Abstract:

This paper will offer a unique view of the Chinese media marketplace, that of the Chinese retail consumer. We present data from a 2009 study of 7,000+ Chinese consumers, age 18 to 34, who have reported on what media they use, i.e., consume, not what marketers and media organizations report as having distributed. Drawing on data from the BIGresearch online "Chinese Quarterly Media Studies" reports, which have been gathered four times per year since 2006, we report on the media forms Chinese consumers report using the most, the time spent with each media form and which media form or forms are reported as having the greatest influence on their purchasing decisions in a number of product categories. These prior-to-the-store media exposures (22 external media forms, both online and offline) are then correlated to the Chinese consumer's reported exposure to in-store media. The combining of the external-to-the-store and in-store promotional activities provides a unique, holistic view of how media actually is consumed in China among a very critical market segment. Since the same type of data has been gathered in the same way in the U. S. since 2001, we are also able to compare media consumption patterns for the U.S. and Chinese consumers.