Category Archives: Customer behavior

11/11/13

Liberation Wrapper: The more you learn about your customers, the more successful you will be

Recently, Freshness Burger, the national hamburger chain in Japan, introduced a sneakily  designed burger wrapper which covers diner’s mouth with a printed “ochobo” mouth (small mouth).  In Japanese culture, “ochobo” is regard as an attractive feature of women. As claimed by Freshness Burger, the sales of its classic large burger to female customers was raised by 213% compared with the previous months due to this change.

The  success of Freshness Burger’s campaign shows how a better understanding of consumers’ behavior would help a business to achieve its success. Before this “Liberation Wrapper”, it might be a traditional view that women tend to eat small burgers due to their low capacity of eating. However, in most East Asian countries where women are relatively conservative, a large open mouth is considered rude and ugly in public so that most women would cover their mouths  when opening them to conduct good manner.

I think that kind of misunderstanding due to stereotype of consumer behaviors exists in many businesses. Businesses are actually losing potential profits because of that. Therefore, when it comes to interpret consumer behaviors, it is very important for businesses to discard stereotypes and have a deeper understanding of the cultural, social and personal factors.

Sources:

New Japanese Face Masks Let You Chow Down on a Burger While Maintaining Your Dignity.  (2013, November 5) Retrieved November 11 2013 from TIME: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/05/new-japanese-face-masks-let-you-chow-down-on-a-burger-while-maintaining-your-dignity/

 

10/7/13

Cultural difference is a main task for a company to enter a new market

China is considered as one of the world’s biggest markets with great potential, not only because of its large population, but also because of its rapid economic growth. So, for those world giant businesses, expanding their markets to China has always been one of the major tasks.

However, in e-commerce, even one of the giant companies eBay have withdrawn from Chinese market. Why? That is because those business models that can survive in China are totally different from the business models in foreign countries, especially the Consumer Relationships part.

For example,  the auction model in eBay stop people from talking, while the selling mode in Taobao encourages communication between consumers and merchants, which caters to Chinese customers’ nature of bargaining. In addition, in the auction model, the product which has been there for the longest time will sit on the top of the website, while in Taobao, it puts the newest products on the top.

In my point of view, in order to enter a new market, one of the most important things to consider is to understand the local culture and consumer behaviors. Different business models are required for a company to survive in different environments.

Source:

David W. E-commerce Bigger in China than United States (2013 Sep. 19) http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/19/business/on-china-alibaba-e-commerce/index.html