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Intergenerational Intimacy - Is China's 80s generation discovering their real companion (依靠)?

You can spot them everywhere, from subway stations, to public parks; from shopping arcades to busy restaurants and even in far-off holiday destinations. There is a distinctly visible trend in big cities, where a young woman in her late 20s or early 30s is often seen in the company of her mother, doing things with her. Isn’t this a little surprising given that we are made to believe that China’s 80s generation (which is now in its 20s and early 30s) is a pampered lot and more self-centered than any generation before them; And also that this generation does not understand their parents and considers them totally out of sync with today’s world!

If this how the 80s generation is, then how do we explain this intergenerational intimacy and companionship that they are discovering with their parents, and especially girls with their mothers?

All that has been said about the 80s generation and its self-obsession is true, just the way it is also true that 80s generation is not a teenager any longer. Those among them, who were born in early 80s, are young adults now and entering a new phase of their life, both personally and professionally. Personally, they are getting into or feling the need for a long-term relationship and professionally they are looking at building a career, which is different from just doing a job.

In China, 三十而立 (san shi er li or the 30s) is considered to be one of the toughest points of transition in a person’s life. This transitory phase forces them to think both personal and professional choices from a long-term perspective. But the need for transition from a job to a career and from a romantic relationship into long-term commitment is not coming out to be the smoothest. What makes this transition especially tough for this generation? After all many before them have passed through this stage.

The 80s generation is a high-expectation generation. They have high expectations from almost everything that they engage in. At work, they have high expectations about monetary compensation, growth and attention from superiors and peer group; in everyday life they have high expectations from the life partner and friends. These high expectations are a result of the life that their parents made them used to as they pampered them extensively during their formative years.

In most cases parents of this 80s generation belong to the 50s and early 60s generation. These parents have come from poorer backgrounds with families characterized by many kids. (More than 30% of parents of 60s generation on an average had 5 to 6 siblings in their childhood¹). As a result the spotlight was not on a single child. Everyone had to find his or her own way and struggle as they became independent. When these children became parents, they took extra care to ensure that their only child does not have to struggle like they did.

This extra care, pampering and protection has lead to 80s generations developing a fragile and inward-looking personality. They find it difficult to forge new relationships and are always looking out to get rather than give.

As this generation moves into their late 20s and early 30s they exit the comfort zone that their parents created for them. The transition exposes them to a world that challenges their high expectations. At work, a highly competitive environment requires them to work hard before they can earn the right to expect, and in personal relationships, the significant other, who is usually from the same generation is also expecting to get rather than give. Both ways the realization begins to dawn upon them, that they are not the center of the world. Given all this, it is not surprising that a large proportion of those who are from the 80s generation, have turbulent marriages, disenchantment with work and change jobs frequently.

Turbulent Marriages: The extra pampering and protection that this generation has received from their parents, has lead to slower and delayed maturing of their personalities. This becomes more pronounced in their married life. Marriage requires forgiveness, understanding, tolerance and compromise – but these are not the traits that this generation is best known for.  Poxi guanxi (婆媳关系)viz relationship with in-laws and forging new bonds after marriage, becomes increasingly challenging when both partners are expecting from each other but unable to give as much. Many experts working in marital counseling, blame the lack of responsibility shown by the spoiled one-child generation as the reason for the many broken marriages. As a result today, one out of every five marriages in China ends in a divorce. This rate is double of what it was a decade ago and Beijing tops the charts with the highest divorce rate nationwide with 39% of all marriages in the city ending in a split! More importantly divorce rate among those under-30s has doubled annually over the past five years, and 97 percent of these couples are from single child families!  

Disenchantment at Work: Disillusionment at work among younger employees is a rising concern for the human resource teams in many organizations. Companies are facing challenges in employee retention and overall morale. A recent survey shows that, as much as 80% of employees with 3-5 years of experience have switched jobs aggressively. Most of these are from the 80s generation. In some cases such switching of jobs has tripled organizational employee turnover rates to as high as 45.7%. ²

Shattered hopes and the resulting emotional crisis due to unmet expectations both at work and from the life-partner make this generation realize the ‘cruelty’ of real world outside the fort of parental protection. This personal emotional crisis prompts them to look for a support system, as they look for someone who can reassure them about themselves and provide emotional refuge from the stark realities of the adult world.

