Marcas de fábrica de lujo en China, parte II
Perfilar al consumidor chino
Por Nick Debnam y George Svinos, KPMG
Mientras que la vida del trabajo duro y del llano ha sido virtudes veneradas de la gente china para las generaciones, ha habido un crecimiento en la demanda para las mercancías extranjero-calificadas o importadas. (19) Pero el funcionamiento opuestamente al hábito cada vez mayor de la consumición en China es la propensión tradicional de ahorrar. Aunque la consumición de lujo está creciendo, porque la mayoría la idea social dominante sigue siendo consumición prudente y empresa no más que usted puede realizarse. (20)
La investigación sugiere que mientras que la clase media que emerge continuará ahorrando pesadamente, también pasen cantidades de aumento de dinero. (21) Esto es constante con las tendencias que sugieren que una generación más joven de China de adolescentes y los twenty-somethings demuestren menos de la precaución de sus padres y abuelos, y lejos más inclinación de pasar que ahorrar.
El mercado de lujo del continente chino todavía está en su etapa formativa. Como chino los consumidores dan vuelta hacia mercancías de lujo como a medios de recompensarse para su éxito o como símbolo que anuncia su abundancia, los analistas creen que el crecimiento en el país más populoso del mundo podría alzar la parte de Asia del mundo que las ventas de lujo a 60 percent.2 China pueden sin embargo demostrar para estar absolutamente desemejante de cualquier otro mercado que se convierte. El cambio rápido se ha convertido en la norma, y como tal, el pasado quizá un predictor pobre de las tendencias futuras.
Características únicas de China
• Conocimiento de marca de fábrica
La llegada de minoristas internacionales durante la década pasada ha señalado un cambio dramático en la psique del chino.
China tiene de hecho potencial enorme como mercado de lujo, dado su población urbana masiva y la afinidad de la generación más joven para las mercancías del diseñador. However, while the Chinese are very fast to take to luxury products, they still have trouble differentiating within the sector and distinguishing between the various strata of the luxury market; the country’s big spenders are often only aware of the most popular luxury labels.
• Perception of beauty
While beauty in the West is often transformational and edgy with consumers less afraid to stand out from the crowd, studies suggest that Chinese women seek a more accessible, inclusive form of beauty. Features that stick out are not generally perceived as attainable or attractive. As such, in advertising, Chinese prefer to see Chinese faces, although a truly iconic foreign celebrity will also work because Chinese admire expertise, power and status. (23)
• Counterfeit goods
Most newly wealthy Chinese still want authentic products, but as a rule the Chinese are far more price-conscious for example than the Japanese and younger consumers have shown a willingness to mix cheap fakes with genuine products. (24) Studies suggest that people in Hong Kong are becoming more discerning when it comes to buying genuine clothing brands, accessories and electrical goods, despite the ready availability of fake goods. (25) Luxury brands will be hoping that a similar change in attitudes occurs, overtime, on the mainland.
• Shopping for pleasure
“Mall culture” has arrived in China and shopping is increasingly being adopted as a leisure activity. Retail Asia magazine predicts that by 2020 China will be home to the seven of the world’s ten largest malls. (26) This growing popularity of malls should help to increase the market size for luxury products, by strengthening brand awareness and aspiration.
• Travel
Chinese nationals have shown a strong preference for purchasing luxury products overseas for two reasons. First, shopping at the designer boutiques in Europe guarantees that the goods they buy are not counterfeit, something they can not be sure of when shopping in some malls in China. (27) Second, higher taxes and duties mean that mainland prices can be 30 percent more than elsewhere. Chinese citizens are travelling more and spending more abroad, as travel restrictions continue to be lifted and Chinese tourists have become some of the main buyers of prestigious brands from Europe. The French Tourist Board found that Chinese travellers to France already spend more than people arriving from the U.S. or other European countries. (28) The Economist Intelligence Unit predicts that by 2008,the number of Chinese overseas tourists will rise to 49 million. The World Trade Organization further forecasts that about 100 million Chinese people will tour abroad in 2020. (29)
• Motivations: Aspiration and self-reward
The reasons why Chinese consumers purchase luxury brands bear similarities to those in other countries. But the research of TNS found that status and self-reward are two particularly strong motivations in China. Among those surveyed, attitudes towards brands were overwhelmingly positive. For example:
- More than70 percent saw luxury brands as a way to demonstrate their status and success
- Less than 30 percent objected to paying a premium for a luxury brand
- Just over 60 percent of respondents bought luxury goods as a way to reward themselves for their hard work and success.
