Research Proposal Team 4, Final Version

FactorsInfluencingChineseConsumerMarketTrends:

AsurveyresearchintoGuangzhouconsumermarket

AresearchproposalsubmittedbyTeam4:

FeiYANG/Studentnr:2326590/Email:[email protected]

YuhaoXIE/Studentnr:2218030/Email:[email protected]

Supervisor:

Ms.LindseyREID

FontysUniversityofAppliedSciences

InternationalBusinessandManagementStudies(IBMS)

Semester7:PO,AcademicSkills

Eindhoven,theNetherlands

Date:28/04/2016

Wordcount(chapter1-4):3813

Team4:FactorsInfluencingChineseConsumerMarketTrends:AsurveyresearchintoGuangzhouconsumermarket i

TABLEOFCONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................4

1.1 PURPOSEOFTHESTUDY........................................................................................................................41.2 CONTEXTOFTHESTUDY/DEMARCATION.................................................................................................41.3 PROBLEMDEFINITION...........................................................................................................................51.4 SIGNIFICANCEOFTHESTUDY..................................................................................................................51.5 UNITOFANALYSIS................................................................................................................................51.6 HYPOTHESISORPROPOSITION................................................................................................................51.7 DEFINITIONOFTERMS...........................................................................................................................6

2 LITERATUREREVIEW.................................................................................7

2.1 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................72.2 DEFINITIONOFTOPICORBACKGROUNDDISCUSSION..................................................................................72.3 CONCEPTUALMODEL/THEORETICALFRAMEWORK......................................................................................82.4 FIRSTSUB-PROBLEMDISCUSSIONHEADING...............................................................................................9

NEWGENERATION....................................................................................................................................9 GROWINGMIDDLE-INCOMEHOUSEHOLD.....................................................................................................10 GROWTHOFE-COMMERCE.......................................................................................................................10

2.5 SUMMARYOFLITERATUREREVIEW.......................................................................................................11

3 RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY.....................................................................12

3.1 RESEARCHMETHODOLOGYANDPARADIGM............................................................................................123.2 RESEARCHDESIGN.............................................................................................................................123.3 POPULATIONANDSAMPLE...................................................................................................................12

POPULATION.........................................................................................................................................12 SAMPLEANDSAMPLINGMETHOD..............................................................................................................13

3.4 THERESEARCHINSTRUMENT................................................................................................................133.5 PROCEDUREFORDATACOLLECTION.......................................................................................................133.6 DATAANALYSISANDINTERPRETATION...................................................................................................133.7 VALIDITYANDRELIABILITY....................................................................................................................14

EXTERNALVALIDITY.................................................................................................................................14 INTERNALVALIDITY.................................................................................................................................14 RELIABILITY...........................................................................................................................................15 GENERALIZABILITY..................................................................................................................................15

3.8 ETHICALCONCERN..............................................................................................................................163.9 CONTRIBUTIONSANDLIMITATIONSOFTHESTUDY....................................................................................16

4 RESEARCHPLANNING.............................................................................17

4.1 TIME-TABLE......................................................................................................................................174.2 CONSISTENCYMATRIX.........................................................................................................................18

Team4:FactorsInfluencingChineseConsumerMarketTrends:AsurveyresearchintoGuangzhouconsumermarket ii

5 REFERENCES...........................................................................................19

6 APPENDICES...........................................................................................25

6.1 APPENDIXA......................................................................................................................................256.2 APPENDIXB......................................................................................................................................28

Team4:FactorsInfluencingChineseConsumerMarketTrends:AsurveyresearchintoGuangzhouconsumermarket iii

LISTOFTABLES

Table1IndependentVariablesandMeaning.........................................................................................8

Table2:Time-planforcompletionofresearchreportbyTeam4........................................................17

Table3:Consistencymatrix..................................................................................................................18

LISTOFFIGURES

Figure1:Conceptualmodel(authors’conceptualization)......................................................................8

Team4:FactorsInfluencingChineseConsumerMarketTrends:AsurveyresearchintoGuangzhouconsumermarket4

1 INTRODUCTION

AsChinaisgettingmoredevelopedandbecomesmorematureinitsmarketeconomy(Chow,2015,p.