For all such emotional crises, there usually are three pressure valves in almost all the societies. 1. Friends, who reassure 2. Hobbies, those provide a new way to invest and engage the mind and emotions and, 3. A Religion or Belief that soothes and gives inner peace.

Friends, who are the most obvious support system, while is strong but is not the most preferred escape route. This is mainly because some friends move on, others might have successful marriages and work situations and could thus make one feel more miserable instead of giving reassurance.

Hobbies that help a person to engage in something beyond work are a definite route to greater happiness and confidence. Yet most of the young adults in China, while they are trying many new things are still not sure about their real hobbies and interests. It is worth mentioning that while most of the societies in the world have something that they are known to be passionate about, it is difficult to answer the same question for most of the Chinese.

Belief, be it religious or philosophical, is another way of soothing the anxiety within. In many societies this role is played by religion. In China, a mix of Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist philosophies together play this role. Yet the reality remains that most of the 80s generation is way too disconnected from their philosophical roots. Most of the time it is competition through consumption that dominates confidence through contemplation and reflection. Consumption as a way of making oneself aware of one’s existence wields additional pressure on the individual, as one tends to measure success by visible symbols of prosperity. It is noteworthy that according to a recent news report, a Chinese professor in Beijing was quoted as telling his students “if you cannot make RMB 40 million by the time your are 40, I would not be happy to acknowledge you as my students!”

The rise in the popularity of religion and Yoga among others is also a testimony to the fact that people are looking for a way to sooth their inner self. A visit to the Sunday mass in any city Church will reveal the large numbers of 80s generation attending it regularly.

In this wider context, 80s generation, especially women in their late 20s and early 30s, are rediscovering their parents as a source of unconditional love, affection and emotional reassurance. While they discover a new friend in their mother, their mother too has much to share as she is seeking a companion in her child. This is more so if the girl is single or separated from her husband.

But one may ask that the Chinese society and culture has always observed a sense of duty towards parents and elders in the family. What is so new about all this?  What separates this newfound intergenerational intimacy from the classic filial piety?

Unlike the traditional sense of duty that drove the relationships in the past, the contemporary intimacy has a sense of mutual companionship as the driving motivation behind it. 

It is also interesting to note that the intergenerational intimacy is not just a middle class phenomenon. There are many female celebrities like Fan Bin Bin and Liu Yi Fei among others, are also much closer to their parents than anyone else.  

So what does all this mean for marketers and advertisers? What can we learn from this social trend in making? For starters, the decision-making especially in the purchase of consumables and apparel would be increasingly influenced by the interplay between the mother and daughter. This would be a new dimension to the hitherto unigenerational exchange between a girl and her friends or her spouse. Perhaps mothers might be able to bring in a sense of frugality to the everyday purchases but more importantly the daughter could help her mother adopt the newer and more premium lines of products. Mothers could not just use her daughter’s grooming tips but also make herself feel younger and give her an edge in her own circle of other senior women.

Needless to mention there could be new gifting opportunities to both nourish and leverage this intergenerational intimacy, especially around existing occasions like Women’s Day and Mother’s Day.

As observers of society and culture and as futurists, we are always eager to predict the next big thing that is coming our way. Data about China’s demographics often tells us interesting things about the aging population, urbanization, and income gap, among others. While these realities are imminent, it remains that what is even more important than knowing what will happen is to reflect upon what would happen then. Although this essay is largely speculative for it does not yet offer extensive numerical evidence for many of the observations made here, yet it does provide a mental map to navigate the social changes of our times.

Boys and girls from single child families of yesteryears are men and women today. They are forming families and making a living as they join organizations in droves. As marketers, we need to understand their emotional experiences and resulting needs. Only then will we be able to solve their problems and serve them better. Are we listening?

Special Thanks to:

Ivy Liang Strategic Planner, Ogilvy & Mather, Guangzhou, China

Dr. Ting Wang, Lecturer - Communication Studies, School of Communication, East China Normal University, Shanghai, PRC

 

'Swarmonomics' and the Chinese shopper – seven things to learn

In the past four weeks we have seen two examples of swarm-style purchase frenzies by Chinese shoppers.

The first occasion was the panic-buying of common salt. Shoppers were under the impression that the iodine in salt could help in protecting them from the negative effects of nuclear radiation coming out of Japan following the earthquake-related nuclear emergency.

