As for this behavior, frequent contact with group members and reliance on informal channels as well as the speed-of-message transference points to the significance of word-of-mouth communication in China [YAU 88].
12.4.3. The Chinese are superstitious
Most Chinese are superstitious and even well-educated, apparently totally Westernized people may cling to traditional beliefs. Many superstitions exist and they vary in different parts of China so that it is not easy to know what a particular person will believe in. Numbers have a special significance to Chinese people. Most Cantonese believe that numbers 4, 44, 444 and so on are very bad luck, as they are a homonym for death in Chinese language; they would not buy a motor car with such a license plate or stay in a hotel room with such a number. Eight is however seen as good luck and the more eights the better. Nine is an extremely lucky number.
Colors play an important part in superstition too with different meanings in different circumstances.
Other factors relating to cultural values, which may have an impact on Chinese consumer behavior, are the Chinese beliefs in modesty and self-effacement as well as their situational orientation and pragmatism [YAU 88], which will affect their purchasing attitudes.
to a socialist society and have been called “a socialist generation”. This group is austere in its consumption and has a negative attitude towards consumer society.
The following generation (born in 1945–60) is called “the lost generation” since they experienced the Great Cultural Revolution. Many of them lack education and have struggled to meet the requirements of China after Deng Xiaoping’s reforms.
The last generation born after the 1960s, “the lifestyle generation”, is the first group that has had a true chance to adopt the values of a consumer society. Their consumption is modern and differentiated [SCH 98].
The most affluent population lives in eastern areas of the country and the poorest in the west. [CUI 00] have divided urban China into “growth markets” in the south,
“emerging markets” in the center and “untapped markets” in the north.
Figure 12.2. Chinese consumer market [CUI 00]
Generation X and Y
Generation X – people currently in their late 20s and 30s – and Generation Y – people in their late teens and early 20s – are very different to Generations X and Y in Europe, the US, or in Latin American, where this age group is often viewed as a generation of slackers. Chinese Generations X and Y have increasing drive, aspirations and demands; it is a highly literate and information-savvy group that
refuses to be taken for granted. These young adults, who are generally the first generations of the one-child policy, are open to Western ideas and products, yet still proudly supportive of their own culture and they are looking for more ways to express their individualism through fashion, the media, technology and art.
Chinese women hold up half of the sky
As Chinese women’s education and their participation in the workforce grow, their status improves. They are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demand higher-quality products with diversified designs. Younger women, in particular, are very fashion-conscious and are able to indulge in costly foreign brands.
The female consumers in Hong Kong can be grouped into traditionalist, individualist and pro-societalists [SIN 01]. Traditionalists in Hong Kong preserve the traditional Chinese family values of family and obedience to father, husband and son. Individualists are socio-economically independent and less concerned with social issues. On the mainland, traditionally modern females are a combination of Hong Kong traditionalists and individualists. The last group, pro-societalists, is economically independent, different from the traditional Chinese role of women, but is active in societal issues. The mainland segment of educated/working females is analogous to pro-societalists in Hong Kong.
Single-child market
The one-child policy has many implications for consumer habits in mainland China. The possibility of having only one child makes that child a very special treasure for the family. He or she becomes the “Little Emperor” or “Little Empress”.
Parents are willing and able to spend a great portion of their income on the child’s material welfare and academic success. The investment is put on the child’s nutrition, health, education and leisure activities [DAV 00]; when purchasing for children, parents often prefer products for educational purposes and buy toys as a reward for good grades or as a prize [DAV 00; MCN 99]. Children do get “gifts”
from their parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts during the Spring Festival, but these “gifts” are usually hong bao, ie, small, red envelopes filled with money [MCN 99].
For children, the most important source of information about new products is television, followed by their parents and store visits [MCN 99]. Store visits seem to be an even more important information source where small purchases, such as snacks, are concerned.
Chinese ethnic minorities
From the hinterlands of the north to the lush jungles in the south, from the mountains of Taiwan in the east to the top of the world in the west, China serves as home to 56 official ethnic groups. The largest group, the Han, make up over 92% of China’s vast population and it is the element of Han civilization that the world considers “Chinese culture”. Yet, the 55 ethnic minorities, nestled away on China’s vast frontiers, maintain their own rich traditions and customs and all are part of Chinese culture.