Young Chinese consumers are generally optimistic about their personal future, rooted in a perception of a generational betterment from their parents, and a belief that one day they will be rich. They come of age as China is becoming a remarkable economic power.
Beneath this surface of optimism, Y&R’s recent Generation Asia study reveals there is now significant skepticism creeping into the attitudes of China’s ‘golden generation’.
The Generation Asia study was conducted among 2,600 youth aged 18-35 across nine countries in the region, including China. The term ‘golden generation’ has been coined by Y&R to describe Chinese youth faced with opportunities never imagined by their parents and new-found freedom never experienced by earlier generations in the mainland.
With this freedom comes more choices in a world beyond China. However, at the same time, more choices mean the instability and stress of having to choose.
The attitudinal insights from the Generation Asia study can help brands connect to the ‘golden generation’ who are shedding “blind optimism” as they mature as individuals and as consumers.
The study shows that there is a strong entrepreneurial streak among young Chinese consumers with 71 per cent of them desiring to have their own businesses. While many (64 per cent) want to be seen as successful, just as many are finding it harder and harder to get there. There is widespread moral concern over how to make money, as they believe most rich people have cheated their way to the top.
The prominence of such a skeptical attitude is hardly surprising. In recent years, a series of scandals have exposed problems with basic public safety and the integrity of businesses and charities. These have eroded public confidence in the country's development.
In addition, about 70 per cent of the ‘golden generation’ feels that too many Chinese traditional values have been lost. They feel tension between maintaining older values and traditions versus adopting a more western attitude in their lives.
Against such an evolving consumer landscape amongst the young in China, gaining their trust is critical to brand success. Brands need to understand how to successfully navigate this rocky road. To do this, they need to know how they are perceived by this generation of consumers and to connect meaningfully with them.
The ‘golden generation’ is one who is empowered to make an impact on the community at large. Their single-child upbringing has fostered an increasingly vocal and collective youth wanting connections outside the family and who have demonstrated that they are community-minded and able to contribute to society.
There is an opportunity here for brands to play a role in helping young Chinese strengthen these community connections by making the most of their own social and ecological attributes.
Commissioned by Y&R and conducted by global research house Penn Schoen Berland, the study also identified brands that made an impact in China, including Gap and Coca Cola. These brands have managed to be distinctive and innovative, and thus gained a reputation of being authentic and having high quality.
Engaging with Asia’s newest generation of consumers through the medium they know best - the internet - the study uses specially designed psychographic statements and Y&R’s proprietary BrandAsset Valuator model to measure brands using 48 attributes ranging from ‘dynamic’, ‘trendy’, to ‘unapproachable’, ‘traditional’.
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