Analysis of Chinese Consumers' Preferences for Overseas Study Tours

This report analyzes the preferences of Chinese consumers for overseas study tours in the context of the post-2020 pandemic. It investigates the factors influencing these preferences, including high experience, meeting diversified people, future employment prospects, and language skills. The research explores the impact of the pandemic on study abroad, such as the shift to online classes, restrictions on immigration, and changes in admission criteria. Furthermore, the report examines the factors driving Chinese consumers' decisions, such as price, convenience, and shifting company locations. The methodology includes a positivism research philosophy, a quantitative research approach, and a consumer survey to collect data. The report also addresses reliability, validity, and ethical considerations. The findings offer valuable insights into the evolving trends and challenges in international education, particularly for Chinese students.

Assignment
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Literature review..............................................................................................................................4
Methodology....................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8
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INTRODUCTION
Research topic
Chinese Consumers' preferences for overseas study tours in post 2020 Pandemic
Research background
Covid 19 has adversely affected on lives of people both mentally and physically. There is
change in living standard of people. Besides that, pandemic has affected on education as well.
The students are getting online sessions and classes (Constantoglou, 2020). Also, main impact of
pandemic is on tourism industry. With ban on travel people are not able to travel from one
country to another. Hence, global tourism market growth has gone in negative terms. The
countries have closed their borders for students as well. Similarly, abroad education has affected
as well due to pandemic. But in 2021 there is improvement in situation. Now, some countries
have opened their boundaries for students. It is evaluated that post pandemic preference for
Chinese students will vary. There is complete change in choice of selection of country for study.
Moreover, there are several factors which consumer evaluate when they go to study abroad. It is
because there has been change in policy and law of country for Chinese student. They believe
that covid 19 has emerged from China. So, it has become difficult for student to get Visa for that
nation. Furthermore, each nation international relation with China has changed. The trade and
political relations has changed.
Alongside, it will be difficult for Chinese student to study abroad due to change in
perception of nation towards China. It is because the country image in global world has affected
in negative way. Many of them believe that pandemic outbreak from China. It has been stated
that there are several tour agency which provide standard service being offered in overseas study
in tourism. They provide various services to students such as overall data and info about
universities and its fees. In addition, agency deals with all type of accommodation and other
documentation in study abroad (Hao, Xiao, & Chon, 2020). Another service provided by tour
agency is visa and admission related. so, overall process of admission is operated by tour agency.
The data and info is gathered with various brochures of universities. But in because they are not
getting support from government and also not able to provide safety to students.
Research rationale
Since, the pandemic has begin it has highly impacted on entire global economy. Also, it
has affected studies of students as well especially Chinese. However, post pandemic study
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abroad situation will be different. This research is conduced to find out preference of Chinese
students for studying abroad. Besides that, it will make also enable in determining factors which
will affect on preference of consumer. In addition, research will evaluate that what is impact on
pandemic on studying abroad. With that it will be easy to find out preference of Chinese student
on study abroad in post pandemic 2020. Hence, there will be focus on change in preference of
consumer and why it has occurred.
Aim and objectives
Aim- Chinese Consumers' preferences for overseas study tours in post 2020 Pandemic
Objectives
 To analyse factors that Chinese consumer prefer to study abroad
 To evaluate impact of pandemic on study abroad
 To analyse factors that Chinese consumer prefer to study abroad post pandemic 2020
Research questions
 What are factors that Chinese consumer prefer to study abroad?
 What is impact of pandemic on study abroad?
 What are factors that Chinese consumer prefer to study abroad post pandemic 2020?