381), Chinese consumers’ spending behaviour is changing as rapidly as the speed of the country’s

economicgrowth(Crabbe,2013).Ontheotherhand,inordertopursuemoresustainableeconomic

growth, the Chinese government which under the leadership of new president Xi Jinping ‘‘has

reaffirmed its determination to shifts away from the investment and export toward a more

consumption-driveneconomy’’(SteinbergHKC,2013).Moreover,itisnotedthatChinaisexpectedto

surpasstheUnitedStatesastheworld’slargestconsumermarketby2018(FungBusinessIntelligence

Centre, 2013). Understanding the changing consumer market trends which drive the consumer

spending behaviour has become crucial for company success (Oakes, n.d.). This study provides a

perspectiveonwhere,whatandhowChineseconsumersarespending,inwhichthestudywilltakea

closer look at Guangzhou consumer market to identify the significant factors which affecting the

consumermarkettrends.

1.1 Purposeofthestudy

ByunderstandingthefactorswhichaffecttheChineseconsumermarkettrends,itcanrevealcertain

the shifting consumerbehaviour in today’smarketplace. Therefore, thepurposeof the study is to

investigatethemainfactorswhichaffectingtheChineseconsumermarkettrends.Morespecifically,

thisstudywillfocusonGuangzhouconsumermarkettodeterminetheinfluencingfactors.Ultimately,

attempting to provide an up-to-date overview and analysis of the Chinese consumer market for

companiestomeetthespecificneedsoftheChineseconsumer.

1.2 Contextofthestudy/demarcation

ThisstudyfocusesonidentifythesignificantfactorswhichaffecttheChineseconsumermarkettrends.

TheresearchwillbeconductedinGuangzhou,acapitalcityofGuangdongprovince,asithasbecome

amajorfinancialandcommercialcentreinsouthernChina,butalsooccupyasignificantpositioninthe

entirecountry(HKTDC,2015).


1.3 Problemdefinition

AsChineseconsumermarkettrendsarechangingrapidly,itisextremelyhardforbusinesstokeepup

(Accenture, n.d.). Business is eagerly looking for ways to embrace changing consumer landscape.

Therefore,gainingtheknowledgeregardingtheinfluencingfactors isvitalforthebusinessdecision

making. This study is initiated in order to investigate the significant factors which influencing the

Chineseconsumermarkettrends,togainanewinsightintothemarketplaceoftheChineseconsumer.

1.4 Significanceofthestudy

Research on the trends of Chinese consumer has been conducted numerous times. The previous

studies have examined the changing dynamics of the consumermarket in China and highlight the

changing consumer spending behaviours. However, the consumer market is changing over time.

Gaininglatestinformationoncustomermarkettrendsisimportantforthebusinesssuccess.Thisstudy

providesnew insights into thechangingconsumermarket forcompany toengagemoreeffectively

withtheirChinesecustomer.

1.5 Unitofanalysis

Middle income households and young generation occupy a significant position in the Chinese

consumer market (Bouee, 2012). Therefore, this study will focus on these two target group to

determinetheinfluencingfactors.Specifically,theunitsofanalysisareasfollowing:

• ThemiddleincomehouseholdswithanannuallyhouseholddisposableincomeofCNY60,000toCNY229,000.

• Theyounggenerationwhoarebetween18and35yearsofage.

1.6 HypothesisorProposition

Basedonthepreviousstudies,therearethreehypothesizeswillbeconductedinthisstudy:

Hypothesis 1: the young generation will positively impact the Chinese consumer market

trends.

Hypothesis2:therisingmiddle-incomehouseholdhasasignificantpositiveinfluenceonthe

Chineseconsumermarkettrends.


Hypothesis3:e-commercehasapositiveinfluenceonChineseconsumermarkettrends.

1.7 Definitionofterms

Consumption–isthevalueofgoodsandservicesboughtbypeople(Banerjee&Shivani,2011).

ConsumerSpending - isan importanteconomic factorbecause itusuallycoincideswith theoverall

consumerconfidenceinanation’seconomy(Vitez,n.d.).

