Young Chinese Consumer´s Brand Perceptions towards Global Brands

7/27/2019 Young Chinese Consumers Brand Perceptions towards Global Brands

1/6

East-West Centre of Business

Studies and Cultural Science

Janis Salmen China Business & Research 2010, N0. 009

The Global Locals

Young Chinese Consumers Brand Perceptionstowards Global Brands

Janis Salmen

Introduction

Over the course of globalization and particular economic developments in recent years, the

Chinese consumer market has gained center stage in global brands business endeavors.Consumers have greater disposable income and increasingly spend their money on productsbeyond basic necessities (Chan et al. 2007). For marketers active in this field, investigationsin consumer behavior rank among the most crucial activities to develop adequate marketingstrategies. Emphasis on research exploring brand perceptions has been utilized to derive andadopt measures to answer Chinese consumers attitudes towards imported products. And yet,marketers have failed. Despite the collective broad knowledge about Chinese consumersbehavior and sentiments towards local and foreign brands, many companies miscarry in theirattempts to vend their products. Marketers who are unable to understand young Chineseconsumers forfeit the chance to connect with a group that already controls billions of dollarsin annual spending (St-Maurice and Wu, 2006).

Endeavors in academic research mirror this phenomenon. Whereas in many markets theexamination of consumer ethnocentric tendencies (hereinafter referred to as CET) deliversviable insights about consumers attitudes towards domestic versus imported products, thetransition of the notion to the Chinese context indicates impediments.

Assessing the applicability and predictive power of CET measurement, this essay strives tocontribute to a more elaborate understanding of young Chinese consumers. Moreover, theclose examination of CET literature proposes to introduce an additional notion to discussion,which is believed to deliver viable and innovative insights into consumer behavior in China:The belief in global products to transmit affiliation to an imagined global culture (Steenkampet al. 2003) (hereinafter referred to as belief in global citizenship).

Discourse in Academia

Examining consumers attitudes towards imported products, research has strongly focusedon consumer ethnocentrism discourse since the introduction of a corresponding measure the CETSCALE (Shimp and Sharma, 1987). Induced by an enhancing importance ofcompanies expansion activities in markets around the globe, the CETSCALE has experiencedgreat popularity. The construct has been established in the USA and proven to deliver viableinsights into various developed economies (i.e. Ettenson et al. 1988, Olsen et al. 1993, Moonand Jain 2001, Suh and Kwon 2002).

In developing and transition markets however, the scales applicability is disputed due to

internal function principles. Shimp and Sharma (1987) establish the construct in anenvironment in which imported products are often perceived to be of inferior quality,


2/6



Janis Salmen - page 2- China Business & Research 2010, N0. 009

compared with domestically manufactured ones. The setup in which the CETSCALE finds itsinitial application is the US-American automotive market. CET are measured to determine

consumers attitudes towards locally produced cars versus (especially Japanese) imports.Along with its transition to developing markets, the scale is confronted with local consumerswidespread appreciation of imported goods qualityover domestic products.

Consequently, complementary constructs are introduced to the discussion. Steenkamp et al.(2003) impute the global youth to share perceived belongingness to an imagined globalculture. The authors assume these sentiments to have an influence on purchase behaviortowards global brands as affiliation may be processed through possession of respective goods.These deliberations are supported by findings from OCass and Lim (2001; 2002) who pointout that consumers rely on culture-of-brand-origin (COBO) rather than on country-of-origin(COO) in constructing brand or product associations. Combining both findings, we assumethat consumers may connect foreign brands with the same global culture to which they aspire

to gain membership and express self-identification. Strizhakova et al. (2008) support thisstream of research by constructing and validating measurements to determine consumerbelief in branded products as a passport to global citizenship (2008: 58).

Along with the examination of COO in CET-literature, a third notion is introduced thatdemonstrates to be of relevance for the present discussion: glocalism. Kinra (2006) inducesdeliberations about glocalism and supports the significance of the notion for cross-marketconsumer behavior research. His work focuses on the influence of stereotyping of COO forbrand perceptions applying the CETSCALE. The crucial hint that points towards glocalstructures among his sample appears as a sideline when the author finds high CET andpreference of local brands coexisting with similarly high evaluations and preferences forglobal products (2006: 15). Kjelgaard and Askegaard (2006) harmonize Kinras findings.

They propose the increasing evolvement of glocal identities amongst the worlds youngcitizens. The authors adapt the terms from Robertson (1992) and understand glocalism in thecontext of consumption as a manifestation of a transnational, market-based ideology that ismanifested through a dialectic between structures of common difference (Wilk 1995) and theadaptation and objectification of these structures in local contexts (232). Kjelgaard andAskegaard describe the worlds youth to share an affiliation towards a global culture whilstpartly sustaining strong national attitudes. The acknowledgement of a glocal mindset enablesto understand consumers who are ethnocentric, but equally likely to show their global affinitythrough global brand possession and preferences (Strizhakova et al. 2008). Supporting theassumption that glocal identities may realize in young Chinese consumers, Fong (2004)observes filial nationalism coexisting with strong affiliation with an imagined global culturein the Chinese youth.

