ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS

Econometric Analysis



Micro-Econometric Analysis

Introduction

In recent years, there have been some profound changes in consumer lifestyles in Greater China. According to Asia's Media and Marketing Weekly (1994), the changing role of women, the aging of society, trends toward delayed marriage, smaller families, and single parents have combined to redefine the consumer markets in Greater China. Traditional household decision making is undergoing significant changes as a larger number of women join the work force. As women now have greater purchasing power, marketers need to have a better understanding of women's changing values and roles in modern society. One approach to studying women's behavior is by exploring how women feel about their lives, their attitudes toward their work, and how they approach the various aspects of life that lead to the consumption of many products and services. This study aims to compare the lifestyles of female consumers within Greater China. Significant differences are expected to be found among different age groups of Chinese females, as well as between working women and housewives. A woman in her 40s or a housewife is likely to exhibit different living standardcharacteristics than a woman in her 20s or a career woman, even within the same region. In order to make a direct comparison of lifestyles across the three regions, only working females aged between 18 and 35 were chosen for the study. This group also makes up a relatively large percentage of the female population in the three regions and appears to be a very lucrative target for the marketers. The samples were selected from the cities of Beijing, Taipei, and Guangzhou.

Characteristics of Chinese Female Consumers

Asia's Media and Marketing Weekly (1992) reported that in the 1990s, as Asian and Chinese women increasingly move out of the home and into the workplace, marketers are waking up to the fact that women are exerting a greater influence on a variety of consumer decisions that used to lie within the sole domain of men. Accordingly, companies are starting to direct their marketing efforts toward working women. As women begin to view themselves differently, the marketing industry is also changing the way women are portrayed. In the past, advertising generally portrayed women in the context of the home: cooking, cleaning, and caring for their husbands and children. Multinationals, however, are cautious about challenging the norms, so Chinese women are still depicted as pretty girls, only now they are shown with briefcases and mobile phones. In a survey conducted by the Far Eastern Economic Review in 1993, affluent Asian women showed a greater preference for quality over quantity in all aspects of their lives. They preferred to have a less polluted environment, and more leisure time, and they also appreciated value more than prestige. Convenience was, thus, becoming the most popular focus of marketing directed at Asian women. A report in the Wall Street Journal (1993) stated that the regions' increasingly busy consumers were looking for ways to simplify their lives and were willing to pay for the right ...