Marketing Research Report: Chinese Customer Decision Making

This report provides an analysis of a marketing research study investigating how Chinese customers' decision-making styles influence their brand preferences and switching behavior between domestic and foreign brands. The research employs a correlational design, utilizing questionnaires to gather primary data from a sample of 584 respondents. The study explores the impact of factors such as price, brand consciousness, and demographic variables on consumer choices. The report also examines the ethical considerations followed during the research process, including the protection of respondent privacy and the maintenance of scientific rigor. Key findings indicate that foreign brands are perceived as higher quality and more fashionable, attracting consumers with specific preferences. The research highlights the importance of brand reputation and the need for both domestic and foreign brands to adapt their strategies based on consumer perceptions and decision-making styles. The report concludes with implications for brand managers and the importance of understanding consumer behavior in the competitive Chinese market.

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MANAGING RESEARCH
Name
Course
Professor’s Name
University
City (State)
Date

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Managing Research
Question 1
Research is a vehicle through which a theory is developed. It is the process in which data that
relates to the research is gathered. This applies whether the reason for which the research is
conducted is to test a theory or generate one. Therefore, if the research is testing a theory, the
data to be used will be dependent on the theory. On the contrary, if the purpose of the
research was to generate a theory, the different variables involved will be used in the process.
The purpose of this research is to explore how the different styles of decision making by the
Chinese customers influence their switching from domestic to foreign brands.
There are different types of theories that are used in the research process. These include;
relational, descriptive, and explanatory. In this case, the type of theory that is being used is a
relational theory and the research design used is correlational (Creswell, 2014). This is because
the research aims at finding out customers’ decision making styles in order to consequently
relate them to their purchasing habits of either local or foreign brands and to find out the
reasons that cause the customers to switch from one brand to another.
The research has properly defined the problem statement. First, it has provided background
information on the current competition levels between local and international brands in China.
It has also stated the reasons for the preference of foreign brands by the majority of Chinese
people. These have been said to be due to their high quality levels and symbolic value. There
are factors that have also been identified to be the major reasons for customers switching from

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local to foreign brands. These have been said to be; presence of attractive alternatives,
switching costs, and customer satisfaction levels. However, it has already been established that
these factors do not always guarantee switching and that is why this research was geared
towards investigating how decision making affects the switching intention.
This study has different variables that are being investigated that are presented as the research
questions (Liamputtong, 2013). First, the research aims at finding out whether, if price was not a
factor of consideration, customers would switch from the brands they are currently using.
Second, it aims to find out how the different customer decision making styles affect their
switching intentions. Finally, the research is geared towards finding out whether demographic
factors affect the intention for customers to switch. All these research problems are concise
and easy to understand.
The research has defined the problem by stating the variables, and it has concentrated on
building relationships that are internally consistent and that will be useful in making specific
predictions through the research questions. This problem statement is also very favorable
because past research studies have not sufficiently answered it. It has also been able to
generate research questions. Finally, the research problem is directly related to the end goal
that the research wishes to achieve (Nuttin and Lens, 2011). However, weaknesses in regards to
the research questions are shown in that the research has not properly labelled them which
could be time consuming for someone who was only interested in the major parts of the
research.

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Question 4
This study involved the collection of its own primary data by the use of questionnaires. In total,
the number of questionnaires that were filled out were six hundred and twenty-eight.
However, after the removal of incomplete questionnaires the number of questionnaires that
were used in data analysis were five hundred and eighty-four. The sample was correct because
it had an equal number of male and female respondents. The males made up 50.4% while the
females made up 59.6% of the respondents. There were also only a few seniors in the sample.
This was because majority of senior students were off campus carrying out internship activities.
The sample population was also well diversified to take care of students with different
education levels as well as different incomes. The freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors
made up 44%, 21%, 31.3%, and 3.6% respectively. There however should have been more
seniors in order to ensure that the students in the different levels of education were more
even. This is to make sure that the findings after the data analysis are not biased. Conversely,
the income levels follow a normal distribution with the majority of students having an average
income of between 600RMB – 1199RMB. The questions provided in the questionnaire such as
which brands the students would buy if their economic conditions permitted them to do so and
which brands they currently own were relevant to the research and were based on the research
questions.
The questionnaires that were used in this research were structured which aided in the process
of data analysis and also reduced time required to fill out the questionnaires by the
respondents (Lodico, Voegtle and Spaulding, 2013). Incidentally, the respondents were required to

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use 0 to present ‘no’ and 1 to represent ‘yes’ when answering the question on whether they
had switching intentions. This study however fails to provide the complete questionnaire that
was used in the research process in order to ensure that the reader gains a full perspective of
all the questions that the respondents answered. The research has however tried to provide the
information contained in all the questionnaires by availing the answers provided in table 3.
Therefore, the questionnaire has been described properly but the questions should have also
been provided to aid in assessing whether they were well asked or if they contained any
biasness. Moreover, for the questionnaires that were not completely filled out, there should
have been a follow up with the respondents in a bid to ask them for their responses and explain
to them what the questions mean in cases of miscommunication in the questionnaire.

