THE SWEET SIDE OF CHINESE CONSUMERS Challenges and opportunities in marketing strategies of global chocolate companies

Abstract

The thesis analyses the chocolate market in China. China has experienced an unprecedented economic growth by opening to foreign countries, thus representing one of the most attractive markets for chocolate companies. This dissertation is divided into three chapters: The first chapter describes the development of the global chocolate market and its introduction in China, and the opportunities and threats that China presents to foreign chocolate companies that want to sell their products there. The second chapter focuses on the Chinese consumers’ behaviour, which derives from two cultural values: guanxi 关系(relationship) and mianzi 面子 (reputation). These concepts push Chinese people to a gift-giving behaviour in order to maintain relations with other people and increase their reputation, and giving chocolate as present is one of the most significative and effective way to do so. The last chapter deals with the competitive scenario of che chocolate market in China, with an in-depth analysis of Ferrero and Mars case studies, as these two companies are the leaders in the Chinese market.