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TripAdvisor’s Approach in China: Travel Fills a Spiritual Void

November 30, 2016 By Liu Sha

Over 120 million Chinese went abroad and spent over $104.5 billion in 2015 and more are projected for 2016. But for young Chinese people, their spending isn’t all about shopping in tax-free shops. As Leo Lin Song, chief of staff of TripAdvisor says, Chinese travelers are becoming more sophisticated: they’re reaching to further places and want to have more distinct cultural experience and not afraid to explore the unknown. Yet compared to western travelers, Chinese tourists are still special. They like to read pictures and need clear guidance—and that’s where TripAdvisor chips in.

Filed Under: All Articles, Chinese Economy, Consumers, Conversations, Q&A, Tourism, Winning in China Tagged With: Chinese Consumers, Tourism

Coffee in China: A New Beverage for a New Age

October 26, 2016 By Tom Nunlist

In the past two decades, coffee has been making significant in-roads in China. Although it might not be a staple for workday breakfast yet, for young people in urban areas, it has become a status symbol and something that says about their style and taste. Coffee, says Esteban Liang, Managing Director of Costa, Asia, is an “affordable luxury.” In the interview with Liang, he discusses how coffee became so popular and what Costa Coffee has experienced in the Middle Kingdom so far. Attempting to ride the middle-class wave, Costa aims at becoming a “strong number two” in China with better environment, product and service.

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, Consumers, Conversations, Marketing, Q&A Tagged With: Chinese Consumers, Coffee, Costa China

China’s Middle Class, the Middle Minority

September 28, 2016 By Tom Nunlist

China's middle class is emerging

The emerging middle class is the starting point for many discussions on China’s economy and society. But who are these people that, as Professor Luigi Tomba puts it, are “going to be at the epicenter of every social change that is going to happen” in China? And more importantly, where do they come from? The terms applied to them are misleading. Locally they are something of an economic elite, and even so have not reached the wealth of their supposed Western counterparts – in other words, they are not the “middle” of anything. They are also far from uniform.

Filed Under: All Articles, China, Consumers, Know China Tagged With: China's Middle Class, Chinese Consumers, Property

VANCL: China’s Clothing Giant Stumbles Back From the Brink

September 12, 2016 By Yuanyuan Deng

VANCL China: The IPO is over. Can the company make a comeback?

China’s apparel market is now one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Euromonitor statistics show many foreign brands doing well: Uniqlo currently holds 1.6% of the market for specialist apparel; and Danish company Bestseller Fashion Group China, which operates brands like Only, Jack & Jones and Vero Moda, is holding 2.3% of the market share. Where are the local apparel brands? VANCL, a Chinese ecommerce clothes retailer, is almost a forgotten name. It used to have a 4.5% market share in 2011, but its dream of IPO lie in ashes—how did the once mighty retailer become China’s diaosi (loser) brand?

Filed Under: All Articles, Branding, Consumers, eCommerce, Marketing Tagged With: Apparel, Chinese Consumers, Marketing, Online retail

Torben Pheiffer on Chinese Consumer Behavior in a Rapidly Changing Market

August 17, 2016 By Tom Nunlist

Torben Pheiffer on Chinese consumer behavior

Chinese consumers have changed faster than consumers in probably any other market. Increasing exposure to international media and social media is changing the expectations of Chinese consumers. On top of that, the broad economic slowdown and brand saturation in China has ratcheted up competition to new levels as the days of easy money disappear. For both multinationals and Chinese companies, the changing market dynamics present challenges they have never seen before. In this interview, Torben Pheiffer, Managing Director of SapientNitro, China, explains how companies need to adapt their branding strategies.

Filed Under: All Articles, Consumers, Conversations, Globalization, Multinationals in China Tagged With: Chinese Consumers, Huawei, Made in China, Multinational Company, Nike

Chinese Consumers Up Their Vanity Spending

June 7, 2016 By Liu Sha and Deng Yuanyuan

Just how much time and energy would you spend pondering over which dustbin to buy next? Chances are, not a lot. But for some consumers in China, even seemingly mundane things like trashcans have started to become significant from a social status point of view. More and more Chinese consumers are shifting their consumption of even routine everyday things to more premium categories. They are often influenced by their own experiences or those of their peers, travels abroad, foreign movies or social media. But increasingly now there are a whole host of services that are geared towards exposing Chinese people to newer things—and making them buy.

Filed Under: All Articles, Consumers, Know China, Marketing Tagged With: Chinese Consumers, Consumer Behavior, eCommerce

Design and Business: A Conversation With IDEO China’s Charles Hayes

May 23, 2016 By Bennett Voyles

For nearly 25 years now, IDEO has stood at the cutting edge of the possibilities of design. Founded in Silicon Valley in 1991 by David Kelley, an early popularizer of the design thinking methodology, IDEO has grown into a diverse global organization, with experts on tap in disciplines ranging from behavioral service to software engineering. Thirteen years ago, IDEO opened an office in Shanghai. Charles Hayes, a partner at IDEO and Managing Director of IDEO China, talks about the evolution of IDEO China, IDEO’s approach to design thinking in a Chinese context and evolving Chinese business and consumer cultures.

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, Conversations, Know China, Q&A Tagged With: Business and Design Series, Chinese Consumers, Consumer Behavior, Design Thinking, Q&A

The Second Hand Market in China: Old is the New New

April 19, 2016 By Hudson Lockett

In China second hand is the latest in thing. Perceptions of greater acceptance for gently used goods is reflected in investors’ enthusiasm for the many start-ups that are now aiming to become the premier national platforms for used goods, ranging from cars to phones, to luxury items and even Han dynasty antiques. Diverse as these markets are, they are all reputation-based businesses where success requires mechanisms to guard against users trying to pass off bad goods as good-as-new. So what is fuelling the growth of second hand markets in China? And how are sellers dealing with the critical issue of creating and maintaining consumer trust?

Filed Under: All Articles, Consumers, eCommerce, Know China Tagged With: Chinese Consumers, eCommerce, secondhand

Ctrip Goes on a Round the World Trip

July 29, 2015 By Nicole Sy

Leading Chinese online travel company Ctrip now faces the dual challenges of overseas expansion and stronger competitors

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, Consumers, Know China, Tourism Tagged With: Chinese Consumers, Competition, Ctrip, Online Shopping, Outbound Market, Qunar, Slider, Tourism

Making Sense of the Chinese Consumer Revolution

July 2, 2015 By Chris Russell

Michael Zakkour, co-author of China’s Super Consumers, on what makes the Chinese consumer tick, brand loyalty, targeting and lessons from local brands.

Filed Under: All Articles, Best Practice, Consumers, Digital Economy, Know China, Marketing Tagged With: Brand Loyalty, Chinese Consumers, Consumer Behavior, Digital Marketing, Luxury, Slider, Social Media, Starbucks, Taobao, Tmall

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Information, analysis, and interviews about the Chinese economy and doing business in China, from the people who know it best. Presented by the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, China's leading business school.


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