Consumermarket-consumermarketreferstoamarketwherethesellersellstheproductforaprimary

reasonofmakingprofitswhile thebuyerbuys theproducts forpersonaluse (Businessmarketand

Consumermarket,n.d.).

Consumptionpattern-isthewayelementsofconsumptionarecombinedtoformlevelofconsumption

asawhole(ConsumptionPatternandExpenditure,2009).

Householdfinalconsumptionexpenditure(formerlyprivateconsumption)-isthemarketvalueofall

goodsandservices,includingdurableproducts,purchasedbyhouseholds(TheWorldBank,2014).


2 LITERATUREREVIEW

2.1 Introduction

Inrecentyears,anumberofpreviousstudieshaveidentifiedthefactorswhichinfluencingtheChinese

consumermarkettrends.Somestudiesintherelevantliteraturehavefoundaseriesofmajorchanges

whichareemergingintheChineseconsumermarket.

Accordingtoa2013studybyChina-BritianBusinessCouncil(2013,p.10),“withgrowingpurchasing

power and more Western brand preferences, Chinese middle income consumer are become an

obvioustargetmarketforbusiness”.Moreover,Bouee(2012)foundthatoneofthemajorconsumer

grouphasemergedfromtheyoungconsumerwhoborninthe1980sand1990s.Heemphasizedthat

consumersagedbetween25and34yearsarethemostactivebuyerscomparewithotheragegroup.

Furthermore,Hongbing, adirectorofAliresearch, argued that “ecommerce is transformingChina’s

Marketplace,ithasbecomeanemergingshoppingchannelinChina”(BCG,2015).Besides,Helenhas

forecasted five Chinese consumer trends in 2012, which are: Value Seekers, Sophisticated High

Earners,LoyalBrandEnjoyersandPragmaticMasses(Wang,2012).

2.2 Definitionoftopicorbackgrounddiscussion.

Thetermconsumermarkettrendsrefertothechangeswithinthemarket(Oakes,n.d.).Basedonthe

previousstudies,younggenerationconsumerandmiddleincomeconsumer,aswellase-commerce

havebeenidentifiedassignificantfactorsdrivingtheChineseconsumermarkettransformation.This

studyaimstoprovideaperspectiveontheChineseconsumermarket,inwhichthisstudywilltakea

closerlookatthesethreeinfluencingfactors.

Moreover,thisstudywillfocusonGuangzhou,whichhasmentionedin1.2.AccordingtoeChinacities

(2013), “Guangzhou’seconomyhas rapidly climbed,with the city’sGDP increasingbybillionseach

year”.In2015,GuangzhouGDPhit1.81trillion,representinganincreaseof8.4%(GuangzhouDaily,

2016),hascaughtupwithSingaporeandHongKong(Du,2016).BasedonHKTDC(2015),Guangzhou

hasappearedtobeacrucialfinancialandcommercialcentreofChina,andplayingasignificantrolein

theentirecountry.Thetotalretailsalesofconsumergoodsgrew12.5%toCNY769.8billionin2014,

accountingfor26.8oftheprovincialtotal(HKTDC,2015).Furthermore,basedon2013figuresfrom

IPEXresearch,Guangzhouranksthirdamongtop30majorcitiesofChinaintermofthesizeofthe

consumermarketwithahighlevelofspendingpower(IPEX,2015).


2.3 Conceptualmodel/theoreticalframework

Figure1:Conceptualmodel(Kuo,2016;Bouee,2012;BCG,2015)

Aftercompletingtheliteraturereview,theconceptualmodeliscreatedtodeterminetherelationship

among the different variable. Based upon the conceptual model, consumer market trends are

identified as InterveningVariable. Itwill bedrivenby the generational, income level, aswell as e-

commercewhich are presented in figure 1 the first arrow (Independent Variable), and eventually

influencethespendingbehaviorsofChineseconsumer.

