Research and Markets: The Influence Online Information has on Chinese Consumer Buying Behavior 2011

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/efaf49/the_influence_onli) has announced the addition of the "The Influence Online Information has on Chinese Consumer Buying Behavior 2011" report to their offering.

“The Influence Online Information has on Chinese Consumer Buying Behavior 2011”

Research report into online shopping in China, from over 500 individual interviews, 28 focus groups and industry research. This report introduces the key drivers of online shopping and the threat that this presents to the mega retail model in China. The overall influence of online information on consumer purchases and the impact this has on traditional media and marketing strategies in China is also examined in detail. Research in Shanghai includes over 500 consumer interviews and industry research by DDMA and 28 consumer focus groups by Focus Group China.

Introduction & Objectives

Information sources: DDMA quantitative and Focus Group China qualitative consumer research; and DDMA Business Consulting trade and industry research

The rapid growth of internet usage in China in 2010 presents two key challenges to the future of retailing, sales and marketing in China:

1. Online shopping has grown rapidly and must now be considered a major threat to the mega retailer business models that have been developed in the pre internet era in more developed consumer markets around the world. The fact that online shopping in Shanghai was the equivalent of over 10% of retail sales in 2010 demonstrates the impact that the internet is already having on retail sales in more developed Chinese consumer markets and is also indicative of the role which online shopping can have in the emerging and future consumer markets of China. There is a very strong possibility that internet technology will allow Chinese consumers to simply leapfrog traditional western designed retail models and migrate much of their shopping online.

2. Chinese consumers have become highly dependent on online information during the purchase decision making process across a wide variety of consumer products. Among Shanghai consumers in 2010, online information was the largest influence on the final purchase decision for 34% of all consumer product purchases. This not only calls into question the value of traditional media as a vehicle for marketing communication in China but also places great emphasis on truly understanding how Chinese consumers collect information online when considering a purchase, which online sources are used, what type of information is collected and how this behavior and information varies across different product categories.

Data Driven Marketing Asia (DDMA) has conducted a year-long study among Chinese consumers in Shanghai in order to isolate, determine and measure the impact that the internet has on shopping behavior and on marketing communication. This report is a blend of quantitative consumer data, detailed qualitative consumer data, and trade and industry data.

The quantitative data allows us to place some measurements around the impact of online information while the qualitative data, conducted by DDMA business unit Focus Group China, allows us to truly understand the reasons and drivers behind Chinese consumer behavior and the impact that the internet and online information is having on this. A total of 28 focus groups were conducted for the purpose of this report with Shanghai consumers throughout 2010.

Aside from understanding the drivers of online shopping and the overall influence of online information on consumer purchases this report covers the influence that online information has on the final purchase decision, the type of information collected and the main online sources used to collect this information across 12 product categories in detail.

These categories are:

1. 3G & Smartphones

2. New Social Places: Restaurants, Bars, KTVs, Nightclubs

3. Consumer Electronics: Digital Cameras & MP3/MP4 Players

4. Personal Computers and Peripherals

5. Travel & Tourism

6. Cosmetics & Skincare

7. Movies & Cinemas

8. Fashion Clothing: Medium- to High-end Branded Apparel

9. Passenger Cars, Services & Accessories

10. Leisure Books

11. Home Furnishings

12. Home Appliances

The Influence Online Information has on Chinese Consumer Buying Behavior 2011 introduces and examines the following nine areas in detail.

1. What are the key drivers of the online shopping boom in China ? Through detailed qualitative research conducted with Shanghai consumers throughout 2010, DDMA has identified the 13 key drivers of online shopping in China. These drivers are a combination of cultural, structural and socio-economic factors that indicate that online shopping will continue to grow in popularity and value in China and that it will present a significant threat to the future of the mega retailing business model in the market.

2. What is the actual influence online information has on the final purchase decision across 24 product categories in China and how does this influence vary across product categories. For example, there are some product categories where online information is the most influential force on the final purchase decision while there are other categories where online information plays a supplemental role in the final purchase decision making process.

3. Once the influence of online information has been determined, it is also necessary to understand the importance of different online information sources within each category. Twelve types of online information channels were evaluated, and their relative importance overall and within each individual category was determined.

The sources were:

• Pop-up Advertisements
• BBS Websites
• Shopping Websites
• Banner Advertisements
• Specialist Websites
• Personal Blogs
• Price Comparison
• Websites Social Websites
• Website Portals
• Search Engine Advertisements
• News Websites
• Official Brand Websites

4. The difference in the importance of these online sources and how this varies across product categories is a very important finding for communication. For example, one source may be the most influential for online information in the travel and tourism or the fashion clothing category, but the same source may not be of great importance in the online information gathering process for the 3G and smartphones category.

5. Once the importance of online sources has been determined overall and within each product category, the next step was to determine the type of information collected, how influential this type of information is and the most suitable and popular online source for collecting this type of information.

6. The search sequence, the order in which information sources are used during the pre-purchase information gathering process, was also examined in detail.

7. The role and influence that social media and other online peer-to-peer communication platforms have is also examined in detail. These specific online channels are used to exchange, share and transmit information about potential purchases of brands and products across all product categories in a manner that is beyond the direct control of brand or product owners. The marketing communication challenge these channels present is formidable as the dynamic is very different from the one sided communication of traditional marketing communication strategies.

8. Overall online behavior is also examined. As consumers spend more time online this obviously impacts the social dynamics in communication. The traditional concept of formal and informal groups being the largest social influence on consumer behavior and attitudes is not as relevant as in the pre-internet era. As Chinese consumers spend more of their time online, the type of social interaction and the subsequent influence that this interaction has on buying behavior needs to be understood. The first step in this process is to understand the online activities and how the amount of time dedicated to these activities varies across basic demographic groups. The second step is to understand communication styles among online users and relevant information sources.

9. The relevance and influence which traditional media channels, such as TV and print, is also evaluated relative to the correspondent online activity. Traditional media time placed around popular TV programs such as the news, sports, soap operas and dramas has always been priced at a premium to advertisers. With the growing popularity of watching entertainment, sports and news programs online, the question is to what extent are the high value Chinese consumers migrating their media consumption from traditional print and TV media to online media and does this migration undermine the effectiveness and hence the value for money of traditional media.

One final point that should be highlighted is that this report is not designed to measure or audit the traffic and popularity of individual online sources such as one social website versus another. It is designed to understand how these online sources are used, how influential the information collected from these sources is and how this importance differs across product categories.

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