Suchergebnisse

Abstract
This study examines how often rural children in Mainland China interact with different types of retail shops, how they learn about new products and services, and their attitudes toward different sources of product information. A survey of 1008 rural children aged from 5 to 13 years, in four Chinese provinces, was conducted in March 2003. Results indicated that rural Chinese children have limited access to various types of retail shops. Rural children perceived personal sources more useful as well as more credible than commercial sources in obtaining information about new products and services. Older children found parents and grandparents less useful and less credible than younger children for new production information. However, older children did not find peers more useful and credible than younger children.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A benchmark study was conducted to examine parents' attitudes in the People's Republic toward advertising & parental mediation of TV viewing. A survey of 1,665 parents of elementary school children aged 6-14 in Beijing, Nanjing, & Chengdu was conducted Dec 2001-Mar 2002. Results indicated Chinese parents hold negative attitudes toward TV advertising in general & children's advertising specifically. The negative attitudes result mainly from the perception that advertising is deceptive & annoying. Parents feel strongly that advertising should be banned on children's programming. Some 98% of parents exercise some control over the content & time of TV viewing. Despite a low level of co-viewing & discussion of TV commercials with children, Chinese parents perceived that they have great influence on their children's attitudes toward advertising. 4 Tables, 43 References. Adapted from the source document.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the banking experiences and awareness of marketing efforts of banks among youth in mainland China.


Design/methodology/approach
Four focus-group interviews were conducted. A convenience sample of 26 participants aged 17 to 20 years was recruited in Laiwu, Shandong, a medium-sized city in China. They were asked to report experiences that could illustrate good and bad banking services. They were also asked to recall bank marketing promotions.


Findings
Participants' perceived service quality of banks was determined by staff attitude, service delivery, physical environment and comparison of user experience. The marketing communication activities they recalled most frequently included product placements, advertising slogans, entertaining commercials and co-branding with online games.


Research limitations/implications
The findings were based on a non-probability sample. The study also did not differentiate between personal experience and indirect experience with family and friends. Similar studies can be conducted in large cities or in rural China to compare banking experiences in different social economic settings. Further studies can be designed using quantitative methodology to measure the importance of various factors in influencing perceptions of service quality. Online banking experience can also be studied in the future.


Practical implications
Banks in China can enhance their competitiveness and brand reputation through raising the professionalism of their front-line staff, improving efficiency and transparency and streamlining the service process. Banks can make contacts with youth through offline and online promotional activities, such as co-branding with popular online games.


Originality/value
This is the first study on banking services among youth conducted in a medium-sized city in China.

This study investigated consumers' attitudes toward advertising by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners, and how attitudes varied among different demographic groups and user experiences in TCM. A survey using quota sampling was conducted. Altogether 1,039 adults aged 20 or above in Hong Kong filled in an online questionnaire in March 2014. Factor analysis found that attitudes toward TCM advertising consisted of four underlying dimensions: information value of TCM advertising; benefits of TCM advertising; confidence in financial aspects of TCM; and doubts about TCM advertising. Consumers' attitudes toward TCM practitioners were in general favorable. Respondents appreciated information value of TCM advertising, but held some skepticism and worries about it. Respondents perceived strongly that advertising by medical professionals would lead to increase in the cost of services. Respondents with TCM consultation experience demonstrated a more positive attitude toward TCM advertising than respondents without TCM experience. Practical implications and limitations were discussed. (149 words)

Looks at attitudes of Chinese adolescents to materialism, including the effect of age on materialism and the influence of family and peers. Outlines the values of Chinese culture: thrift, respect for parents, group orientation, social harmony, good manners, face, and academic achievement; these values could impact both positively and negatively on endorsement of materialistic values. Points out that parental expectations of their children's material success have increased since the one child per family policy. Finds that older adolescents were more materialistic than younger ones, that more materialistic adolescents tended to communicate more with their peers and less with their parents, and that television (which now reaches 92 per cent of households) has no effect because the Chinese government's strict rules about TV programmes' content requires them to reflect traditional values.

Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to examine the effectiveness of advertisements with different female role portrayals in a second-tier city with "first-class opportunities." Chinese girls and women represent a huge market for personal as well as household goods.