Table1IndependentVariablesandMeaning

Independentvariables Meanings

Generation Younggeneration “Peoplewhoborninthe1980sand1990sandnowreachedtheirtwentiesandthirties”(Bouee,2012,p.4)

Incomelevel Middleincomehousehold “Chinesemiddleincomeconsumer’asthosewithahouseholddisposableincomeofCNY60,000toCNY229,000ayear”(Barton,2013,p.3)


E-commerce “E-commerceisthebuyingandsellingofgoodsandservices,orthetransmittingoffundsordata,overanelectronicnetwork,primarilytheInternet.Thesebusinesstransactionsoccureitherbusiness-to-business,business-to-consumer,consumer-to-consumerorconsumer-to-business.”(Nelson&vanKetel,n.d.)

2.4 Firstsub-problemdiscussionheading

Newgeneration

AccordingtoBouee(2012,p.4),“amajorconsumergrouphasemergedfromthegenerationofChinese

borninthe1980sand1990swhohavenowreachedtheirtwentiesandthirties.”Inthiscontext,Boston

consultinggrouparguedthat“anabilitytoattractayoungerdemographicwillincreasespellsuccess

or failure for companies selling into China” (Brennan, 2015). Moreover, consumption by this

generationisgrowingatmorethan20%annually,hasbeenamaindriver intheChineseconsumer

market.

Theenvironmentandtheperiodinwhichtheygrewuparecompletelydifferentfromtheirparentand

grandparent.TheywerebornunderChina’sone-childpolicy,andgrewupinaperiodofChinesereform

andopeningup. Inotherwords, theynotonly lived inanabundantenvironmentbutalsoenjoyed

material prosperity. Consequently, they have different spending patterns from older generations.

(Bouee,2012;Seok,2013)

RecentempiricalresearchbyBouee(2012)hasalsoshownthatpeopleagedbetween25and35years

arethemostactiveconsumers intheChineseconsumermarket.Mostofthemareabletoachieve

their financial independenceandhaveanoptimisticperceptionofspending.Moreover, theyspend

moreratherthanotherconsumergroups.BasedonresearchbyKuo(2016),theconsumptionofthis

groupofconsumersisincreasingatanannualrateof14%,whicharetwiceasmuchasforconsumers

thatareolderthan35yearsold.Thus:

Hypothesis1:theyounggenerationwillpositivelyimpacttheChineseconsumermarkettrends.


Growingmiddle-incomehousehold

Thereisamultitudeofstudiesthatfallintothisconsumergroupinvestigatetheirchanginglifestyles

andbehaviours.BaseonthestudybyBarton(2013),heestimatedthatthenumberofChinesemiddle

classhouseholdandtheannualprivateconsumptionwillreach630millionand$6.5trillionrespectively

by 2022,which represents over 45% of entire population of China and 81% of total consumption

growthduringthatperiod.Healsohasdefined‘Chinesemiddleincomeconsumer’as“thosewitha

householddisposableincomeofCNY60,000toCNY229,000ayear”(2013,p.2).Furthermore,Credit

Suissearguedthatthe“China’smiddleclassisnowthelargestintheworld,andgrowingmuchfaster

thanAmerican’s”(Yan,2014).ThemiddleclasshasbecomedrivingforcebehindtheChineseeconomy.

Moreover, Hefele and Dittich (2011) add that “with growing prosperity, consumption patterns

amongstthemiddleclasseshavechangedmarkedlyandnowresemblemuchmorecloselythoseof

theWest.”Inaddition,incomparisontothelowincomeconsumer,themiddleincomeconsumerhas

ahigherlevelofproductpreferenceratherthanbrandpreference.Thus:

Hypothesis2:therisingmiddle-incomehouseholdhasasignificantpositiveinfluenceontheChinese

consumermarkettrends.

Growthofe-commerce

Chinae-commercehasattractedsignificantresearchinterestformorethan10years.Accordingtothe

reportbyChinaInternetNetworkInformationCentre(CNNIC),ChinahasoutpacedtheUnitedStates

inbecomingtheworld’slargestdigitalretailmarketin2014,withe-commercerevenuegrossedCNY

2.79billion($439million),represented7%ofthecountry’sGDP(Hall,2015).Meanwhile,thenumber

ofInternet-savvyconsumershasreached361millionin2015,accountingfor55.7%ofthecountry’s

shoppers.Moreover,Dobbs(2013)predictedthattheonlinesaleswillachievemorethan$650billion

by2020.

