Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- Sources of technology-related information: based on recommendation from KOLs and value ‘double check’
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- Figure 4: Impacts of KOLs, by city tier, September 2020
- Purchase channels for technology products: expect to understand and experience ‘technology value’
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- Figure 5: Purchase channels of large home appliances, by city tier, August 2020
- Needs for choosing technology products: huge gap between higher-end and lower-end products, while configuration becomes more perceivable
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- Figure 6: Purchase influencers of large home appliances, by city tier, August 2020
- Impressions of technology brands: the opportunity for brands to make consumers differentiate them from others lies in social value
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- Figure 7: Price acceptance, by city tier, February 2020
- Consumption of smart home devices: desire quality of life to be improved by technology
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- Figure 8: Purchase drivers of smart home devices, by city tier, September 2020
- What we think
Introduction to Lower Tier Cities in China
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- Population and spending power
- Spending by tier three or lower cities increases and takes a larger share
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- Figure 9: City populations and sales, by city tier, end of 2018
- Per capita disposable income and spending power grows
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- Figure 10: Per capita salary vs per capita retail sales, by city tier, 2018
- Spending confidence since the COVID-19 outbreak
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- Figure 11: GDP sector compositions, by city tier, 2018
- Figure 12: Changes in financial status, percentage of respondents claiming they are ‘better off’, by city tier, April-November 2020
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- Figure 13: Confidence in improving future finances, very confident/somewhat confident, by city tier, April-November 2020
- Demographic profile/analysis
- Gaps between city tiers narrowing in both economic and educational respects
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- Figure 14: Educational level of surveyed respondents, 2017-June 2020
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- Figure 15: Car ownership and gym membership, by city tier, 2017-June 2020
- Offline experience of technology products
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- Figure 16: Experience marketing, by city tier, September 2020
Sources of Technology-related Information: Base on Recommendation from KOLs and Value ‘Double Check’
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- What difference does quantitative data suggest?
- Following WeChat, short video platforms become another key touchpoint to acquire technology-related information
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- Figure 17: Platforms of engagement, by city tier, September 2020
- Expecting multi-dimensional product interpretation brought by KOLs
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- Figure 18: Impacts of technology KOLs, by city tier, September 2020
- What explanation does qualitative research suggest?
- Appealingness only comes with posh professionalism
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- Figure 19: Interview extracts regarding KOLs’ recommendation approaches
- Purchase decision depends on ‘double check’
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- Figure 20: Interview extracts regarding technology products information sources
- What it means for brands?
- ‘Mind blowing’ technology concepts can help build innovative brand image
- Case study: rollable concept phone launched by OPPO on OPPO INNO DAY
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- Figure 21: OPPO X 2021 concept phone, 2020
- Case study: ‘dog face recognition’ technology shows ‘a sense of technology’ in applicational scenarios
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- Figure 22: ‘Pet nose recognition’ technology, 2020
Purchase Channels for Technology Products: Expect to Understand and Experience ‘Technology Value’
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- What difference does quantitative data suggest?
- No clear preference in channels, while campaigns and services are drivers
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- Figure 23: Purchase channels of large home appliances, by city tier, August 2020
- Over half of consumers embrace purchasing online after ‘checking’ offline
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- Figure 24: Online shopping preference, by city tier, March 2020
- What explanation does qualitative research suggest?
- ‘Highlighting technology value’ is becoming the selling point to drive purchase
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- Figure 25: Interview extracts regarding offline purchase of technology products
- Over expectation might be the reason for ‘high unsatisfactory rate’ of technology products bought online
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- Figure 26: Interview extracts regarding online purchase of technology products
- Offline technology product stores in lower tier cities
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- Figure 27: Offline technology products stores in Liuzhou and Zhanjiang
- What it means for brands?