Theoretical Consequences

The examination of literature brings about three main arguments that are to be subjected toan empirical study using a sample of young Chinese. First, the substance and predictivepower of CET measurements is doubted for this cohort. Applying the CETSCALE in atransition market, scores are expected to be moderate (cf. Klein et al., 1998; Wang and Chen,2004). This mitigation is further intensified by the finding that average levels of CET are lowin especially young samples (cf. Nijssen & Douglas 2004; OCass and Lim 2002; Suh andKwon 2002). Furthermore, in a sample of students, CETSCALE scores are likely to be low


3/6




according to the findings of Sharma et al. (1995) who recognize educational level to benegatively correlated with CET. Possible outcomes of the assessment of this argument aim at

clarifying the adequacy and potential for quatificability of CET measuring among thediscussed cohort.

Second, based on deliberations by Steenkamp et al. (2003) and Strizhakova et al. (2008) theaffiliation towards an imagined global culture may realize among young Chinese. This effectis examined for its influence on local and global purchase probabilities. The approach is anattempt to detect alternative cultural structures that impose an effect on consumer behaviorin the present context.

Third, Fongs (2004) observation of glocalism is important to the preceding argumentation intwo ways. On the one hand her observation of young Chineses affiliation towards animagined global culture supports the argument, that the notion proposed by Steenkamp et al.

(2003) is evident in the examined sample. On the other hand her simultaneous finding offilial nationalism suggests a harmonization of CET and belief in global citizenship by takingglocal structures as interpreted by Kjelgaard and Askegaard (2006) into account. As a result,the third argument is established: CET and belief in global citizenship may be equally evidentin their scores and their effects on purchase probabilities for local and foreign products. Theexamination of glocal cultures obtrudes itself due to the preceding argumentation. Along withthe examination of belief in global citizenship, it constitutes a novel approach towards theelucidation of the discussed consumer group.

Data Collection and Evaluation

Conducting a pencil-and-paper questionnaire, data is collected among undergraduatestudents in Guangzhou, China. The survey incorporates Likert-type scales of varying lengthto assess CET, cultural openness, belief in global citizenship, purchase probabilities forChinese and non-Chinese products and consumption cues such as price, availability anddesirability. Furthermore, demographic information is inquired and a social desirability testis attached to foster validity of processed observations. After data preparation, the remainingsample size amounts to N = 168. In order to detect clues to the above discussed arguments,descriptive statistics are examined in a first step. Subsequently, correlation analyses areapplied. Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests reject normal distribution of examinedobservations. Therefore Kendalls tau tests are conducted, as they are found to be the mostadequate non-parametric method for the present scenario. In cases of items producingcategorical data with two independent samples (i.e. gender, overseas experience, etc.), Mann-Whitney U tests are incorporated. Relevant results are examined more closely by creatingsubsamples and analyzing resulting descriptive statistics. To assess the influence of singleindependent variables on the correlation of variables that are subjects of above mentionedarguments, partial correlations incorporating Spearmans r are processed. This approach isselected conscious of the incongruousness of a Spearmans r test for not normally distributeddata. The method is applied as it is found to produce the most expressive results of allavailable test procedures. Yet, outcomes are interpreted under constraints.


4/6




Results

Findings confirm a low effectiveness of CETSCALE scores to predict domestic and foreignproduct purchase probabilities. Significant relations could not be found for purchaseprobabilities for neither local nor global goods. Even though the inability to confirm the nullhypothesis does not imply its existence, an effect can be assumed to be small or non-existent.Therefore we conclude that either the CETSCALE does not measure what it is designed tomeasure, or that moderating effects influence its functionality. Complementing thisassumption and approving above deliberations, observed CETSCALE scores are found to below when compared to findings from other scholars (cf. Shimp and Sharma 1987, Sharma etal. 1995, Strizhakova et al. 2008, Hsu and Nien 2008).

The proposed argument about an effect of belief in global citizenship on purchaseprobabilities results in a notable outcome. Whereas the notions relation with purchase

probabilities for global products was suspected to be strongly positive, it turns out to benegative. The simultaneous observation of positive relations between purchase probabilitiesfor global products and cultural openness and between cultural openness and belief in globalcitizenship intensifies the daze as it constitutes an obvious logical error. To clear thiscontradictory triad, we explain the observation through a separation of passport to globalcitizenship into two groups, a and b. The classification is based on variable c that decidesover belongingness of a respondent to subgroup a or b. The answers of group a areresponsible for the negative relationship to purchase probabilities for global brands, thestructure of b for the positive one with cultural openness. In other words, the adverserelations are based on findings in two different areas of belief in global citizenship. In thisscenario, variable c is the focal point. Whereas an observation and inclusion of c in theapplied survey is highly unlikely, the interpretation of partial correlations still reveals the

enhanced importance of the consumption cue affordability. Intruding is the conclusion, thatconsumers who believe in global citizenship are those who cannot afford the respectiveproducts that would gain them access to the desired global culture.

