Literature Review
BRM 1

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify the customer’s preferences, behavior and shift of behavior in the Chinese food market and how they can influence foreign companies’ marketing strategy.
This literature review shows that, pushed by a multitude of factors, the Chinese food consumption and food consumer’s behavior have strongly changed over the past 10 years, both in quantity and quality demand, creating a lot of opportunities for foreign companies. Moreover, the Chinese cultural background and preferences are identified as playing an important role in the willingness to buy (WTB) and shopping habits which prompts for a more adaptive approach of marketing.

Introduction

In the past decade, China has seen a lot of both positive and negative factors influence its food consumption and its society as a whole.
Three main socio-economic factors are identified by the previous literature.
Urbanization has been growing fast, more than 50% of the population lived in urban areas and it is expected to reach 75% by 2035. Moreover, the average income has been continuously rising and contributes to the growth of the middle upper class granting an easier access to goods. Finally, the demand or the need for imported goods rocketed, fueled by the recurring food scandals. (Gale, Hansen, Jewison, 2014)
This evolution largely contributed in turning the Chinese food market, now the largest in the world, into a very attractive potential market for foreign companies, however, this paper will show that, despite useful, these information are highly insufficient to establish an efficient and adapted marketing strategy in China.
It is essential to understand the decision process involved in consumption and shopping behavior in order to best compete in the market place (Brennan, 2015) thanks to an adapted and comprehensive marketing strategy.