Inthiscontext,Bouee(2012,p.15-16)arguedthat“onlineshoppingprovidesconsumerwith

many replaceable and complementary categories, creating and encouraging spontaneous

shoppingdemandandappealingtoconsumers’delightinpickingproducts,comparedtoother

channelsonlineshoppingisthemostactivechannel”.

In addition, as the rapid growth of E-commerce in China, the consumermarketplace has changed

dramatically.Empirically,Gao(2015)foundoutthat“e-commerceactuallystimulatesnewdemandin

Chinabyfillingmanyneedsthatarenotbeingmetbybrick-and-mortarstores”.Thisopensupbusiness


opportunitiesforretailersandbrandswhowanttoentertheChinesee-commercemarket(Blanchard,

n.d).Thus:

Hypothesis3:e-commercehasapositiveinfluenceonChineseconsumermarkettrends.

2.5 SummaryofLiteratureReview

Chineseconsumermarkethasattractedsignificantresearchinterestforalongtime.Threesignificant

influencingfactorswhichdrivingconsumermarkettrendshavebeenhighlightedbypreviousstudies.

Severalstudiesbelievethatthereisahugepotentialfromtheconsumerswhobornin1980sand1990s.

Furthermore,anumberofpreviousstudiesindicatedthatmiddleincomehouseholdshavebecomea

majorconsumingforceofChina.Moreover,theliteraturearguedthate-commercehasdevelopedinto

anemergingshoppingchannel(Bouee,2012).Ontheotherhand,aconceptualmodelhasbeencreated

based on the literature review. Whilst, three different hypothesis tests are developed by the

researcherregardingthesethreeinfluencingfactorsandwillbetestedwithresearch.


3 RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

3.1 Researchmethodologyandparadigm

Thepositivistresearchapproachistakeninthisresearch,where“usingscientificmethodandlanguage

toinvestigateandwriteabouthumanexperienceissupposedtokeeptheresearchfreeofthevalues,

passions,politicsand ideologyof the researcher” (Ryan,2006,p.13).The researchers’biascanbe

avoidedunder this approach toensure impartiality in the collectionandanalysisof researchdata.

Moreover,thequantitativemethodswillbeusedintheresearch,asthisresearchisaimstoquantify

theattitudes,opinions,aswellasthebehaviourstogeneralizeresultsfromGuangzhouconsumer.

3.2 ResearchDesign

Thisresearchattemptstoconductan impartialscientificstudytodeterminethe influencingfactors

whichdrivingtheChineseconsumermarkettrends.Keepthat inmind,correlativeresearch ismost

appropriateforthisresearchtodeterminetherelationshipbetweenthedependentandindependent

variables,which hasmentioned in 2.3. Correlative research is considered an effective quantitative

methodofresearchbyusingstatisticaldatatodeterminewhetherthereisarelationshipbetweenor

among the variables (Waters, n.d.). According to Kendra (2015), the correlative research not only

indicatethedirectionofarelationship(positivecorrelations,negativecorrelationsornocorrelation),

butalsomeasurethedegreeoftherelationship(strongorweak).Furthermore,Kwanjai(2016)argued

that “in this type of design, relationships between and among a number of facts are sought and

interpreted”. In addition, Waters (n. d.) added that correlative research is also often used for

prediction,andsuppliesevidencewhichmightsupportorcontradictatheory.However,withthistype

ofdesign,theresearchisnotabletodivedeeperintothespecificconsumergroup,andalsocannot

establishthecauseandeffect.

3.3 Populationandsample

Population

Thepopulationofthisstudyconsistof12.7millionpermanentresidentsinGuangzhou.


Sampleandsamplingmethod

Sincegiventhelargepopulationsizeofapproximate12.7million,then = ($% & ' ()*+

)-willbeused

todeterminethesamplesizeinthisresearch(Keller,2008,p.411).Theresearcherssupposethatthe

respondratetothesurveyis20%,whichmeanstheapproximatevalueof(P)=0.2.Accordingtothe

formula, samplesizeof6,150willbeenoughtodrawstatistically significantconclusionsabout this

population,with5%significancelevel.Theappropriatesamplingmethodinthisresearchisprobability

samplingintheformofsimplerandomsample,whichensurethateachmemberofthepopulationhas

anequalchanceofbeingselected(SamplingMethods,n.d.).

