money to buy real brands and they are not afraid to show it (status is very important).

On the other hand attention is drawn to the Euro-pean quality of life. Relaxing on a green terrace, but also organic food, being well mannered and and a sustainable lifestyle have captured the inter-est of chinese people.

examples

everyday life in China

What you see is...that the question often is: made or not made in China (the sticker on the batteries says: not made in China).

Cities in China don’t want to identify themselves with their country. They want to com-pare and identify themselves with other big cities in the world. Visible eco-trends are therefore often focused on improving city-life and glo-bal communication.

goodfood

goodfood

Good foodChinese love food. Not only rice but also European food, especially as a snack. Young people drink ‘en masse’ (take-away) coffee instead of tea. They often make homework together in a coffee-joint You also see lots of luxurous bakery’s. Cool offi ce ladies prefer a croissant for lunch instead of a bowl of noodles. You can’t fi nd a normal black coffee or a leaf of bread, but the special treats are all over the place. You’ll also notice a lot of cool, trendy, wenstern-looking places where they serve chinese food.

examples

everyday life in China

What you see is...that made in China isn’t good enough. Europe is a quality mark.

that there are enough expen-sive European restaurants in China. Reasonable priced, good quality food in small dimsum-like portions... that’s the next step.

that Chines absolutely love Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Colofonwww.studio-mycupoft.nl