Regional market segments of China: opportunities and barriers in a big emerging market

Abstract

As one of the big emerging markets, China's enormous population and rapid increase in consumer spending have attracted many multinational corporations (MNCs). Meanwhile, the misconception of China as a homogeneous market often leads to difficulties in assessing market demand and enacting effective strategies. Examines the diversity among Chinese consumers across seven regional markets. Data from a national survey suggest that consumers from various regions are significantly different from one another in terms of purchasing power, attitudes, lifestyles, media use, and consumption patterns. MNCs need to take a cautionary approach when expanding into the inland regions, and must adapt to the local market conditions and devise sustainable strategies.

Consumer perceptions of CSR: (how) is China different?

“…While this assumption may have been incited by its history of communism and centralized rule, in reality there are huge variations between regions. This heterogeneity, which means that markets within China are segmented, has been shown for consumers in general, most notably by Cui and Liu (2000) who identified seven different regions. However, it has not been taken into account when it comes to consumers' CSR attitudes and behaviours.…”

“…Characterized by Cui and Liu (2000) as "emerging markets", our analysis of region-level information showed that, compared to other regions, they score considerably lower averages for GDP, imports, exports, and FDI (in number and monetary amounts; see Appendix 3).…”

“…However, we did not find clear consistent answers. Below we will indicate some aspects that may be considered in further research, also considering possible factors related to lifestyles and traditions as suggested by Cui and Liu (2000), and indicated in section 2.1.…”

“…Compared with other much less developed and closed regions (Northwest China and Northeast China, called "untapped markets" by Cui and Liu (2000)), North China and Southwest China have a long history of small business operations and international trade (Sun, 2005;Wang, 2007;Wu, 1998). This implies relative openness and interest in economic improvement.…”

The Effects of Transformational Leadership in Chinese Family Business How Should Family Business Lead Their Family Employees?

“…First, the authors selected seven major cities for data collection. Disparities in institutional environment, socio-culture, economic development, and market conditions across China"s regions have significantly affected management, governance and leadership practices of local organizations [35,36]. Therefore, collecting data from the seven cities chosen to represent China"s eastern-coastal and inland regions enabled the author to control for the potential effects of regional disparities and improve the generalizability of the research findings.…”