Chinese consumers “much more inclined” to buy from foreign brands than last year

The days of just slapping a ‘from overseas’ label on a product to sell it in China are well and truly over. Chinese brands have never appealed more to Chinese consumers, helped by a better understanding of Chinese consumers, rising quality standards, more effective marketing and a perception of being more cost-effective. Chinese brands’ attractiveness accelerated even further over the pandemic as Chinese consumers were unable to travel and weren’t feeling much positivity from the West, driving nationalism and the subsequent propensity to local brands.

With borders opening and Chinese travelling and seeing the world again - either in person or vicariously through their network’s social media, consumers are reminded of many great attributes of foreign countries, lifestyles and brands that has been absent in propaganda. Whilst domestic brands remain a force to be reckoned with, foreign brands look to have clawed back some of their allure relative to last year, presenting plenty of opportunities for brands who can marry this appeal with a relevant and resonant marketing strategy.

This appeal is reflected in PWCs Global Consumer Insights Survey which polled 18,155 global participants over the past two years, of whom more than 1,276 consumers were from Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. There has been a slight improvement in the perception of foreign brands, with 30% having a preference to buy foreign brands in 2023 versus 28% last year. However the biggest shift is the 15% who are ‘much more’ inclined to buy foreign brands, almost double the 8% last year.

The overall picture is better for foreign brands, in addition to the large jump of staunch foreign-brand fans, and the 2 percentage point jump in preference overall for foreign brands, those who are indifferent to where it is from also increased by 2 percentage points, creating a larger potential market for well-versed foreign brands in China.

Overall, Chinese consumer perceptions towards foreign brands are rosier than last year, but foreign brands still have to work hard to appeal to Chinese consumers with a tight, resonant and adaptive marketing strategy.