China Consumer Profile; “Young Digital Fashionistas”

“Young Digital Fashionista” is a young Chinese girl with college education. She has an average yearly income of RMB 63,420 (USD 9,342), which is considered to be a high income in China; this allows her to “spoil” herself. She is IT savvy and fashionable. In her spare time, she frequently goes to the spa, gym, fine restaurants and night clubs. She likes visiting different cities in China and sometimes travels abroad.

Demographic

According to CNNIC’s (China Internet Network Information Center) statistics, China now has more than 300 million netizen, 60 million of which frequently visit fashion websites. These 60 million are “Young Digital Fashionistas” we are introducing here – mostly female (69.4%); more than half are college educated (43.7% w/ bachelor degree, 8.4% w/ master degree); average 27 years old; with stable job; average yearly income of  RMB 63,420 (USD 9,342), for your information, the average yearly income in China is RMB 13,000 (USD 1,912), “Young Digital Fashionistas” are definitely well-moneyed base on the great difference between two numbers.

“Young Digital Fashionistas” demographic

Purchasing capability

Well-moneyed = capable of purchasing, normally, this formula is true, but still need to see if it really apply to China “Young Digital Fashionistas”. Below charts show that they tend to spend money on high tech products, luxury goods and entertainment; to me, the answer is crystal clear.

“Young Digital Fashioinistas” have high ownership toward high-end luxury products and services; beyond that, they also show great interests in different popular entertainments.

Information Source/Media preference

“Young Digital Fashionistas” are exposed to online information almost everyday, logically, web media is an relatively effective media to approach to them. Is this correct? If it is correct, how dominate it is compare to other media types? As we expected, “Young Digital Fashionistas” tend to discover most product/services category information online.

Information format preference

Of all the information formats on fashion web sites, “Young Digital Fashionistas” tend to be most interested in article reviews of fashion products (perfumes, watches, clothes, etc.); this is followed by discussing fashion products in online forums and communities as well as viewing fashion advertising.

Different impact on “Young Digital Fashionistas”‘s purchasing action from different advertising/marketing information format.

How is this relevant for marketers?

As the data shows, for most of product/service categories, “Young Digital Fashionistas” are getting a big percentage of information online. According to this, online media tend to be a good choice to advertise. However, please note this doesn’t apply to all the categories, blindly focus online marketing sometimes won’t turn out well; e.g. for food & beverages category, the majority of information is from TV, so a mix of using online and TV media may be a better plan than focus solely online.

Beyond this, pure advertisement tend to work not so well as a more interactive way – set up a blog or forum, let them talk and spread. As you may notice, more and more blogs and forums are coming out everyday, smart marketers have found out this popular practice to not only spread the brand but also build up more personal relationship with audience. Plus, you get a sense of how they feel about your product/service, a perfect way to keep gaining insight into them as well as finding new approach method.

Source data: Nielsen Online Research, CNNIC