Design/methodology/approach
– An experimental study was conducted using a convenience sample of 216 male and female participants aged 17-21 years in Changchun, China. Participants were asked to respond to print advertisements using traditional and modern female images including housewife, cute female, female with classical beauty, sporty, career-minded and neutral (tomboy).


Findings
– Results revealed that female participants responded more favorably toward advertisements using female images than male participants. There was no difference in the responses to the six different female images among both male and female participants.


Research limitations/implications
– Young consumers in China are not sensitive to the different female images used in the print advertisements. Advertisers can, therefore, enjoy flexibility in the selection of female gender roles for advertisements.


Originality/value
– Little is known about how marketers and advertisements can best communicate with young consumers in China using advertisements with different female images. This study fills this literature gap.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the cultivation effects of television advertising viewing on the perceived affluence in society and the materialistic value orientations among adolescents in urban and rural China.Design/methodology/approachThe paper shows that a survey of 646 adolescents aged 11 to 17, in Guangzhou City, and in a rural county of Henan Province, was conducted in 2006. Constructs were measured using established scales.FindingsTelevision advertising viewing demonstrated first‐ and second‐order cultivation effects among urban as well as rural respondents. Heavy television advertising viewers were more likely to have a higher perceived affluence than light television advertising viewers. Heavy television advertising viewers were also more materialistic than light television advertising viewers. When television‐advertising viewing was controlled, urban respondents had a higher perceived affluence, while rural respondents had a higher level of materialism.Research limitations/implicationsStudents in grades 7 and 8 were examined only. A convenient sampling method was adopted. The city selected for the study is highly advanced in terms of economical and advertising development compared with most other Chinese cities.Practical implicationsRural adolescents did not hold strong beliefs about prevalence of affluence in society. Popularity appeal may not be a fruitful marketing communication strategy for durable goods for them. Different marketing communication strategies should be adopted for the urban and rural adolescents as target audience.Originality/valueThe paper is a pioneer work on the study of consumption values of adolescents in urban and rural China.

Examines how much attention urban mainland Chinese children pay to television commercials, their response to different types of commercials, and their perceptions of the quality of advertised and non‐advertised brands. Classifies the types of commercials seen as funny, animated, public service, celebrity endorsements, and those that increase knowledge, and relates these types to the four age groups of the children studied. Concludes that children pay a decreasing amount of attention to commercials as they get older, and that the link between liking a commercial and impulse buying of its product also lessens; confidence in advertised brands does not increase with age, but confidence in non‐advertised brands decreases with age.

Purpose
This paper aims to understand the importance of young female consumers in Asia as a market and propose strategies for retail marketers to effectively engage with them while respecting their evolving gender roles and identities.


Design/methodology/approach
Data are derived from self-administered questionnaires completed by Malaysian female secondary school students aged 13 to 19. Using statements about gender roles and identities, the authors first segment respondents based on their perceptions of ideal female gender roles and identities and subsequently investigate each segment's shopping orientation.


Findings
This study identifies four segments of young female consumers based on gender identity: civic intellectuals, presentable intellectuals, career-oriented and family-oriented. While young female young consumers with higher presentable intellectual traits are more likely to go window shopping (recreational shoppers), those with higher civic intellectual traits are more inclined to look for things they wish to buy and spend less time doing so (utilitarian shoppers).


Practical implications
Marketers and retailers should continue to use profiling of young female customers to predict the psychological changes related to societal and economic changes. Merely focusing on females' appearance and family responsibilities may no longer be relevant due to the evolving social order. This implication is especially critical for marketers and retailers targeting the female market.


Originality/value
The results of this study will have important theoretical and managerial implications for marketers and retailers interested in understanding the changing needs and beliefs among young female consumers and how these impacts their shopping orientation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore snacking behavior and perspectives on healthy and unhealthy food choices among adolescents in Mainland China.Design/methodology/approachFour focus-group interviews were conducted. Altogether 24 participants were recruited in Changsha, a second-tier city in China, through a convenience sampling process. They were asked to report their snacking behaviors, identify whether certain snacks are healthy or unhealthy and elaborate on factors affecting food choices.FindingsSnacking was prevalent among the participants. The most frequently consumed snacks included fruit, milk and instant noodles. Participants' evaluations for the healthiness of foods were based on the actual nutritional values of those foods, the effects on growth and body weight and word-of-mouth. Choice of snack was driven mainly by taste, image, convenience and health consciousness.Research limitations/implicationsThe finding was based on a non-probability sample. The paper also did not explore the contexts where snacks were consumed.Practical implicationsParents can make healthy snacks more accessible at home and at schools. Educators can teach adolescents how to read food labels. Schools can increase the availability of healthy snacks on campus. Social marketers can promote healthy snacks by associating them with fun and high taste.Originality/valueThis is the first paper on snacking behaviors among adolescents conducted in a second-tier city in China using focus-group methodology.