Stocking up on salt was also viewed as a good idea because some shoppers were convinced that the sea salt due to hit shelves in the coming months would have been polluted by the nuclear radiation, making it wiser to buy up stocks now. On a single day, around 4,000 tonnes of salt was sold in Zhejiang alone! Shops ran out of stocks, and when all the salt was gone, many zeroed in on soy sauce, due to its high salt content.

Calm had barely returned when another round of swarm-style purchasing hit the stores. This time it was laundry detergent.

Shoppers from Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou and Wenzhou, upon hearing that detergent prices were to go up soon, moved in hordes and wiped the store shelves clean. Shop shelves lay empty as wave after wave of anxious shoppers loaded their shopping carts with almost any pack of detergent that they could lay their hands on.

These two instances say a great deal about the attitudes of the average Chinese shopper. These attitudes include:

1. Uncertainty about the future: The average Chinese shopper is anxious about tomorrow. They are not sure what is going to come their way and want to do all that they can to pre-empt anything that might go wrong. Making oneself uncomfortable today only to avert negative effects of future uncertainty, no matter of how remote or far-fetched it might be, is not unusual 

2. Low levels of trust: Chinese shoppers do not trust reactive information. Irrespective of the assurances from various other professional agencies about the price, quality and future availability of the products, shoppers were not convinced. They went on stocking up on these products as much as they could. 

3. Risk aversion: Chinese shoppers are hugely risk-averse, especially in times of relative uncertainty. They do not like to

leave things to a stroke of luck; they want to ensure that they do the right thing for themselves and ensure that it covers any kind of potential risk. 

4. Value consciousness: The large majority of Chinese shoppers will go to any extent to save money. 'Money saved is money earned' seems to be the shopping mantra for the masses that flock to supermarkets. This value consciousness is not just unique to China, but a theme reflected in other emerging markets. Shoppers in India are not very different. The sight of Chinese shoppers jostling for salt and detergent is reminiscent of the shopper stampede in India in 2006 when the Big Bazaar (a leading retail store brand in India) announced a three-day-long annual sale that offered a heavy discount on products across categories such as apparel, electronics and other consumables. Millions of shoppers came to buy, and in some of the cities police had to be called to manage the anxious mob of shoppers. Shoppers were worried that they might not be able to get the deal if they reached the store late or missed the first day of sale. 

5. 'Swarm sense': The occurrence of a flash flood of shoppers is neither sense nor nonsense; instead it is swarm-sense.

This is propelled by a feeling that 'the crowd must be right'. There is complete lack of individual judgment in the purchase decisions, and this only becomes more pronounced in the event of insufficient proactive information from credible sources.

This swarm-sense is also similar to the way Indian masses reacted to the news of Ganesha (a Hindu deity) drinking milk in 1995 and again in 2006. Millions streamed into Hindu temples carrying their pot of milk to offer to the deity. 

6. Connectedness: Rumours behind both the events were triggered largely by misinformation that spread through mobile phone messages and online microblogs. The speed at which the messages were spread and the scale of response demonstrates how modern-day communication technology has turbo-charged age-old word of mouth. This also shows the higher credibility of communication channels like mobile phones in such rumour-laden situations. 

7. Post-fact society: At a time when we have access to multiple information sources and diverse perspectives, we do not get the truth; we only choose to believe one version of it. What might 10-15 years ago have been a journalist's dilemma about which version of a story to believe and write about, is now the dilemma of the average person. The only difference is that the average recipient of information might not always be conscious of the choices that he or she is making. 

What can all this tell us as marketers and advertisers? We can definitely do well by acknowledging the importance of speed and timeliness of response. Such situations can be seen as moments of crisis and yet they can prove to be big opportunities for brands to come across as earnest and committed to a shopper's interest. For example, in the above two situations, consumer product brands could have gained a great deal had they stepped in early and reached out to shoppers; in the case

of the detergent frenzy they could have told shoppers about the company's commitment to provide the products at constant prices.

These two incidents also show the importance of opinion leaders in shaping people's behaviour. If brands identify the opinion leaders, especially those with clout in the online space, and supply them with complete information, they would be able to counter misinformation much faster and more effectively.

While shoppers are risk-averse when they lack credible information, marketers, in spite of having greater access to information, are not much different. They need to overcome this barrier. On this occasion marketers lost the opportunity to have a socially responsive stance, but there is nothing stopping them from doing that in the future.

