Can a Chinese good-enough brand reach the level of a Western well-known brand? The case of Christian Dior and ochirly.

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to analyse the behaviour and the role of Chinese good-enough brands in the Chinese market, with particular attention paid to Chinese consumers’ perception and reaction. The intent is to investigate how young Chinese middle class’s consumers deal with those brands, trying to understand whether or not it is possible for them to compete with and reach the level of Western worldwide known luxury brands, which have been extremely popular in China since their arrival. In this regard, a Chinese brand and a European luxury brand, considered emblematic in order to explain and justify the present research, will be analysed and compared. The cases of Christian Dior and ochirly will thus be introduced. The precise problematic of this study is therefore: “Is a Chinese good-enough brand able to compete or even substitute a Western well-known luxury brand in the mind of Chinese consumers?” or more specifically: “Is ochirly able to compete or even substitute Christian Dior in the mind of Chinese consumers?” The research question is answered via an experiment that entails distributing physical and online questionnaires to Chinese respondents. These respondents are mainly targeted according to their age and social class, focusing on Chinese millennial middle class’s consumers. They are asked to evaluate and compare the two aforementioned brands, through three macro-sections: reaction towards luxury brands and products in general, perception of both Dior and ochirly, and personal information. Even though the results show that certain predominance is still given to worldwide known luxury brands at the moment, it is not excluded that in the near future the now little-known Chinese good-enough brands will represent an option of purchasing, in the same way as Western brands, not only in the Chinese market but also abroad. For this reason, further researches could be undertaken.