Chinese consumer market segments for foreign apparel products

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractA consumer survey of a probability sample of 1,628 married adult consumers residing in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shanghai, China was used obtain basic knowledge on market segments of Chinese consumers with the potential to buy foreign apparel. The paper used conjoint analysis to identify the product attributes salient to consumers' apparel purchase intentions. With cluster, multiple regression, and other statistical analyses, six market segments prioritizing similar product attributes were identified and profiled. The six market segments were then described by their demographic and geographic characteristics, apparel expenditures, and perceptions of US-made pants. Suggestions are provided for apparel marketers wishing to pursue two especially promising market segments with the potential to buy US-made and US brand apparel.

The investigation of Chinese consumer values, consumption values, life satisfaction, and consumption behaviors

“…Traditionally, functional value is the primary driver of consumer choice (Sheth, Newman, & Gross, 1991a;Larsen & Watson, 2001). Chinese consumers in particular have been viewed as a consumer group mainly seeking products' functional needs, such as price, quality, comfort, and durability (Kim et al, 2002;Dickson et al, 2004;Wu & Delong, 2006). However, with the improvement of living standards and the expansion of a global consumer culture, Chinese consumers are developing a more positive attitude toward foreignmade products or foreign brands based on emotional and social needs.…”

Measuring customer‐based brand equity: empirical evidence from the sportswear market in China

“…Having considered that the young generation comprises the major consumers for branded sportswear products (Dickson et al, 2004), the target population of this study was defined as young shoppers between the ages of 18 and 39. This group of consumers is willing to spend more time and money to buy clothing, thus representing one of the most important market segments for foreign apparel retailers in China (Kwan, Yeung, and Au, 2003).…”

Demographics and Consumption Patterns in Urban China

“…: Cui and Liu 2000;Sun and Wu 2004;McEwan et al 2006). Other researchers have examined the overall utility of urban versus rural segmentation (Yusuf et al 2008) or particular products in the urban China market segment (Dickson et al 2004). Pursuing a different paradigm, Swanson (1989) and Cui and Liu (2000) examined geographic segmentation of China, not differentiating between urban and rural consumers in each geographic segment, to investigate regional differences.…”