 

 

 

A Dinner Banquet with Insights on Luxury & Philanthropy

Few months back about 50 of China’s business and philanthropy elites came together for a 90-minute discussion over dinner. The venue was a mansion on the edge of Beijing - a gilded and karaoke-equipped rococo castle, modeled after the baroque 17th century Chateau de Maisons-Laffitte in France. The hosts were the billionaire philanthropic duo - Warren Buffet & Bill Gates. Media dubbed the dinner as the "Ba Bi" Banquet - after the Chinese transliterations of the host’s names. ("Ba Bi" incidentally is also the Chinese for "Barbie").

BaBi was hot in media much before it even happened. There were news reports about a business tycoon from south China pledging all of his fortune to charity after his death and motivating other Millionaires in China to come forward and contribute. There were reports that the attendees had requested the list of invitees not to be made public for they were afraid of attracting unnecessary attention to their fortune. There were also voices from China’s philanthropic circles that Chinese did not need to learn philanthropy from Americans etc. 

But the string of events in the run up to Ba Bi and even after that, have more to tell us than just who pledged to donate and who did not. BaBi tells us a lot about the attitude of China’s super rich on two counts – one obviously is Philanthropy and the other less obvious but very evident is the attitude of China’s super rich towards luxury and indulgence.

What makes this rich group so important is its large & growing numbers. According to Shanghai-based analyst Rupert Hoogewerf China has 64 billionaires in US-dollar terms (second only to the United States) and at least 875,000 U.S. dollar millionaires. And these numbers are growing healthily. The disposable income of the richest 10% of Chinese families is 2008 was USD 20,500 – almost as much as 3 times the official government estimates. And this does not even include the total undisclosed income in China, which is estimated to be over 1.4 trillion (about the GDP of India!)

But in spite of this prosperity, for most of the Chinese the idea of charity seems a bit detached from daily life. While the total amount donated, as per Government records, has risen from $1.5 billion (RMB 10 billion) in 2006 to over $7.5 billion (RMB 50 billion) in 2009, it is still a negligible fraction of the $300 billion annually donated in the US, which is over 2% of the country's GDP. Also, only around 20% of China's annual donations actually come from individuals; the rest are made by private enterprises. In the US, for example this number is as high as 70%!

Contrast this attitude towards philanthropy with the state of luxury. In 2009, China alone accounted for 25% of the world's total luxury consumption, making it the second largest luxury market after Japan, whose GDP per capita is more than 10 times higher. And yet despite their consumerist instincts, the Japanese still appear to be more charitable in general than the Chinese. According to the 2010 World Giving Index, released by the Charities Aid foundation, 17% of the Japanese population has made charitable donations, compared to China's 11%.

What does all this mean? Does BaBi tell us anything more than what these numbers reveal? How?

BaBi was actually a terrific opportunity to glean insights about the China’s rich, their riches and their desire to give. Here are five things that I learnt from the much-publicized dinner.

1.     Short history of prosperity & thus philanthropy in modern China: “I just started making money and now you want me to give it all up?”

Because of China’s socialist background and the fact that wealth China is so new, the notion of government’s role versus philanthropy is still not fully developed. Historically, especially before 1949, China’s wealth was based, in one way, on familial wealth & power via heirlooms, bequeathments and hereditary titles. China comes from an Imperial, agrarian society, where power and social status is based on familial wealth. Modern Chinese society continues to have many aspects that still emphasize family wealth. We see this today in the continued inadequacy of China’s social welfare system, where Chinese parents still need to save all their wealth in order to pay for the education, and buy real estate for later generations.  

It is thus rather unrealistic to expect all of China’s Millionaires to become super-givers soon. After all most of them are the first generations of millionaires. After so many years of penury, it is only natural for them to want to hold on to their newly acquired wealth.

Short History of Luxury: “I have it and I want to flaunt it..”

From a luxury standpoint - we cannot expect China’s rich to start appreciating the nuances and subtleties of super luxury products and services. They have earned it recently and they would want to show it. A Chinese expression “大气” or da qi (the big and glorious) captures their state of mind rather well. Thus luxury that helps them demonstrate their achievement and success will do better than the classic understated luxury.

 

2.     No Philanthropic Role Models: “I should give all my money for ‘noble’ causes like whom?”  

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have had historical precedent from such past American philanthropists as Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Ford. China does not have many distinct philanthropic heroes in its own history. It will take time for China to have it’s own super-rich philanthropists. While people like Jet Li are already doing this in some way – there is still a lot that needs to be done to create social icons out of givers.

