Social Class and Social Mobility in China

1. Social Class and Social Mobility in China Brand Community

2. Lecture Structure • My background • Recent research publications • Social class and mobility in the U.K • Social class and mobility in the U.S • The case of China and Brand Community • Future research

3. My Background • 10 years in industry in Marketing and Strategy positions, e.g HSBC, City of London • 8 years as a Senior Lecturer in Marketing and Strategic Management • Teaching in China since 1998, Tsinghua, Peking, Nanjing, Fudan universities • Media work since early 2010: Financial Times, China Daily, China Radio International, CCTV news • Now, Doctoral Researcher – Nottingham University’s School of Contemporary Chinese Studies

4. My Research • Journal of Brand Management: Hedonic Shopping Values • Impulse buying behaviour common in China • But traditional Chinese culture influential • Face • Guanxi • Five Dimensions of Hedonic Shopping • Novelty • Fun • Praise from others • Escapism • Social Interaction

5. My Research • Journal of Brand Management • Hedonic Shopping Values • “Change” in Chinese consumer behaviour does not simply mean more “individualism” and less “collectivism” • More ”individualism” does not necessarily mean less “collectivism” • Traditional Chinese culture remains influential even among the “Ba-ling-hou” and “Jiu-ling-hou”

6. My Research • Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality • Chinese Consumer Behaviour • Relationship between increased “affluence” and perception of “price” • Increased “affluence” leads to increased perception of “price” or “value” if purchase bought for friends • Consumers become more selfish as their “affluence” increases

7. My Research • Journal of Social Behaviour and Personality • Chinese consumers value “self reward” as their “affluence” increases • Chinese consumers value “gaining face” publicly as their “affluence” increases • Publicly consumed brands common form of “self reward” and “gaining face” among Chinese consumers

8. Does Economic Development lead to More or Less Societal Hierarchy? • U.K society • More socially divided and laddered than ever • But…defining and measuring more and more difficult • Occupation probably key indicator • But family background remains important • U.S society • Family background far less important • Material wealth key indicator

9. Does Economic Development lead to More or Less Social Mobility ? • U.K society • Less and less • Education opportunity far more difficult • U.S society • Less and less • Parental wealth key to sibling success

10. Social Class and Mobility in ChinaBrand Community • A brand community is a community formed on the basis of attachment to a product or marque. Recent developments in marketing and in research in consumer behaviour result in stressing the connection between brand, individual identity and culture. Among the concepts developed to explain the behavior of consumers, the concept of a brand community focuses on the connections between consumers.

11. Social Class and Mobility in ChinaBrand Community • A brand community can be defined as an enduring self-selected group of actors sharing a system of values, standards and representations (a culture) and recognizing bonds of membership with each other and with the whole

12. Social Class and Mobility in ChinaBrand Community • Chinese do much mor than “consumer” brands • Chinese consumers “publicly display” their brand ownership • Brand ownership represents “success” and social status

13. Social Class and Mobility in ChinaBrand Community • Increasingly difficult to measure or even define “social class” in China • But…brand ownership is easily measurable • Brand owners combine to form a social class layer

14. Social Class and Mobility in ChinaBrand Community • Chinese brand consumers follow the crowd in order to “belong” to a socially acceptable group • Brand consumption in China demonstrates the retention of strong collectivist tendencies among Chinese consumers as well as increasing individualism • A dualism between individualism and collectivism

15. Social Class and Mobility in China Brand Community • In the future publicly consumed brands will lose their appeal, partly due to many others copying • Privately consumed brands will become more important as “status symbols” even though they do not involve public consumption • Chinese consumers will remain elitist

16. Social Class and Mobility in ChinaBrand Community • Social mobility very difficult and becoming more difficult • Hukou system should go ! • Socialised health and education a priority

17. Brand Meaning • Social class/community belonging • Emotional experience • “Constructed” according to the situation and role • Shorter time-span • Privately consumed products and services • All consumption becoming more emotional

18. My current and future research • Social class and mobility measurement in China, using brand consumption • “Well Being”, or “Quality of Life” or “Happinness” in China definition and measurement and the relationship with economic/material wealth, especially brand ownership