Emerging Consumer Perspectives on American Franchise Offerings: Variety Seeking Behavior in China*

The authors are grateful to Debra Grace and Scott Weaven of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia for some of the literature insights that have contributed to the development of this paper. The authors would also like to thank explicitly the students at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China, who helped with the data collection.

Abstract

Chinese consumers had been historically restricted to limited variety with regard to consumer goods and services offerings since the days of Mao Zedong's founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The realities of a planned economy restricted the choices available to those provided through domestic producers, while limited trade with the outside world did not provide significant alternatives. From the early 1980s, however, through the opening of China's economy by Deng Xiaoping and his successors, Western companies have started to gain access to the Chinese market. Their products not only became sought‐after alternatives by Chinese consumers, but even market leaders for choice‐starved consumers. This article reports the results gleaned from recent consumer survey data collected in Beijing which investigated the attitudes and behaviors of Chinese consumers in their patronage of McDonald's restaurants. A total of four hypotheses were tested regarding the influence of Variety Seeking proclivity among Chinese patrons of McDonald's on their sentiments of Desire for Unique Products, Democratization, Ethnocentrism, and Traditionalism. The emergent evidence suggests that Chinese consumers are reverting back to choosing Chinese brands as an expression of their variety seeking efforts and, in a broader sense, of rising consumer power. Chinese brands have reached a level of quality perception that has allowed them in recent years to take back market share from Western market leaders. The findings of this study suggest that a reversal of consumer preferences toward now‐competitive domestic Chinese alternatives is underway.

The authors are grateful to Debra Grace and Scott Weaven of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia for some of the literature insights that have contributed to the development of this paper. The authors would also like to thank explicitly the students at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China, who helped with the data collection.

The authors are grateful to Debra Grace and Scott Weaven of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia for some of the literature insights that have contributed to the development of this paper. The authors would also like to thank explicitly the students at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China, who helped with the data collection.

Notes

The authors are grateful to Debra Grace and Scott Weaven of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia for some of the literature insights that have contributed to the development of this paper. The authors would also like to thank explicitly the students at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China, who helped with the data collection.

1 We thank Francine Lafontaine and Steven Michael for suggesting this procedure at the 25th Anniversary International Society of Franchising Conference.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Marko Grünhagen

Marko Grünhagen is the Lumpkin Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Professor of Marketing at the School of Business, Eastern Illinois University.

Rajiv P. Dant

Rajiv P. Dant is Professor and Michael F. Price Chair of Marketing at the Price College of Business Administration, University of Oklahoma.

Mingxia Zhu

Mingxia Zhu is Professor at the School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China.