Consumers always have changing tastes and preferences towards particular goods depending on the existing marketing trends. This study highlights the changing consumer trends among the Indians and Chinese. It is evident that their tastes have inclined towards electronic products from the USA. This is an advantageous factor to American firms seeking to expand their market base towards this niche.
China and India Trends towards Western-Style Consumption
Products that interest these youth markets
In these markets, the youths are intrigued by technological applications. They lead the world in innovation ranging from mobile platforms, automated cars and internet purchasing. This has been accelerated by the emulation of Western-style consumption, which is characterized by mobile devices instead of television or computers as their principal source of information access. Experts in social media argue that these markets will leapfrog America in terms of mobile innovations and corporations will seek to provide effective attempts than the U.S. (Doole & Lowe, 2008). Many young people in these markets have trendy cell phones with data access surpassing voice for the first time across this continent. It is arguably believed that mobile phones are likely to be the chief banking method in these countries. This is because the youths are already using them to make micropayments among themselves.
New technologies and the mass media have played a critical function in constructing a postmodern youth culture in these countries. Perhaps, the effect of global media on the youth is a metaphor for the broad effects of globalization. Apparently, liberating technologies like internet computer games and mobile phones have alienated the youth. It creates an individualistic hyper-stimulating world whereby mundane activities like school have failed to compete (Jones, 2012). The global market has made it easier for the youth to author their biographies because they can define their roles, model their attitudes, and construct their identities and behavior in accordance with menus supplied to them by global capitalism.
Micro- and macro-environmental forces that can influence the marketing strategies for these products
Macro Environment: these are external factors affecting companies and tend to be uncontrollable. These factors will not affect the marketing efforts of youth products directly but will indirectly influence the company's marketing decisions. The marketing strategies will be affected by the accompanying two factors:
I. Demographic forces: marketers will be required to monitor populations in these countries because people shape the markets. Marketers will be keenly interested in the growth rate and size of the populations in different regions and cities across India and China. Ethnic mix, age distribution, household trends, regional movement and educational levels play a key role in marketing youth product (Jones, 2012).
II. Technological forces: technological climate entails aspects associated with knowledge applied, machines used and materials utilized in the manufacture of services and goods that affect the operations of an organization.
Microenvironment: they are defined as the environmental variables affecting a firm's non-capacity to manufacture and serve the market. They include:
I. Suppliers: Suppliers may alter the marketing capabilities and competitive position of a company. They include energy suppliers, raw material suppliers, suppliers of capital and labor. Michael Porter ascertains that the relationship between a firm and the suppliers epitomize a power equation among them. This relationship is dependent on the condition of the industry and the magnitude at which each relies on one another (Doole & Lowe, 2008).
II. Competitors: they comprise those firms selling services and goods of similar and same description in the same market. Besides competition based on price, product differentiation rivalry exists. Companies entering India and China ought to develop efficient marketing systems. This will be a recipe for better results and confidence.
Marketing strategies of China and India
Both Chinese and Indian companies emphasize on value differentiation as a source of competitive advantage. Currently, consumers in these markets seek value and are willing to spend more money on goods they believe have utility, safety, and quality. Remarkably, in these markets, value customers are shifting upscale, ready to pay premiums for items with reliability, integrity and desirable features made of high quality components and materials (Jones, 2012). The emergence of value-oriented consumers in China and India is a sharp departure from the previous period, when consumer-purchasing decisions were based on price. Value is a crucial aspect of future marketers in India and China. Their buying behavior and desire for quality encourage companies to produce better and new products. Companies are expected to enjoy a return on investment on condition that they bring offerings that are attractive, compelling and useful. This makes customers be classified as repeat buyers of items they like, which drives brand loyalty.
On the other hand, firms in the U.S. emphasize on a standardized marketing strategy. They regard it as the most influential approach. This approach involves marketing goods with uniform consistency across the marketing mix. Some organizations in the U.S. standardize all aspects of goods while others standardize a few components of goods. Either way, the approach leads to cost saving and consistency across the world (Doole & Lowe, 2008).
Opportunity for U.S. companies
China and India are America's Biggest Opportunity. China and India are the U.S.' third biggest market for exports, behind Mexico and Canada; their two direct neighbors, with whom they have free trade associations. America's exports to India and China have developed at a much speedier pace than exports to any of their top trading associates. From 2000 to 2011, U.S. exports to China expanded by 632% (Heide, 2013). Interestingly, throughout the same period America's exports to the remaining countries expanded by just 170%. Additionally, America's exports to China have developed much quicker than their imports from China.
The greatest beneficiaries of the chances China presents are many medium and small-size American organizations. America is not simply offering China agricultural items and products like scrap metals, waste papers, and utilized tires. Surprisingly, the biggest American export to China is electronics and computers. In all the leading exports to India and China, four are sorted as manufactured products. In opposition to the perceptions of many people, the U.S. manufacturing is very much alive. The U.S. is still the planet's top manufacturer of the tangible commodities that individuals can touch and see (Heide, 2013).
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