The paper has proposed that one reason for a limited functionality of the CETSCALE in termsof quantifiable consequences might well be a glocal socio-cultural structure of young Chinese.A corresponding hypothesis cannot be confirmed for the examined sample as the findings donot deliver any indicator of glocalism. Nevertheless, it might be the case, that existent glocalattitudes have mitigated negative effects of CET on purchase probabilities for global brands.This alternative however, cannot be proven with current data.

Assuming that the importance of the Chinese market keeps increasing in coming years,

scholars and marketers will sustain their efforts to understand domestic consumers. Thispapers goal was to contribute to this understanding and prevent marketers from falling intoconceivable traps. In parts these endeavors were successful; in others, findings leavetheoretical deliberations in uncertainty and open to ensuing discussions.

List of References

Chan, W.-C.; R. C. Cheung & A. Tse 2007, Emerging Market Consumers, 2007, TheMcKinsey Quarterly, vol. 4, pp. 70-79.


5/6




Ettenson, R.; J. Wagner, & G. Gaeth 1988, Evaluating the Effect of Country of Origin and theMade in the USA Campaign: A Conjoint Approach,Journal of Retailing, vol. 64, no. 1,

pp. 85-100.

Fong, V. 2004, Filial Nationalism among Chinese Teenagers with Global Identities,American Ethnologist,vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 631-648.

Hsu, L. J. & H.-P. Nien 2008, Who are Ethnocentric? Examining Consumer Ethnocentrismin Chinese Societies,Journal of Consumer Behaviour, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 436-447.

Kinra, N. 2006, The Effect of Country-of Origin on Foreign Brand Names in the IndianMarket,Marketing Intelligence and Planning, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 1530.

Kjeldgaard, D. & S. Askegaard 2006, The Glocalization of Youth Culture: The Global YouthSegment as Structures of Common Difference,Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 33,pp. 23147.

Klein, J. G.; R. Ettenson & M. D. Morris 1998, The Animosity Model of Foreign ProductPurchase: An Empirical Test in the People's Republic of China, Journal of Marketing,vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 89-100.

Moon, B. J. & S. C. Jain 2001, Consumer Processing of International Advertising: The Rolesof Country of Origin and Consumer Ethnocentrism, Journal of InternationalConsumer Marketing, vol. 14, no. 1, p. 89.

Nijssen, E. J. & S. P. Douglas 2004, Examining the Animosity Model in a Country with aHigh Level of Foreign Trade,International Journal of Research in Marketing, vol. 21,

no. 1, pp. 2338.

OCass, A. & Lim, K. 2001, Consumer Brand Classifications: An Assessment of Culture-of-Origin versus Country-of-Origin, Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 10,no. 2, pp. 120-137.

OCass, A. & K. Lim 2002, Toward Understanding the Young Consumer's Brand Associationsand Ethnocentrism in the Lion's Port,Psychology & Marketing, vol. 19, no. 9, pp. 759-775.

Olsen, J. E.; K. L. Granzin & A. Biswas 1993, Influencing Consumers Selection of Domesticversus Imported Products: Implications for Marketing Based on a Model of HelpingBehavior,Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 307-21.

Robertson, R. 1992, Globalization: Social Theory and Global Culture, London: Sage.

Sharma, S.; T. A. Shimp & J. Shin 1995, Consumer Ethnocentrism: A Test of Antecedentsand Moderators,Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science,vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 26-37.

Shimp, T. A. & S. Sharma 1987, Consumer Ethnocentrism: Construction and Validation ofthe CETSCALEJournal of Marketing Research,vol. 24, pp. 280-289.

St-Maurice, I. & C. Wu 2006, Understanding China's Teen Consumers, The McKinseyQuarterly, Special Edition.


6/6




Steenkamp, J.-B. E. M.; R. Batra & D. L. Alden 2003, How Perceived Brand GlobalnessCreates Brand Value,Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 53

65.

Strizhakova, Y.; R. A. Coulter & L. L. Price 2008, Branded Products as a Passport to GlobalCitizenship: Perspectives from Developed and Developing Markets, Journal ofInternational Marketing,vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 57-85.

Suh, T. & I.-W. G. Kwon 2002 Globalization and Reluctant Buyers,International MarketingReview,vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 663-680.

Wang, C. L. & Z. X. Chen 2004, Consumer Ethnocentrism and Willingness to Buy DomesticProducts in a Developing Country Setting: Testing Moderating Effects, Journal ofConsumer Marketing, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 391400.

Wilk, R. 1995, Learning to Be Local in Belize: Global Systems of Common Difference, inWorlds Apart: Modernity through the Prism of the Local, ed. Daniel Miller, London:Routledge, 11033.

Documents

Young Chinese Consumer´s Brand Perceptions towards Global Brands