PurposeA qualitative study by autovideography was conducted to examine adolescent girls' negotiation of their gender roles through the consumption of advertising images. This paper aims to document the study.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 20 adolescent girls aged 15 to 18 in Hong Kong were asked to take pictures from the media that could illustrate "what girls or women should or should not be and what girls or women should or should not do". Advertising images captured by the interviewees and their interpretations of those images were analyzed.FindingsSeven dominant themes were isolated from the interpretations: appearance; personality; skills and work; activities, interests and lifestyle; family; health and safety; and caring for people and the environment. The findings show that adolescent girls pay much attention to images about slimming, body image and physical appearance. They criticized female images in ads as unrealistic but identified with female images that were natural and conventional.Research limitations/implicationsThe interviewees were recruited from two secondary schools that may not have been representative. The interviews were conducted in English, which may have caused some of the participants to be reticent about presenting their viewpoints. The implications represent a step forward in relation to how media influence young consumers and how teenagers perceive and intercept what they see in the media.Originality/valueThe paper shows that collecting and interpreting female visual images can illustrate vividly the process of gender socialization.

PurposeThis article aims to examine young consumers' perceptions of healthy eating, contexts where healthy or unhealthy eating are practiced, and their evaluation of regulatory measures that discourage the consumption of unhealthy foods in two different markets.Design/methodology/approachA convenience sampled survey was conducted of 386 Danish and Chinese adolescents using a structured questionnaire.FindingsResults showed that perceptions of healthy eating were generally based on concepts such as balance and moderation. Unhealthy eating was most frequently practiced at parties and in festive periods. Hong Kong respondents were more likely to associate eating habits with healthy eating than Danish respondents. Danish respondents were more likely to practice healthy eating at schools than Hong Kong respondents. Making tanks of cold water freely available everywhere was perceived to be most effective in discouraging the consumption of soft drink. There were age, gender and market differences in attitudes toward selected regulatory measures that discourage the consumption of soft drinks.Research implicationsHealth educators and public health campaign designers should design health communication messages that target different perceptions of unhealthy eating, as well as different unhealthy eating contexts. Policy makers should be aware of the difference in local environmental conditions when designing regulations to encourage healthy eating.Originality/valueThe study is an innovative attempt to examine adolescents' perception of healthy eating and attitudes toward food regulatory measures in more than one consumer market.

PurposeThe present study aims to examine girls' perception of gender roles and gender identities in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachA total of 16 girls aged 10 to 12 were asked to take pictures from the media that could illustrate "what girls or women should or should not be; and what girls or women should or should not do". Qualitative interviews were conducted.FindingsAnalysis of interviews and images captured found that tween girls' perceived gender roles for females were based on a mixture of traditional and contemporary role models. Girls in Hong Kong demonstrated conservatism in sexuality. Sexy outlook and pre‐marital sexual relations were considered inappropriate. Tween girls showed concern about global as well as domestic social agendas. They used a variety of media and showed interest in contents primarily for adults.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was based on a convenience sample. The interviewees came from middle to lower income families, limiting the validity for generalization. Further quantitative study is needed to establish benchmarks.Practical implicationsThis study will help in understanding the kinds of media images that attract the attention of female tweens and what those images mean to them. The study can serve as a guideline for marketing communication aimed at this target group, particularly for skincare, beauty, and cosmetic marketers.Originality/valueThe first novel idea that is being used in this research is the combination of visual method and the application of qualitative methodology to the study of media effects. The second novel idea is the use of interviewees as data‐collectors. The methodology enables contextually relevant questions and to understand the meaning of the images captured.