Article critique and analysis

Marketing

As a quickly rising economic power in the world, China is becoming more and more of a hot topic in the Western business world (Fan, 2006). When looking at the article Inside the mind of the Chinese consumer (McEwen, Xiaoguang, Chuanping & Burkholder, 2006) it can be seen how much influence the Chinese people really have. Given the relativism of how difficult and foreign the wealth of statistical insight given in the article is the articles' synthesis of the decade of work by the Gallup organization seems like a bit much. The article jumps in quickly in order to dispel misconceptions, at least in regards to some of the commonly held notions by Western business. Among such dispelled beliefs it can be seen that aspirations, self-actualization's and other expressions of the rising "me" generation are ripe to market to, and increasingly becoming more so in the distant time horizon.

Chinese Consumer Expectations

Another misconception that exists is that the Chinese consumer has a lot of cash to spend. This may or may not be true. By Western standards, there are still a lot of people who are still at the poverty level in regards to annual incomes. These are not the people who generally buy something that they can't afford. Knowing this becomes a matter of planning. The remaining misconception has to do with what the Chinese consumer buys. Although a car costs on average three years wages most Chinese want a car nonetheless. Over time more and more Chinese are realizing this dream as most of the significant manufacturers are competing against each other and driving prices down.

Marketing Research Components

The Gallup information referred to in this article wisely took into account matters of geography, population densities, income classes, product categories and work attitudes. Among the discoveries was the finding of the third China which is a second-tier metropolitan area where many opportunities still exist like first to market. Another discovery was that of differentiated buying patterns based on differing consumer locales. This is very important when marketing as it is important to market the goods where they are needed and wanted.

Customer Satisfaction

One area of scrutiny in the article had to do with brand loyalty, "made in China" and other connected statistical metrics. While the Chinese consumer has a tendency to support its domestic goods, the expanding choices are making inroads with youth who are less committed to such a notion. As for a competitive environment, it appears that the consumer is enthusiastic about the expanding choices. Increased competition often increases the challenges that businesses face, yet this same increased competition often yields even more choices.

Conclusion