Chinese brands want to reverse negative image in the United States

According to foreign media, the challenge faced by Chinese retailers in the U.S. market is not only that most U.S. citizens do not recognize Chinese brands, but also that U.S. citizens have long been prejudiced against all Chinese-made products.

According to a report from the radio station website of December 31, 2014, a research report made by the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States in 2011 showed that in the US consumer spending on overseas manufactured goods and services, Chinese-made products Accounted for a quarter. The report pointed out that Chinese products imported into the United States are mainly clothes, shoes and household equipment.

A survey conducted by JWTIntelligence, a multinational advertising company’s JWT Intelligence marketing research department, targeting US adult consumers in 2012 found that American consumers mostly hold negative attitudes towards imported Chinese brands, and most respondents are generally familiar with Chinese-made products. The description was made by the masses, cheap and poor safety standards.

Wang Xingxing, China's chief brand official for China’s market research firm Hua Tong Mingluo, said that these negative impressions stem from the stigma that many Chinese Americans have made in the hearts of many Americans.

Wang Xing said: "The United States' impression of Chinese brands has been shaped by consumers' perceptions over the years as long as products made in China are all bargains and quality problems. This impression has hurt China's efforts to establish a brand. ”

Wang Xing said that Americans usually cannot distinguish their overall perception of Chinese manufacturing from their impression of a Chinese brand.

Jessica Vaughan, market researcher of JWT, said that Chinese manufacturers have been notorious for exporting unsafe and inferior products to the United States for decades. Now that Chinese brands want to enter the international market, the situation is indeed very difficult.

The quality of Chinese goods must first be cleared in China

Vaughan pointed out that the reputation of Chinese brands has been discredited because Chinese domestic consumers have complained about their product safety.

Vaughan said that if Chinese manufacturers want to enter the international arena, they must first rectify their own internal problems because there is more competition in the world. If they can't win the hearts of the people in their own homes, there are public opinions overseas that want to win a reputation. How difficult is it.

A survey conducted by JWT’s research department in 2012 also showed that in the minds of some American consumers, several positive images of Chinese brands are rising.

According to the survey, one-fifth of respondents aged 18 to 34 (millennial generation) and 48 to 67 (baby boomer ages) believe that Chinese brands are very interesting. Of all respondents regardless of age, 9% to 20% believe that Chinese brands have a sense of design and trust.

The positive image of Chinese brands in the United States has benefited from several recent developments. One of them is the record of Chinese companies starting to rectify their product safety.

Vaughan pointed out that Chinese dairy giants Yili and Mengniu have cooperated with international companies to adopt manufacturing and supply chain operations that meet international standards.

Chinese manufacturers do not mention China for selling abroad

In addition, marketing strategies for Chinese brands have also improved. Erie is one of several Chinese brands that have been embedded in US movies and TV albums in recent years. Yili Shuhua’s “The Transformers 3” movie in 2011 and the sitcom “Life Big Bang” on CBS Television in the United States. Appeared in.

Some Chinese brands also understated their background in order to attract American consumers. The introduction of Haier, a home appliance manufacturer based in Qingdao, China, on its website did not mention China at all.

In the American public’s attitude towards Chinese brands in 2013, the US e-commerce company HD Trading Services praised Haier’s strategy.

According to the report, Haier is only taking a strategy to highlight the image of its multinational corporations.

Innovation also helps Chinese brands attract the attention of the American public.

Millennials of the United States have the most favorable impression of Chinese products

According to JWT’s research report, the most favorable for Chinese brands or Chinese manufacturing is the millennial generation of Americans, that is, the young people between the ages of 18 and 34.

Vaughan analyzed that many American students who could not find work in the United States went to China to look for opportunities. Many Chinese students came to the United States to study. Young people from the US and China exchanged frequently and were more likely to accept Chinese brands than the previous generation.

The report shows that 1/4 to 1/3 of the millennial generation of the United States are interested in trying these Chinese products. However, the report also found that many other types of Chinese-branded products cannot attract too much interest from American consumers of all ages.

The two studies released last year all show that, as a whole, U.S. consumers have a relatively low interest in Chinese products. When asked, if you know that this brand is a Chinese company, will you buy their products? Only 68% of respondents said yes. However, 81% of the respondents said that they asked the respondents about Japanese brands with the same questions.

In another survey, only 40% of respondents said that they are likely to buy Chinese-branded products. Many Americans also expressed that they would rather buy American-made goods than Chinese products.

In a US consumer research survey conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, a business strategy consulting firm, in 2012, 81% of Americans surveyed purchased their cheaper Chinese products, preferring to spend more to buy American-made products. .

Vaughan said that this survey reflects the long-term economic competition between China and the West.

China is rising and the West is in a financial crisis. Therefore, for American consumers, they would rather spend a little more money on purchasing US-made goods. This also shows that they hope the US economy will improve.

So how should Chinese brands reverse the negative image of the American public? Wang Mingxing, China’s chief brand officer of China’s Mingtao’s recommendation, suggested that Chinese brands should be innovative.

Vaughan said that although this process is slow, but in the era of fast-changing globalization, the Chinese brand's image in the minds of consumers turns from a negative to a positive one, and the speed may be much faster than before.