No role models in Luxury: “Unique style, like whose?”

From the luxury standpoint as well, there is a long way before China established its own set of luxury role models. There are still not many rich and successful men and women who have a distinct style that could inspire the other rich to develop their own unique style or get inspired by a new Chinese model of luxury and style. Today majority of role models in luxury and style are from the west and the choice of products of these luxury icons is emulated for their novelty and badge value rather unique resonance with one’s personal style.

 

3.     Limited reliable ways to contribute to the society: “There is infrastructure to spend but limited infrastructure to give”   

"If my donation doesn't end up helping the needy I'd feel cheated, to me it's not a question of money," said Cao Dewang, CEO of Fuyao Group - the biggest glass manufacturer in China- in a recent interview with CCTV. The news channel went on to say that Cao pledged to donate RMB 200 million to 100,000 low-income households via the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, a non-profit charity overseen by the government - but would do so only after signing a detailed contract to ensure that his money falls into the right hands. Jet Li is also quoted to have said in a recent interview that, “The main reason [why Chinese are skeptical about donating] is because there is an inherent mistrust in giving your money to any third party to pass it on. They’re convinced that for every 100 that they give, the end party won’t receive anything near that 100.”

The lack of a robust and matured ‘infrastructure to give’, accentuates concerns about giving in general. 

 

Shop for status not style: “It is expensive and everybody knows that – that’s enough for me..”

From luxury’s perspective, Mainland and Hong Kong shops are loaded with the most exotic in luxury with brands that boast of steep price tags, ironically they are all picked up from the shelves just for that reason viz. - the price and the exotica rather than a brand’s unique ability to pronounce one’s personal style. There is infrastructure to spend but there is no infrastructure to understand the nuances of luxury and then spend in a way that reflects personal taste. 

 

4.     A different kind of philanthropic instinct: “Pragmatic Philanthropy that makes people self-reliant”

Billionaire Guo Jinshu told Xinhua recently "In China, an entrepreneur's top responsibility is to keep his own business sound, to fulfill taxation payments, and create jobs. This is also out of a philanthropist heart." Guo’s remarks remind us of the old Chinese adage “if you feed the poor – you feed him today, if you tell him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime.” There seems to be a more pragmatic outlook towards philanthropy among some quarters of the Chinese rich. While the pragmatism is real – there are still not many avenues to help people donate this way.

Another cultural factor is the need to not talk about how much one gave out. Some of the media reported that the billionaire duo, were not well received in China because they publicized their charity efforts. This is not always the Chinese way of giving – “if you give, you don't really need to announce it."

 

5.     Sense of insecurity both physical and financial: “If people come to know that I have enough to start giving, I might not there to be able to give tomorrow..”

It is interesting to note how every week, local newspapers in China publish pictures of the country’s lottery winners showing up to claim their oversized checks in disguise. Almost all the winners resort to some kind of mask to hide their real identities for the fear that if they get recognized they might not be left alone to enjoy the newfound money. Many people are said to have hidden the windfall even from their family members and continue to lead their normal life. There is threat perception about being identified as someone who can cough up money when needed.

People no matter how prosperous – want to ‘lie low’ and keep off the radar. They do not want to attract attention for they are not confident about their security. This insecurity comes in part from the fear of have-nots – who might be simmering with discontent and the other part comes from scrutiny by Tax and other regulatory bodies.

Camouflage fortune by harping hard work and performance instead: “Make me look like a self-made success, not just rich and privileged”

This is one of the biggest challenges for luxury marketers. As the luxury buyers get increasingly insecure about their personal and financial wellbeing, luxury purchases will get impacted sooner or later. The need for showing off one’s wealth will collide with the need to lie low. Volks Wagen’s (VW) Phaeton is a great example of the need for understated luxury but for entirely different reasons. Phaeton is priced between RMB1-2 million but looked like a big Passat to many (a mid priced car from the same stable). The brand became a laughing stock on Internet with many jokes around it about being a high priced mid-range car. Not withstanding this the car still sold very well in Northwest China for exactly the same reasons – with its high price and plain vanilla looks – it was the designated as a“service car” of the local officials and the Army who did not want to be seen wasting tax payer’s money on luxury cars.

Buyers might need to exercise restraint while purchasing brands that give out the story of their bank balance. While symbols and imagery that connote fortune, power and status has traditionally been the mainstay in luxury advertising in China, it might need to acquire a new avatar that focuses on success and achievement from performance & hard work rather than just glory & big fortune.

