Tiers and Fears: An Investigation of the Impact of City Tiers and Uncertainty Avoidance on Chinese Consumer Response to Creative Advertising

Abstract

Marketers in China have long used the government's system of city tiers as a de facto segmentation tool. Previous research shows that this has led to assumptions on the part of advertisers about differing levels of conservatism and uncertainty avoidance between city tiers. This in turn has resulted in advertisers’ reluctance to invest in creative advertising, particularly when it is directed at consumers in low tier Chinese cities. This paper investigates potential differences in consumer response to advertising creativity between high (Tier 1–2) and low (Tier 5–6) Chinese cities; the moderating effect of uncertainty avoidance on Chinese consumer processing of creative ads; and the efficacy of tiers as a means of segmenting the complex Chinese marketplace. Findings reveal that regardless of tier, Chinese consumers respond positively to advertising that engages their emotions. Additionally, while Chinese consumers rank high in uncertainty avoidance, this does not moderate their response to creative ads.

Understanding the real-time interaction between middle-aged consumers and online experts based on the COM-B model

“…Thirdly, most middle-aged consumers have been born before China’s economic reform and experienced economic slack or inefficiency (Lau and Zheng 2017 ). The backward economic environment and unbalanced development between urban and rural areas might increase financial pressure and foster risk aversion thinking (Long et al 2016 ; Bilby et al 2020 ). Thus, compared with other age groups consumers, middle-aged Chinese online consumers would be more cautious during the live shopping process, reflecting on their counterfeiting concern.…”

“…Based on the theory, counterfeiting concern as an emotional factor exists in online consumers’ thinking and plays a significant role in the security and reliability of live shopping systems (Ahmed et al 2017 ). Previous scholars refer to the Emotional attachment theory and apply the Emotion factor named counterfeiting concern to the study of online consumers’ shopping behaviour (Marcketti and Shelley 2009 ; Kim 2019 ; Bilby et al 2020 ; Bian and Haque 2020 ; Kaufmann et al 2016 ). However, almost none of them evaluates the counterfeiting concern impact on middle-aged Chinese online consumers.…”

“…Meanwhile, the research model also draws on the Emotional attachment theory and designs the Emotion factor, i.e. counterfeiting concern, in the study of middle-aged consumers’ shopping behaviour (Marcketti and Shelley 2009 ; Kim 2019 ; Bilby et al 2020 ; Bian and Haque 2020 ), which is suitable for the study promoted under Chinese specific social and cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, Behaviour is the result of an interaction between three components, aiming to identify what actions consumers could be displayed (Michie et al 2011 ).…”

“…Influenced by China’s particular social and cultural backgrounds, middle-aged online consumers tend to keep counterfeiting concerns during live streaming shopping, aiming to avoid unnecessary issues, such as counterfeit products and fake advertising (Soon and Liu 2020 ; Xing 1995 ). Specifically, as a developing country, most middle-aged Chinese online consumers have been born before China’s economic reform and experienced financial burden, resulting in their lack of confidence during live streaming shopping (Bilby et al 2020 ; Yao et al 2011 ; Lau and Zheng 2017 ). Meanwhile, unlike other age groups, middle-aged Chinese online consumers are willing to seek advice from others before making a final decision, which fosters them to interact with online experts (Ji et al 2017 ).…”

The Role of Creative Publicity in Different Periods of the COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Taking the Creative Publicity of Chinese Poetry as an Example

“…Relevant research also shows that likes and positive emotional experiences interact (Madden et al, 1988). Creative advertisements are most likely to induce people's positive emotional reactions (Bilby et al, 2020). At the same time, creative ads are more likely to attract people's cognitive processing, attention and recall effects than ordinary ads (Huhmann and Limbu, 2020).…”