Therefore, in China the consumption of luxury goods is very much item-driven, meaning consumers search for the latest collection or products. At present in China consumption tends to concentrate on personal accessories such as cosmetics, perfume and watches –smaller items that can be justified as rewards. This is different to more developed markets where consumers tend to seek experiences or products more catered to their personal tastes.
The luxury consumer: Key segments
Urban migration, paired with a wealthier overall population, has led to the emergence of new luxury customers in China. These comprise a diverse group from youth to the middle-aged, from business executives and white-collar employees to the lowly educated, and from actors and actresses to the nouveau riche.
• The traditional business elite
The traditional luxury shopper is typically male and over 35. They most likely hold a senior position with a domestic company or a government agency and are typically well-connected. These luxury shoppers can be more advanced then other luxury shoppers in China. Because they have been consuming luxury products for a longer period then other segments of the market their tastes are, in some respects, more sophisticated than those of other luxury shoppers. (30)
While other buyers are only beginning to buy luxury products, the traditional shopper has moved on to luxury experiences and more niche luxurious products which are not necessarily so conspicuous. They are demanding more value for money and are choosing to not only indulge themselves but also their family. (31)
• The new luxury shopper
Modern luxury shoppers represent a range of different customers including entrepreneurs, business people and celebrities. What sets them apart is the fact that they are newly rich–very often the first generation in their family who can afford luxury products –and tend to be younger than the traditional luxury shoppers. Surveys have shown that the majority of Chinese consumers of luxury products are now aged between 20 and 40. They are considerably younger than those in the U.S. and Europe, aged between their 40s and 70s. Although younger does not mean richer, this segment is, unlike other Chinese consumer segments, willing to spend a greater proportion of their income on luxury goods than those in the U.S. and Europe. With an optimistic view of the future, these relatively younger Chinese consumers seem to be less concerned about saving for their old age. This has a major effect on their spending habits– they prefer buying the most expensive items they can afford to suit their lifestyle. (32)
The modern luxury shopper has a mindset that is quite different from their parents’ in their willingness to spend and in their awareness of what is available in other consumer markets. These educated consumers can tell the difference between fakes and real design, even if the garment is manufactured in China. (33)
• Empowered women
Until recently 90 percent of al luxury spending in China was dictated by men. Today, women in China are starting to gain economic independence and are reaching a point where they have money of their own to spend on luxury products. Young Chinese women are now supplanting businessmen over 35 as the main Chinese buyers of luxury goods as they grow in social and economic independence. (34) The modern female luxury shopper includes the business woman, the celebrity and the newly independent rich wife. (35)
The move to more women purchasing luxury goods is consistent with global trends identified by the Luxury Institute. (37) The Institute reported that the rise in the buying power of wealthy women is being driven by baby boomer women who have achieved independence and economic power, and are out living their partners. They further predict that their buying power will continue to rise as women outperform men in academic achievement, career progression, and business start-ups infields that have previously been the exclusive province of men.
• Little emperors
The most brand conscious of al China’s consumers are the “little emperors,” only-children now entering their teen years and early adulthood. This generation (the result of the one-child policy) is particularly evident in the larger urban centres where the policy was most strictly enforced. What is particularly different with these children compared to only children in the West is that they typically have six sources of disposable income with parents and grandparents al contributing to meet this one child’s every need. Studies estimate that half a typical urban Chinese family’s disposable income is spent on, or by, its youngest member. (36)
Combined with an increased opening up of media, the advent of the Internet and the increasing availability of Western brands, the result is a new breed of brand-savvy, luxury-conscious, and in some cases rather spoiled children, who know what they want, expect the best and are not shy about demanding it.
Nick Debnam & George Svinos, KPMG
This is part II of a KPMG Retail Report. Next week we will publish part III
Read Part I