BaBi was only a dinner banquet but it has a lot to say about the large and growing number of the Chinese super-rich. While this group is an extremely profitable source of growth for luxury marketers, it has its unique characters. It is vital to understand the real nuances of Chinese Philanthropy & Luxury for greater impact in future. (And by the way, understanding the Chinese rich might not always require a one-on-one interview!)

42 minutes, 20 million hits, story of one generation

Over 20 million hits for a 42-minute long film in just over two weeks – what does this tell us? Sure it tells us that people love it - but why? What is special about the film that attracts so much of passion from the online viewer, who is known to be ruthlessly critical of most of the content?

老男孩 (lao nan hai or Old Boys) is a the story of two young boys who grew up to be teenagers during the years of rapid transition from China’s closed socialist past to quick economic opening up and reforms. Set in the 1980s the film traces the journey of classmates in school - their youth, their love, their dreams, their adulthood, their reality, their sorrows and yet their unwavering hope and the desire to keep moving on. The movie is a must watch for anyone wanting to see Chinese talent in filmmaking that reflects present day reality (beyond just the big budget period films). In the garb of a short film, it is actually is a rare piece of Chinese social commentary on pains and pleasures of the Chinese society in flux. 

The fact that a brand has supported this project goes on to say a lot about their understanding of the market, their desire to reflect the contemporary society while allowing creative freedom to bring all of this to life.

The movie effortlessly captures the sentiment of the 80s generation and has valuable lessons and reminders for marketers, market researchers, sociologists and advertisers.

1. Old Boys (not young men): Many of these 25-30 year olds have grown older but not necessarily grown up. They are not the 25-30 year men and women, they are the 25-30 year old boys and girls. This has various reasons behind it. Some of the reasons are to do with the fact that they were the only children in their family and the extensive pampering slowed down their growing up into matured beings. The other factor is the rapid change of the Chinese society – especially in the urban areas. The explosion of opportunities, rise of materialism, winds of consumerism, ‘one life so no compromise’ mindset, and the notion of “I need to do better for myself before anything else” has given way to delayed marriages and even broken marriages. Together these factors keep a person from acknowledging and realizing that he has transitioned from a boy to man. Thus, while they might look like they are settled in life but deep within they ‘not done yet’.
2. Reality TV as a coping Mechanism: Whie there are many changes happening in the society and economy 'around' the life people from the 80s generation - most of these people find themselves left behind. Most of them are unable to cope with dramatic change and increasing competition. The broken dreams amplify the pain of failure. In this wider social context - reality TV and talent search shows offer that rare opportunity to break the pattern and achieve dramatic success fast. Reality TV is almost like a talent-lottery and everyone wants to make the best of it.Its sheer presence symbolizes hope and happiness - sometimes for self and sometimes vicariously.
3. The unsung professions and unconventional careers: There is a China beyond the stereotype of the successful white collared men and women working in swank new offices.  Sure these images of modern day success represent the aspirations of the whole nation but the whole nation is not doing only this. There are people working in factories, there are people working as teachers, there are saloon owners, there are wedding hosts for the not so glamorous celebrity weddings. All these less talked about people and professions might not be the most aspirational but for a brand trying to connect with its audience beyond the newly build façade of 21^st century success, the lesser known stories can more memorable and effortlessly distinct. 
4. 80s Nostalgia Sells: One of the largest consuming groups of today comprises people from the 80s generation (the 25-30 year olds). Both products as well as marketing communication messages that capture the past beautifully and personally, will attract a lot of attention and positively predispose people towards products and brands that use this approach.

There is a temptation to write more because frame by frame, 老男孩 has a lot to say - but I should stop here and let you judge by yourself.

I wish I could see more of such creations in Chinese popular culture. These are more accurate in their understanding and representation of people than many research reports.

 

Breaking free with a safety net

A visit to Beijing or Shanghai’s Decathlon - the French sports goods store - is a feast for the activity lover. Decathlon has almost everything that a sports lover would want - from bicycles and bicycle accessories, to inline skating gear, to all kinds of sports goods- football, volleyball or basketball; camping and trekking gear - you name it! It is not just a big store with no shoppers -Decathlon is buzzing! No matter what time of the year you visit, a barrage of Chinese shoppers would greet you.

