Marketing American Consumer Products in China
September 10th, 2006
I found this post on the China Law Blog re: the marketing of American consumer products in China to be interesting. I did not know that firms such as UPS, the package delivery company, provide annual reports available to the public about the categories of products they deliver in a particular country. The UPS survey asserts that Chinese urban consumers, or “Chuppies, have many shopping preferences depending on their age, gender and location, and they appear to have a heavy preference for a variety of quality American products. The ”most sought after” categories of American goods by these “Chuppies” are: (1) home appliances; (2) consumer electronics; (3) health care products/pharmaceuticals; (4) beauty products; (5) apparel/fashion accessories; and (6) movies, music and books. This data and information, while broad, would seem to be of interest and value to a variety of American firms seeking to penetrate the Chinese market.
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, China, Misc., Post Trip Wrap-Up re: China
1 Comment Add your own
1. Meghan Girvin | December 13th, 2006 at 7:06 pm
It is interesting that so much information is available on consumers in China. Information on the habits and trends of consumers in America has been available for a long time and it has helped American companies target their markets and sell more of their products. The fact that this type of information is now available about Chinese consumers will make it easier for American companies to tap into the market. They can customize their packaging and advertising to fit Chinese consumer tastes and as a result will be able to sell many more products in the Chinese market. According to Robert Marks in The Origins of the Modern World, China sells $100 billion worth of goods to American consumers, while America sells much less to China. Maybe this new information on the preferences and habits of Chinese consumers will help American companies begin to sell to China on the same scale that China does in the U.S. Marks also discussed how the increasing power of China and its growing economy makes other countries that are allies of the U.S. uneasy. This puts the U.S. in a hard situation because increasing tension between huge trade partners is not good for business. If American companies use this information on Chinese consumer habits to increase its presence in the Chinese market, this could further complicate the relationship between the U.S., China, and the countries uneasy about China’s increasing presence as a contender for world power. This begs the question, should American companies be careful about becoming reliant on selling to Chinese consumers to limit the possibility for tension caused by the trade relationship, or should the U.S. continue to tap into the vast market that is available in China?
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