3.4 Theresearchinstrument

Baseontheresearchquestion, researcherchosethesubject-completed instrumenttocollectdata.

Morespecifically,aquestionnairewillbeutilizedtocaptureevaluativedata.Thequestionnaireconsists

ofthreeparts.Thefirstpartcompriseddemographicquestions,suchasage,income,education,and

gender.Thesecondpartfocussesontheconsumerspendingbehaviourintheirdailylife.Thethirdpart

of the questionnaire investigated the consumer behaviour towards online shopping. The detailed

questionnairewillbeshowninAppendixA.

3.5 Procedurefordatacollection

In order to collect more efficient and accurate data, a small research team will be organized in

Guangzhoutoconductthesurvey.Mallinterceptmethodwillbeusedtocollectdatafromthesample

ofconsumer,theshoppingcentrewhicharecoveringfourmajorcommercialdistrictsinGuangzhou

(Tianhe Road commercial district, Zhujiang New Town, Beijing road, and Update Mall). Due to

geographicallocation,theresearchersarenotabletobephysicallypresentatGuangzhou,tenlocal

universitystudentwillbeinvitedtojointheresearchteamtoassistresearcherswithdatacollection.

Ontheotherhand,thesamequestionnairewillbepublishedonlineinordertoobtainmoredata.

3.6 Dataanalysisandinterpretation

Thedescriptivestatisticstoolwillbeappliedinthisresearchtoprovideaconcisesummaryofdata.As

thetypeofdatainthisresearcharenominalandordinal,thedatawhichcollectfromthesampleof


consumer will be analysed with a z-test, with 5% significance level (Keller, 2008). Moreover, a

scatterplotwillbeusedtodemonstratetherelationshipbetweenthevariables.

Theformulastateas(Keller,2008,p.407):

𝑝 =𝑥𝑛

𝑧 = ')*' ()' ∕4

Thep-valuewhichmatchedthevalueofzonz-tablewillbeusingtocomparewithsignificancelevelto

verifythehypothesis.

InH1,thexmeansthenumberofpeoplewhoseageisbetween18to35,nmeansthetotalnumberof

samplesize.Thevalueofpisassumedbyresearchers,here,p = 0.4.

InH2,thexmeansthenumberofmiddleincomehouseholds,nmeansthetotalnumberofsamplesize.

Thevalueofpisassumedbyresearchers,here,p = 0.1.

InH3,thexmeansthenumberofpeoplespendingononlineshopping,nmeansthetotalamountof

samplesize.Thevalueofpisassumedbyresearchers,here,p = 0.3.

3.7 Validityandreliability

Externalvalidity

Astheentirecountryisnotavailableforthisresearch,Guangzhouwillbetakenasatargetcityforthis

research as Guangzhou has become amajor financial and commercial centre and occupies a key

positioninchina,itcanrepresentthetotalpopulationchina.Moreover,theresearchwillbeconducted

byasurveywhichenabletomaximizetheexternalvalidity.

Internalvalidity

Due to the limitation of quantitative research, the results of this research lack of support from

documented measurement validity, hence, “when it is claimed, is always an estimate” (Benz &

Newman,n.d.,p.39).Moreover,Markarguedthat“allquantitativeresearchmethodsaresubjectto

biasanderror”(Caputi&Balnaves,n.d.,p.33).Thebehaviourofthedatacollectorandtheirbiasare


themainconfoundingfactorsinthisresearch.Inordertoavoidconfoundsandmaximisetheinternal

validityintheresearch,thesurveyanddatacollectionprocessactivitieswillbestandardizedbythe

researcher.Moreover,theresearcherwillberesponsibleforkeepingthewholeprocessontrackand

monitoringpersonal.