- New O2O experience-oriented stores are becoming effective retailing format to enhance customer conversion rate
- Case study: Tmall Global offline experience store in Qin Cheng Li mall
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- Figure 28: ‘Miracle general store’ event held in Tmall Global store in Qin Cheng Li mall, 2020
- Case study: in-depth experience event held by Beijing Hyundai Encino
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- Figure 29: Beijing Hyundai Encino Iron Man edition experience area, 2019
Needs for Choosing Technology Products: Huge Gap between Higher-end and Lower-end Products, While Configuration Becomes More Perceivable
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- What difference does quantitative data suggest?
- More attention paid to performance and configuration, instead of countries of origin
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- Figure 30: Purchase influencers of large home appliances, by city tier, August 2020
- Only smart and multi-functional large home appliances are the ‘premium’ ones
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- Figure 31: The concept of premium, by city tier, August 2020
- What explanation does qualitative research suggest?
- Noticeable gap exists between technology products with higher and lower configuration
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- Figure 32: Interview extracts regarding purchasing technology products with high configuration
- Prioritise configuration, but less willing to pay extra money for premium brands
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- Figure 33: Interview extracts regarding technology products choices
- What it means for brands?
- To cater personalisation demand of ‘trade-off’ and place more focus on product upgrade as well as expansion of connectivity function
- Case study: personalisation of home appliances
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- Figure 34: Samsung TV ‘Your choice to customise your fashion’, 2020
- Case study: interactive cross functions between Mi Watch and Nio NextEV
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- Figure 35: Xiaomi Mi Watch supporting remote control of vehicles, 2020
Impressions of Technology Brands: The Opportunity for Brands to Make Consumers Aware of Brands’ Differences from Others Lies in Social Value
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- What difference does quantitative data suggest?
- Huawei is leading the smart mobile phone market
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- Figure 36: Ownership of smartphones, by city tier, June 2020
- Lower price is no longer the key factor to choose local brands
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- Figure 37: Price acceptance, by city tier, February 2020
- What explanation does qualitative research suggest?
- An impasse: non-perceptible differentiation among technology products
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- Figure 38: Interview extracts regarding non-perceptible difference among technology products
- Social identity weights more than brand identity
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- Figure 39: Interview extracts regarding purchasing domestic brand mobile phones
- What it means for brands?
- To enhance brands’ ‘social value’ and establish brand identity differentiation from others
- Case study: OPPO smart TV puts ‘Colourful China’ into the film
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- Figure 40: OPPO ‘Colourful China’ Commercial, 2020
- Case study: Huawei Cloud’s vision – Charity needs technology; technology needs a warm and cosy environment
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- Figure 41: Huawei Cloud medical healthcare solution, 2020
Consumption of Smart Home Devices: Desire Quality of Life to be Improved by Technology
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- What difference does quantitative data suggest?
- Smart entertainment devices fit the huge consumption demand of at-home leisure
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- Figure 42: Purchase and interest of smart home devices, by city tier, September 2020
- Willing to invest more in smart devices to enjoy better quality of life
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- Figure 43: Purchase drivers of smart home devices, by city tier, September 2020
- What explanation does qualitative research suggest?
- ‘Happiness and touch of fashion’ brought by smart home devices
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- Figure 44: Interview extracts regarding purchase motivations of smart home devices
- Perceptions of technology products: ‘not fully developed’ and ‘not practical’
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- Figure 45: Interview extracts regarding concerns over smart home devices purchase
- Offline smart products experience in Liuzhou
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- Figure 46: Smart products experience in Liuzhou
- What it means for brands?
- Leverage ‘complaints’ properly to resonate and reach a tacit agreement with consumers
- Case study: Xiaomi smart home products shown in Back to the Field
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- Figure 47: Xiaomi – The primary partner of Back to the Field, 2020
- Case study: BMW X2 – ‘to be the best daily car for grocery shopping’
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- Figure 48: BMW’s renovation campaign named Turning Sanyuanli into Sanlitun, 2019
Appendix – Abbreviations
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- Abbreviations
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