Are Chinese as sports oriented, as the medals tally in all major international sporting events would make us believe?

If I were to compare the average Chinese person’s level of physical activity with his counterpart in India, it would be easy to conclude that the Chinese are much more active. They engage in many more outdoor activities than the Indians do. This also has to do with access to infrastructure for outdoor activities, which is a lot more in China than India. Parks, bicycle lanes on main avenues, pedestrian footpaths, public fitness zones in all communities etc are just some of the examples that point at how India’s urban infrastructure has not been developed for the man wanting to keep fit. Sometimes, although jokingly, it is said that the most popular sport in India is “spectator sports!”

While the Chinese are physically more active than Indians, it can easily make us believe that they would also be a lot into outdoor trekking and rock climbing and hiking and the likes. If I were to believe the brisk sales of tents, camping gear, etc in Decathlon, I sure could say so. But the truth perhaps is a little more interesting than that. During my regular visits to the parks in Beijing, which are a must go autumn destination for Beijingers, I discovered something more interesting than the buzz in the Decathlon stores. The camping gear that was meant to be used when you trekked up that hill or when you went hiking with your friends over the weekend was being used in the park! Families and couples had set up their tents in the well-levelled lawns of the parks. And while some of the boys and girls were cozying up inside them, it was largely a family’s day in the tent with the kid in tow enjoying the new experience away from the cramped apartment block! It was like the morning/ evening walk now remixed and made a little more exciting; A more ‘predictable adventure sport’; A barbeque dish in a lunch box!; A blend of freedom with the family in tow; Like breaking free with a safety net!

This is just an observation and only represents one side of the urban story, for there are as many if not more Chinese that go for hiking. But the adventure tents in family parks sure have a story to tell.

As China develops, prospers, urbanizes and may be even westernizes in some way – it still is not witnessing a sweeping change in values. There is and perhaps will always be the Chinese way of doing things. We can’t and need not expect the Chinese to transition into individualistic and free spirited explorers just because they buy at Decathlon and love North Face. There is an evolution beneath all this revolutionary change and that evolution will ensure the presence of a unique ‘Chinese way of doing things’ in almost everything that happens in this country.

Will you talk to your Mom like this? 3

This is the third in the short series of posts on Challenges facing Qualitative research in China. As I have said in the posts before, the idea is not to castigate research agencies or trash the ways of some of the marketers. Instead the idea is to highlight the research & marketing issues plaguing various marketing and research systems & highlight that if we address these we can find a way to superior understanding of people in China and consequently do better marketing and market planning.

Have you ever wondered what kind of working people would take out time on a Wednesday afternoon (or morning!) to go to a discussion in a room full of strangers talking about sanitary napkins or tyres or adhesives etc for over two and a half hours? I can hazard a guess - these are people who do not have much happening in their personal or work life. Some of my not so polite friends have another word to describe these people - they call them "losers who don't have a life!"

Come to think of it - who can take out so much time for a relatively unimportant topic and that too in the middle of a workday! These people are outside the stream of active social or professional life and thus have so much time to spare. They are the laggards in all kinds of product adoption processes. Outside of occasions like the focus group discussion - they are a conservative lot without strong opinions on most of the subjects - leave aside consumption choices.

This is the other challenge that a lot of qualitative research faces in developing markets like China. Most of the people that we end up recruiting for research are at best not savvy about the topic being discussed. This is dangerous because we base many of our marketing decisions on the feedback captured from these researches. When we do this – what we are effectively doing is taking feedback from the masses and ending up with the lowest common denominator of understanding. This might be a better idea in electing a government but it can definitely not help us make strategic breakthroughs in marketing.

Having said that - this also does not mean that we only speak with opinion leaders – that is not realistic either. What we really need to do is to structure our research in a fashion that we strike a balance between such dull followers and some savvy adopters. Learnings from only that kind of a mix can be considered more balanced and representative of the reality.

Only such a respondent mix can help us find inspiration not just information.

 

Happy Working!

 

Will you talk to your Mom like this? 2

This is the second in the short series of posts on Challenges facing Qualitative research in China. As I said before, the idea is not to castigate research agencies or trash the ways of some of the marketers. Instead it is to highlight research & marketing issues plaguing various marketing and research systems & highlight that if we address these we can find a way to superior understanding of people in China. And consequently do better marketing and market planning.

In this second part, I will share some thoughts about the way we ask the questions in our researches.