Reliability

Inordertoensurethereliabilityofthequestionnaire,thepilottestwillbecarriedoutonasmallgroup

ofvolunteers.Afterthat,Cronbach’salphawillbeusedtotestthereliabilityoftheresult.University

ofCalifornia,LosAngeleshasdefinedtheCronbach’salphaas:

“Cronbach'salphaisameasureofinternalconsistency,thatis,howcloselyrelatedasetof

itemsareasagroup.Itisconsideredtobeameasureofscalereliability.A"high"valuefor

alphadoesnotimplythatthemeasureisunidimensional.If,inadditiontomeasuringinternal

consistency, you wish to provide evidence that the scale in question is unidimensional,

additionalanalysescanbeperformed.Exploratoryfactoranalysisisonemethodofchecking

dimensionality.Technicallyspeaking,Cronbach'salphaisnotastatisticaltest-itisacoefficient

ofreliability(orconsistency).”(UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles,n.d.).

Theformulastateas:

α =N ⋅ C

𝑣 + 𝑁 − 1 ⋅ 𝐶

Afterthecalculation,thevalueofαis0.74.Itisenoughofthisleveltoconductanexploratoryresearch

(seeAppendixBforthecompletetable).

Generalizability

According to Horsburgh (2003, p. 311), “in quantitativework generalizability is statistical”. In this

research, the sample size which mentioned in 3.3.2 has been determined at 6,150 by statistical

method,itislargeenoughtoensuretomatchthetotalpopulation.Moreover,simplerandomsample

willbeusedintheGuangzhouregion.Hence,thefindingsfromthistheresearchcanbeassumedthat

itisgeneralizable.


3.8 Ethicalconcern

Inthisresearch,theprivacyofrespondentsshouldbetakenintoaccount.Alltheresearcheranddata

collectorareresponsibleforprotectingrespondents’information.Therefore,thesurveywillbemade

tobe100%anonymous.

3.9 Contributionsandlimitationsofthestudy

The researcher believe that this study contributes to a better understandingof Chinese consumer

market.Thefindingsofthisstudyareexpectedtodeterminetheinfluencefactorswhichaffectingthe

Chineseconsumermarkettrends.Thefindingsprovidemarketingdecisionmakerswithablueprintfor

creatingmarketingstrategythatmeetcustomerneeds.

However, there are a number of limitations which can potentially influence the outcomes of the

research.Thepossiblelimitationsofthisresearchinclude:(1)thetimeconstraintisoneofthemajor

limitationsofthisstudy.Thestudywillbeconductedwithinalimitedperiodoftime,theresearchteam

doesnothaveenoughtimetoconducttheresearchwithanenormoussamplesize.(2)itisnotableto

drawcausal inferencesonthebasisofcorrelativeresearch.(3)thesamplesizeofthisstudycanbe

improvedtoincreasethevalidity.(4)therespondentsmaynotbewillingtorevealtoomuchpersonal

information.(5)thisresearchonlyfocusonyoungerpopulationandmiddleincomehouseholds,the

otherconsumergroupsshouldnotbeoverlygeneralized.


4 RESEARCHPLANNING

4.1 Time-table

Table2:Time-planforcompletionofresearchreportbyTeam4

Activity Week1

Week2

Week3

Week4

Week5

Week6

Week7

Week8

Week9

Week10

Proposalpresentationanddefence

Yang&Xie

Proposalapproval Yang&Xie

Conductingquantitativeresearch

Yang&Xie

Questionnairequestionsfinalized

Yang&Xie

Questionnairecompletion

Yang,Xie&researchteam

Dataanalysisandstatisticalresults

Yang&Xie

Revisefinalreport Yang&Xie

Submitfinalreport Yang&Xie

Finalpresentation Yang&Xie


4.2 Consistencymatrix

Table3:Consistencymatrix

Researchproblemstatedhere

Sub-problem LiteratureReview HypothesesorPropositionsor

Researchquestions

Sourceofdata Typeofdata Analysis

Younggeneration • Brennan,2015

• Bouee,2012

• Kuo,2016

H1:theyoung

generationwill

positively

impactthe

Chinese

consumer

markettrends.