Literature review
Factors that Chinese consumer prefer to study abroad
As said by Ivanova, Ivanov, & Ivanov, (2020) in offering overseas services there is need
to consider various factors so that student select country which they is proper. Also, it becomes
important to find out other factors as well that need to be considered in it. Moreover, for studying
abroad it require to gather in depth data. It is because due to covid 19 there is change in rules and
regulation by government. Besides that, there is also change in polices and procedure of allowing
students to enter in other nation. However, for Chinese family there is increase in their
expenditure on education. It is because they are focusing on education of children. As the
tourism of China is high in global market. This is because there are many consumer who prefer
to study in China as there are several reputed universities in it. The factors are specified as
High experience- It is common factor in which Chinese student prefer to study abroad. Here, to
gain understanding of better culture of other religion and learning Chinese student opt to study
outside. In this way they get a better learning and experience of other nation value, ethics,
culture, etc.
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Meeting diversified people- this is also a factor where Chinese student go to abroad. They get
chance to interact and meet a lot of people who belong to different background, experience, etc.
It helps in creating strong relationship with them. Also, they learn a lot of things from them
which help in their personal and professional development.
Future employment- this is also a factor as Chinese student believe that there are vast
opportunities for employment in overseas as compared to their own country. Thus, to pursue
career development student prefer to opt for abroad study. Besides, they like to get stay and settle
in other countries after studying (Jin, Bao, & Tang, 2021).
Language skills- Most Chinese student is having interest in learning and speaking English. They
get chance to learn different language which is advantage for them. Apart from it, language skills
also enhance their grammar and spelling.
Impact of pandemic on study abroad
As elucidated by Mi, (2020) pandemic has not only affected on global economy but also
on education system. Pandemic has caused many problems for international students. Now,
sessions are given online. Likewise, there is impact on overseas education as well. This can be
identified that many nations have closed their borders. They have put restriction for sometime on
abroad education. Also, there is change in policy and regulation as well. Other than this, major
changes is done in Visa and applications forms. There is limited number of consumer being
allowed to enter for study purpose.
No face to face teaching- due to pandemic there is no face to face classes conducted. Many
universities have suspended physical classes. They are all conducting online exams, hence, it has
led to delay in completion of degree.
Restriction on immigration- Many countries are already restricting entry at their borders, and
only nationals or permanent residents are allowed in unless there are important reasons. This is
done to ensure that people are safe and there is loss of life. However, in some nations the cases
are rising so government has decided to maintain travel ban for tourists. Also, there is change in
immigration policy due to which student are not able to apply for admission process in abroad.
Eligibility on admission – there is change in eligibility criteria to take admission in university or
higher education. It is found that actions taken against covid 19 can impact education in a way
that delays the award of high school diplomas or degrees. This in turn may mean that, when
apply for a study programme, technically do not meet all requirements. It is possible that
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universities will adapt to this scenario because this will affect a large number of first-year
students (Pani & et.al., 2020).
Admission procedure and deadline – As pandemic has not affected only teaching, but also
administration and the eligibility of applicants, it is possible that universities will make changes
to their admissions processes, and postpone application deadlines or semester start dates.
Factors that Chinese consumer prefer to study abroad post pandemic 2020
In the view of Riestyaningrum & et.al., (2020), most Chinese student still prefer to study
abroad. This is because they want to explore new opportunities and gain knowledge about varied
culture, ethics, etc. besides, in China for higher education there is need to give entrance exam
which is stressful. Hence, it order to not give exam consumer prefer to go abroad. Moreover,
many family is allowing children to learn various language. Even after post pandemic there will
be no change in preference of Chinese consumer. There will be more opportunities available.
Alongside, in survey it is stated that 39% of Chinese consumer plan to study abroad. However,
there are some factors which act as driver in it such as price, convenience, etc. thus, it has
resulted in allowing consumer to spend amount on higher education. Also, many companies are
shifting from outside China. Hence, it will led to giving more job opportunity to them.
Furthermore, preferred destinations for overseas learning, US is still popular
destination for study abroad in higher education, followed by Hong Kong.
Methodology
Research philosophy - It gives an overview about overall researcher is been done. It becomes
easy for researcher to proceed further after selecting philosophy. There are several types of
researcher philosophies which can be used that are pragmatism, positivism, realism or
interpretivism. Interpretivism focus on issues in study. Realism is based on assumption made in
study. For current study positivism philosophy will be used. It is because the reality is that
Chinese families spending power has increased. They are focusing more on student education.