It pains me to see how we run our consumer immersion groups.

Why are we so direct?  

After every response – we simply barge in with a “why?” or “why not?”

Do we really believe that people will give an honest explanation for their usual behaviour?

Add to this, people in China take much longer to open up than people from most of the other cultures that I have been exposed to. We need to respect this cultural truth. China is a lot about steady conversations and negotiations. It is not a “on and off” culture, it is not about this way or that way, it is not the start and stop mindset. It is a continuum. It is about maneuvering around and about topics – touching them enough to give a hint rather than making them obvious.

Our way of talking to people needs to learn from this. 

My long-time friend once told me how Chinese and Westerners think differently. He explained it to me through a business meeting analogy. For the Westerners – if a meeting is short it must be very good because everybody was talking the same language and thus not much conversation was required to reach an agreement. Contrast this with the Chinese idea of a good meeting. The Chinese think that if the meeting is short – it did not really achieve much. The underlying principle is that it takes longer to know people and understand their motives – too quick and you have not really achieved anything. On the contrary, if it is longer – it sure means that it helped people know each other more. Knowing people is most important. All the business can follow.

Now think about our interview situations - how can we rush through it with a 100-bullet point checklist?

I often say – “In China – slow down, if you want to speed up. Things move forward briskly when we do not labour them too much. Conversations are no exception. Of course we need answers to “why” and “why not” but we need not ask it that way. We need to make the questions indirect, help respondent speak about himself without feeling shy about it by. Make it less sharp and allow the real answers to flow in. Only a comfortable respondent is a natural respondent.

A few more to come in this series.

 

"Where do you live sir?"

Few weeks back I was at one of the many mega-sized consumer electronic stores in Beijing. As I was walking by the various shop-in-shops, I was amazed by a ingenuity of a simple but very effective tool that I saw being used.

Look at the picture below - this is the City Map of Beijing and has been mounted on a hard board. The map has been marked with a coloured pen and these marking represent the routes of various delivery vans that are in operation. As shoppers finished haggling for the best price on their TV or whatever that they had bought - the sales girl would bring out the map and ask them point out on the map the location of the delivery destination. She already knew the route-load for the next 48 hrs. and she could quickly tell you by when could you expect your article to be delivered. Simple.

But this post is not just about the ingenious use of maps to get customer addresses and expedite product delivery.  I also want to use this example to point at the pragmatic way in which most of the Beijingers tell you directions and locations. Finding a place is not about "close to the big water tank" or "near the traffic signal" or "under the flyover". Finding a place is about clear directions. "Is your house north of the street or south?" "Is the address east of the bridge or west?"

Not just on the street, but even within the office - we have meeting rooms designated as "Campaign Room - North/South etc.The directions are really very clearly etched in people's minds. The use of map is only and extension of this pragmatic approach to get to a place. Contrast this with India for example - how many of us would readily know our location on the map of Delhi for example. You get the point.

I am yet to understand what is behind the Beijinger's relative ease with directions - but whatever it might be - it sure makes the city special.

 

 

 

 

Will you talk to your Mom like this? (1)

From today I will start a short series of posts on Challenges facing Qualitative research in China. The idea is not to castigate research agencies or trash the ways of some of the marketers. Instead it is to highlight research & marketing issues plaguing various marketing and research systems & that if addressed can the way for a superior understanding of people in China and consequently better marketing  & market planning.

Why do we always have so many questions? Do we know so less or are we playing safe by getting the research to confirm even the most elementary things?

Fewer questions, shorter questions with more room for conversation are much better than long questions and many questions. Visualize our conversation with our friends and family - how we talk to them over tea and snacks. It is fluid, enjoyable and refreshing. It helps us know each other even more and it brings us closer. Now think about our last conversation with users - chances are

We had many more things to discuss (many-many questions)

We moved from one question to another very fast (completing a ‘list’ rather than striking a conversation and trying to understand)

We consumed almost two hours doing this and everyone was tired & irritable at the end of it (rather than becoming more open, refreshed and thus closer).

Why do we do this? Why are we so paranoid about not being able to complete all the questions in our DG? If we all know the marketing goal, the brand challenge and our priorities – then why don’t we allow the interviewer some intellectual & conversation autonomy? Why do we act like we just came from Mars and we need to be told everything by the research?

“If there is a shared vision –there is no need for supervision”, said someone and if there is a shared vision, I don’t see any reason to be paranoid.