Questionnairesurvey

Bothnominalandordinal

Usingz-testandestimatorofp-valuetoanalysistheresultofresearch

Middleincomehouseholds

• Baron,n.d

• Dominic,2013

• Suisse,n.d

• Yan,2014

• Hefele&Dittich,2011

H2:therising

middle-income

householdhasa

significant

positive

influenceonthe

Chinese

consumer

markettrends.

Questionnairesurvey



E-commerce • Bouee,2012

• Hall,2015

• Dobbesetal.,2013

• Gao,2015

• Blanchard,n.d

H3:e-

commercehasa

positive

influenceon

Chinese

consumer

markettrends.

Questionnairesurvey




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6 APPENDICES

6.1 AppendixA

1. Whatisyourage?

A. 18-23

B. 24-35

C. 36-50

D. above50

2. whatisyourgender?

A. Male

B. Female

3. Whatisyourhighestlevelofeducationyoucompleted?

A. Didnotcompletehighschool

B. Highschool

C. Associatedegree

D. Bachelor’sdegree

E. Master’sdegreeorhigher

4. Whatisthesizeofyourfamily?

A. Single

B. Marriedcouple

C. Marriedcouplewithchildren

5. Whatwouldyousayisyourhouseholdannuallyincome?

A. 60,000-79,999CNY

B. 80,000-99,999CNY

C. 100,000-119,999CNY

D. Above120,000CNY

E. Idon’twanttosay


6. Howmuchofyouraveragemonthlyexpenditure(excludingtherent)?

A. 1,000-1,999CNY

B. 2,000-2,999CNY

C. 3,000-3,999CNY

D. 4,000-4,999CNY

E. Above5,000CNY

7. Whatitemsdoyouspendmostofyourmoney(multiplechoice)?

A. Food

B. Commodity

C. Clothing

D. Skincareproducts

E. Luxurygoods

F. Electronicdevice

G. Other

8. Whatisyourmainchannelusedtoreceivedproductinformation?

A. Peergroups’recommendation

B. Storefront/displaywindow

C. Magazines

D. Entertainmentnews

E. TVcommercials

F. E-commercewebsites

G. UserevaluationontheInternet

9. Doyouspendmoreonitemsorexperiences?

A. Items

B. Experience

10. Howmuchimportancedoyougivetoeachoftheseparametersonascaleof1to5beforeyoupurchasing?

Price 1 2 3 4 5


Brand 1 2 3 4 5

Quality 1 2 3 4 5

Comfort 1 2 3 4 5

Style 1 2 3 4 5

11. Whichoneyouprefertoshop?

A. Shoppinginastore

B. ShoppingOnline

12. Typically,howoftenwouldyoubuygoodsorservicesonline?

A. Daily

B. Severaltimeperweek

C. Severaltimepermonth

D. Lessfrequently

E. Never

13. Whattypesofproductdoyouprefertoshoponline?

A. Food

B. Commodity

C. Clothing

D. Skincareproducts

E. Luxurygoods

F. Electronicdevice

G. Other

14. Whatisyourmonthlyspendingonline?

A. Below499CNY

B. 5,00-1,499CNY

C. 1,500-2,499CNY

D. 2,500-3,499CNY

E. 3,500-4,499CNY

F. Above4,500CNY


15. Whatisyourmainconcernwhenyoupurchaseonline?

A. Price

B. Quality

C. Aftersaleservice

D. Deliverytime

E. Paymentsecurity

F. Paymentmethod

G. Other

16. Whichplatformdoyouusethemostforonlineshopping

A. Taobao

B. Amazon

C. Dangdang

D. Jinddong

E. Other

6.2 AppendixB

Item1 Item2 Item3 Item4 Item5 SumRecord

15.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 5.00 22.00

Record2

4.00 4.00 4.00 5.00 3.00 19.00

Record3

4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 19.00

Record4

4.00 3.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 14.00

Record5

4.00 4.00 5.00 4.00 5.00 19.00

Record6

4.00 5.00 5.00 3.00 4.00 19.00

Record7

4.00 5.00 5.00 4.00 4.00 19.00

Record8

5.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 17.00

Record9

5.00 5.00 4.00 3.00 4.00 19.00

Variance 0.25 0.44 0.28 0.36 0.50 4.53


Documents

Research Proposal Team 4, Final Version