Findings From the BIGresearch Young Chinese Consumer Survey

Lots of companies are interested in reaching Chinese consumers, and there’s little wonder why: The Chinese economy is hot. Their stock market is up over 43 percent since March and young Chinese consumers are very confident about the economy, planning to spend more on all major categories according to BIGresearch’s latest survey.

Yet, tapping into this burgeoning market in not without challenges. “The young Chinese are avid consumers, but they are not consuming western (U.S.) and eastern (Japanese) products,” says Joe Pilotta, vp of research for BIGresearch. “They are unique. The popularity of Chinese products and brands are signs that U.S. corporations and U.S. advertising and marketing agencies are out of touch with the new Chinese consumer and will continue to be until they ask the right questions and listen.”

Yet, tapping into this burgeoning market in not without challenges. “The young Chinese are avid consumers, but they are not consuming western (U.S.) and eastern (Japanese) products,” says Joe Pilotta, vp of research for BIGresearch. “They are unique. The popularity of Chinese products and brands are signs that U.S. corporations and U.S. advertising and marketing agencies are out of touch with the new Chinese consumer and will continue to be until they ask the right questions and listen.”

The market intelligence firm polled 2,137 young Chinese consumers (18 to 34 years old) to gain insight into a key consumer segment for luxury brands, electronics and other consumables. (There are currently more than 380 million consumers in China in this age group.)

BIGresearch then compared the responses of these young Chinese consumers to their American counterparts. Some of the key differences are:

• 91.8 percent of Chinese consumers say they are confident/very confident in the economy over the next six months, almost doubling the percentage of young Americans (47.7 percent) who feel the same.
• More young Chinese consumers plan on purchasing major big dollar items such as computers, furniture, home appliances, housing, jewelry, TV’s, digital cameras and vacation travel than young Americans.
• Familiar labels (name brands) are more important to young Chinese consumers, 71.8 percent say so versus 54.7 percent of young Americans.
• Almost half (47.4 percent) of Chinese consumers say sales are not important when buying clothes and 18.5 percent of Americans say the same.
• Young Chinese consumers, although fully entrenched in the digital world, are more influenced by traditional media when making electronic, clothing, auto, and pharmaceutical purchases than young Americans.
• Even though young Chinese consumers are more influenced by traditional media, they are more likely to surf the Internet, email, blog, or instant message in their leisure time than young American consumers.

• Young Chinese consumers are also more likely to research products online than young Americans (54.4 percent of Chinese, compared to 49.8 percent of Americans, regularly research products online).