Stages of Consumer Buying Behaviour among Chinese Consumers - Dissertation Example

Consumer goods consumption is no more simply related to the satisfaction of needs. Buying has now become a leisure activity that is also used to enhance social status. It functions as a material symbol of who a person is and how he would like to be known (Dittmar and Drury, 2000). Due to changes in the marketplace, the focus has now shifted from the purchase of provisions meant to satisfy physical needs towards acquiring consumer goods as a means of acquiring and expressing self-identity (Dittmar and Drury, 2000; Neuner, Raab and Reisch, 2005).
Changes have occurred in consumer lifestyles in China. According to World Luxury Association, Chinese consumers spend over US $6 billion a year on fashion accessories, bags, cars, cosmetics and apparel (He, Zou and Jin, 2010). China has now become the world’s second-largest market for fashion and leather goods. Despite the global slowdown, the percentage of affluent Chinese consumers has grown at around 16 per cent per annum. The number of affluent households in China reached 1.6 million, and this figure is expected to grow to 4.4 million by 2015. This would make China the world’s fourth-largest country in terms of affluent households. China is now a strategic market that luxury marketers cannot afford to neglect.
The consumer market comprises individuals and households from diverse cultures, backgrounds and mindsets who buy or acquire goods and services for personal consumption. Consumer buying behaviour evaluates the buying behaviour of the end consumers. In the turbulent and competitive marketing environment, it is not merely sufficient to understand the needs and wants of consumers; understanding consumer buying behaviour has become critical to survival. It is not merely enough to have a customer-centric approach; it is essential to understand the consumer psychology in the buying process. Apart from the motivation and influences why people choose to buy a particular product or brand, it is equally important for the marketer to evaluate why the consumer would not choose to buy a particular brand.
Teenagers prefer luxury marketing is gaining importance, but price remains a critical component of the purchase decision making. Foreign luxury brands from developed countries in all countries enhance their social status and satisfy their self-esteem. At the same time, the signal of status on foreign goods is that apparel must be more expensive, suggesting higher status (Phaw and Leng, 2008).
Major markets for luxury brands are no longer limited to developed countries but have expanded to the East (Bian and Forsythe, 2011). However, perceptions of luxury brands are not consistent across market segments. The Chinese consumers are brand-conscious, and they intend to invest in luxury fashion brands (Li, Li and gamble, 2011). With the growing affluence in China and the demand for luxury brands on the rise, marketers need to evaluate the needs and wants of luxury consumers. They must concentrate their marketing strategy to enhance the attributes to the status-seeking and non-status seeking consumers. Global marketing would thus require the marketers to evaluate if the luxury brands can be marketed with a similar strategy in different consumer markets.