Abstract:

Historically some of us have experienced global research studies which have viewed Asia as underdeveloped Western markets; or have fitted findings into a western paradigm. However increasingly we see markets leapfrog typical evolutionary paths: therefore challenging us to explore new frameworks to understand cultural, category and brand evolution. This paper explores how to conceptualise and research experience in the rapidly emerging market of China. How can we use tools that access the different experience threads that enable us to have conversations with people, and where we shift from researching consumers to researching people who are producers. Cultural ideas and practice are likely to be more complex and differentiated as our understanding becomes more tribal, more digital and more behavioural where we become more global and integrated, yet simultaneously, our experience is diverse and local.