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Question 7
When conducting a research, it is very important for the researchers to follow ethical guidelines
especially when dealing with respondents. In this research, professional standards were
maintained and the research conducted was scientifically rigorous in all the different stages
(Pollock, 2012). This can be shown in that the primary data collected is related to the research
questions and the problem statement and the conclusion is reached after the data has been
thoroughly analyzed to find out if there are correlations that exist in the different variables. The
research has also made it its priority to safeguard the privacy and confidentiality rights of the
respondents, and their well-being. This is because when presenting and analyzing the data,
there is no mention of the individual students who participated in the research.
The research has also maintained sensitivity to differences that may be in existence among the
respondents in terms of their social and cultural backgrounds. The questions asked strictly
relate to the study and no personal questions have been asked. The appropriate quality control
procedures have also been followed. This is mainly shown when the questionnaires that are not
fully answered are discarded and not used in data analysis. This is to ensure that the results are
unbiased and of a high quality. All the research findings are also provided.
Additionally, this research has paid attention to gender differences and in the the number of
male and female respondents is the same. The research also avoids any xenophobic or racist
concepts and language. The language used in this research also serves the entire population.
This is because, the research indicates that all the items in the questionnaire were translated
into Chinese which is the country’s national language. Moreover, the questionnaires were

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distributed electronically to the respondents to ensure that they all received them and were
able to fill them in and send them back in good time. This aided in saving time and resources for
both parties. Finally, there was an element of justice in the selection of the respondents (El-
Dessouky et al., 2011). This is because this research was conducted in the university which is an
area where the respondents can benefit from the research since they can become
entrepreneurs and use the findings of this research in strategizing their businesses.

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Question 8
After thorough data analysis, this research indicates that brand loyalty and impulse buying do
not affect retaining or switching intentions by customers to both local and foreign brands.
However, the results indicate that domestic brands in china attract buyers who have low brand
consciousness and who have high choice confusion from the foreign brands and they retain
customers who buy low quality products, who are low recreational and fashion conscious, who
are also low price conscious. On the contrary, foreign brands attract high fashion and
recreational focused consumers and they keep the customers who are well aware of the types
of products that they are looking for. Customers who are high price conscious as well as those
who have a high level of brand confusion remain in both the domestic and foreign brands and
are always looking to buy the products where the price is lowest.
Therefore, domestic brands have been seen to be perceived by customers as having low quality
products which are not up-to-date in terms of the different fashion trends. Conversely,
customers are seen to believe that foreign brands are fashionable and trendy, have variety in
terms of the products offered, and are high in quality. This therefore means that domestic
brand managers have the responsibility of revamping their brands in a bid to increase their
reputation.
On the other hand, the foreign brand managers should not get complacent but should keep
improving their strengths and try to correct any weaknesses they may identify in their
businesses in order to be better than their fellow foreign brands. In terms of the theory, this
research has proved that foreign brands are in fact preferred to domestic brands. The research

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has also shown that different decision making styles that influence switching or retaining such
as price consciousness, brand consciousness, over choice, and recreation and fashion
consciousness are very vital. It is therefore important for business owners-both domestic and
foreign to take note of these findings and respond accordingly.

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References
Creswell, J. (2014). research design; qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approaches. sage
journals, (4).
El-Dessouky, H., Silverman, H., Abdel-Aziz, A., Ibrahim, C., Moni, M. and Fadl, R. (2011). Knowledge,
Awareness, and Attitudes about Research Ethics among Dental Faculty in the Middle East: A
Pilot Study. International Journal of Dentistry.
Liamputtong, P. (2013). Qualitative Research Methods. oxford university press, (4).
Lodico, M., Voegtle, K. and Spaulding, D. (2013). Methods in Educational Research: From Theory to
Practice.
Nuttin, J. and Lens, W. (2011). future time perspective and motivation theory and research
method. psychology press.
Pollock, K. (2012). Procedure versus process: ethical paradigms and the conduct of qualitative
research. BMC Ethics.