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Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the marketing opportunities for after-school educational services in the Chinese context by examining children's perceptions of intelligence using visual methodology.


Design/methodology/approach
Altogether 30 Chinese children aged 9–12 studying in grades four to six were asked to draw what comes to mind for two statements: "This is an intelligent child" and "This is a child of average intelligence." After doing the drawings, the children were interviewed face-to-face to answer questions about the personalities and social relationships of the children depicted in the two drawings that they had produced.


Findings
A child described as intelligent was imagined wearing glasses, studying hard and obtaining excellent academic results. A child described as of average intelligence was imagined as having many friends, playing a lot and experiencing tension with parents over studies. Participants had a restrictive view of intelligence and associated intelligence with academic success. They endorsed both a growth mindset and a fixed mindset of intelligence. On the one hand, they endorsed a growth mindset of intelligence as they associated intelligence with personal efforts and practices. On the other hand, participants endorsed a fixed mindset of intelligence as they tended to avoid challenges and appeared to be threatened by the success of others. Participants imagined that an intelligent child would experience poor relationships with friends.


Research limitations/implications
The findings were based on a nonprobability small sample. The study did not investigate the socialization process of such perceptions.


Practical implications
Educational services and nonschool activity service providers can position themselves as agents to help students develop meta-analytical skills in embracing challenging tasks. Marketers can develop courses and learning materials that teach children different learning strategies. They can use incentives to encourage persistence and resilience in meeting challenges. This study uncovered the emotional and social needs of intelligent children. A new market segment was identified that targets children with high intelligence. Educational service providers can design curricula and activities to support high-performing children in developing empathy and good communication skills. Educators can assist those who perform well academically to nurture genuine friendships and improve social relations with peers.


Social implications
The prevalence of the private tutoring industry in the Chinese context may introduce educational disparity, as families with low resources will not be able to afford these services. Nonprofit organizations can provide similar educational services at a low cost to bridge the gap. The narrow view of intelligence expressed by participants, and their lack of awareness of the wide range of types of intelligence, indicates that education service providers can develop the confidence of a child with average intelligence through appreciation of his or her unique talents beyond academic achievements.


Originality/value
This study explores attributes associated with intelligence among Chinese children using an innovative visual method. The marketing implications can apply to other societies where the after-school tuition market is prevalent.

Presents research into materialistic values among Chinese children, in the context of Chinese culture and rapid economic growth, contrasting materialistic values with both communistic and Confucian values. Reviews the literature, which shows that children understand the concepts of possession and value from a very young age, and also shows the importance of collectivist values in Chinese advertising. Outlines the research method, which involved interviews with 15 students at a Beijing elementary school, and asked them to respond to pictures of children with and without new and expensive toys and games. Finds that there was a surprising negative attitudes to possessions: children with fewer possessions were perceived to have more friends, whereas those with lots of "cool stuff" would look down on other children; this type of attitude was present even among the younger children, who were naturally more egocentric, and other negative attitudes were that owning lots of toys was wasteful and would have an adverse effect on academic achievement. Concludes that Chinese society and parents both appear to discourage materialistic values, and makes suggestions for further research and for marketing campaigns.

Discusses the factors that determine a child's sense of materialism, and how this can be measured, based on face‐to‐face interviews with 246 children to measure their responses to 14 items; the background to the study is a concern that advertising may influence children to steal in order to buy advertised products. Reviews the literature relating to consumer socialisation, which shows that children understand the concept of possession and value it from a very young age. Concludes that Hong Kong Chinese children do not endorse strongly materialistic values; younger children were more materialistic than older children, and, contrary to the research literature, the current study found no gender difference in materialistic values. Finds also that mere exposure to television advertising and programmes does not contribute to greater materialism.

Tests the agenda-setting hypothesis for the environmental issue in Hong Kong, 1983-1995, based on a content analysis of 1,134 environmental items published in 3 prominent newspapers & secondary analysis of results of 61 representative opinion polls. Findings support the agenda-setting hypothesis for the initial period of 5.5 years. In the subsequent period (7.5 years), despite the increased media coverage of the issues, there was a significant drop in the perceived salience of the environmental problem, which may be attributed to the dilution of public attention as a result of diversity in the news agenda & reporting of local environmental problems as "soft" news. It was also found that the environmental issue failed to compete with other prominent issues directly affecting the public. The mass media played a much less important role in keeping the environmental issue on the public agenda at the later stage. 3 Tables, 2 Figures, 34 References. Adapted from the source document.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the common attributes of brick-and-mortar retail shops liked by young adults in the digitalized retail context. The 7Ps of the marketing mix were used as a framework to shed insights for marketing strategies.


Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study using personal interviews was designed. A convenience sample of 24 young adults from 20 to 22 years of age was asked to take photos, showing the exterior and interior of their favorite shop in Hong Kong. They were interviewed face to face to explain why they like these shops. Other information about the shopping context, including frequency of visits and whether shopping alone or with friends, was collected.


Findings
The favorite shops of young adults are clothing retailers and stores for snacks. Attributes of favorite shops include stylish product design, variety of choices, cozy physical environment, technology-assisted shopping process and customer-friendly return policy. Young adults seek taste and artistic presentation in consumption. Self-expression and social communication of consumption play a major role in retail brand love.


Research limitations/implications
The sample size of this study was small and may not be generalizable to populations of different socioeconomic status. A quantitative survey can be conducted to further examine the topic.


Practical implications
This study deepens the understanding of how young adults perceive product, store and process attributes of shops that are related to retail brand love. Tangible qualities such as product and physical space played a more important role than intangible attributes such as friendly frontline or sales staff. The results imply that retailers need to pay attention to a shop's product offering, interior design, as well as develop a seamless integration of online and offline shopping processes to engage customers.


Originality/value
There are very few studies of young consumers and retail brand love using qualitative methods. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of young consumers' perception of the retail stores that they love in the digitalized retail landscape.