Hence, this philosophy will be useful in it.
Research approach – This defines how scholar will collect data and analyse it. This will help in
conducting the research in a smooth way. There are two common research approaches used.
These are quantitative and qualitative. In qualitative, only data related to topic is collected and
analysed to get more depth understanding. In quantitative, only recent facts and figures are
collected and interpreted. It gives precise and accurate information by interpreting data. The
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scholar will use quantitative approach. This is because it will analyse how much Chinese family
likes to spend on education and to what extent purchasing power has increased. Thus, accurate
facts will be gathered and examined in it (Wen & et.al., 2020).
Sampling - Since China's tourism and study tour market is relatively large, and its outbound
tourism in 2019 was nearly 170 million. While, the outbreak of covid-19 has a strong impact on
China. Therefore, this paper adopts consumer survey to collect 300 random questionnaires from
mainland China consumers online to collect data for quantitative research. Also, due to the fact
that most adult study tours are for business investigation, cooperation and exchange, it is difficult
to evaluate the educational attribute. The study will focus on the parent child and student study
tours from primary school to high school.
Reliability and validity
Reliability means extent to which data gathered and results obtained is reliable. So, here to test
questionnaire reliability researcher will use Cronbach’s alpha. This will help in testing how much
questionnaire is reliable. Similarly, validity refer to extent in which tools and techniques used in
study is valid or accurate. Thus, in present study tools used will be Chi Square, regression, etc.
this will help in giving valid outcomes (Constantoglou, 2020).
Ethical issue- In order to avoid the identification of the interviewee's information, personal
information will be kept confidential, and in order to avoid the disclosure of the interviewee's
information, the obtained survey data will be destroyed within six months after graduation
Time frame
Activity Plan start Plan
duration
Actual start Actual
duration
Percent
complete
Structure 1 5 3 8 80%
Proposal 1 10 0 0 5%
Reading 1 5 0 0 0
Abstract 10 15 0 0 0
Introduction 15 20 0 0
Questionnaire 10 30 0 0
Literature
review
15 45 0 0 0
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Methodology 20 60 0 0 0
Conclusion 30 80 0 0 0
Check 30 90 0 0 0
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Constantoglou, M. (2020). Destination Management in Lesvos, Greece. Characteristics,
Preferences, Images, Satisfaction and Overall Experience. Business Ethics and
Leadership, 4(3), 81-106.
Hao, F., Xiao, Q., & Chon, K. (2020). COVID-19 and China’s hotel industry: Impacts, a disaster
management framework, and post-pandemic agenda. International journal of hospitality
management, 90, 102636.
Ivanova, M., Ivanov, I. K., & Ivanov, S. (2020). Travel behaviour after the pandemic: the case of
Bulgaria. Anatolia, 1-11.
Jin, X., Bao, J., & Tang, C. (2021). Profiling and evaluating Chinese consumers regarding post-
COVID-19 travel. Current Issues in Tourism, 1-19.
Mi, P. (2020). Status of International Study Tours in China: The Students’ and Parents’
Perspectives (Doctoral dissertation, Auckland University of Technology).
Pani, A., Mishra, S., Golias, M., & Figliozzi, M. (2020). Evaluating public acceptance of
autonomous delivery robots during COVID-19 pandemic. Transportation research part
D: transport and environment, 89, 102600.
Riestyaningrum, F., Ferdaos, E., & Bayramov, B. (2020). Customer behavior impact on
international tourist's travel intention due to Covid-19. Journal of Sustainable Tourism
and Entrepreneurship, 1(3), 231-243.
Wen, J., Kozak, M., Yang, S., & Liu, F. (2020). COVID-19: potential effects on Chinese
citizens’ lifestyle and travel. Tourism Review.
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