From "Made in China" to "Created in China", "Hardcore" fans of domestic products
In recent years, domestic products have become a new trend in Chinese consumption.
From domestic mobile phones such as Huawei and Xiaomi to domestic cosmetics such as Perfect Diary and Huaxizi, new products are often snapped up by consumers once they are launched, and there is even a phenomenon of "wild consumption".
Facing the trend of domestic products, some analysts believe that consumers' "consciousness of domestic products" is the driving force behind this wave of shopping.
Undoubtedly, "domestic product awareness" does play a key role, but looking at the entire market, facing discerning consumers, the strong rise of domestic brands depends on more than just "domestic product awareness".
As the saying goes, iron requires its own hard work. The stable improvement of the quality of domestic products and the implicit change from "Made in China" to "Created in China" constitute the "hard core" element that continues to attract fans.
As a concept with rich connotation, "Made in China" has gradually replaced "Made in China" and is widely recognized by the world.
Unlike made in China, Chinese creation is mainly through technological innovation and breakthroughs to achieve all-round upgrades in the quality, performance, and appearance of the product itself, so that consumers can see and experience innovations and stimulate their desire to buy. In the past, the situation where domestic products were simply struggling with prices in the market has gradually broken its stereotyped labels such as copycats and inferior quality.
In other words, China Creation is using higher-level creative activities to enhance consumers' recognition and loyalty to products, thereby promoting "wild consumption."
From Made in China to Created in China, not only the form of production, but also the logic of production has changed.
In the past, many local companies mainly focused on OEM or low-price competition. Over time, domestic brands fell into a vicious circle of "cheap but not good goods, and good goods not cheap".
In order to break this vicious circle, companies upholding the concept of Chinese creation have immersed themselves in hard work, exchanged time for space, devoted themselves to research and development, and strived to improve product capabilities.
After the rigorous tests of the market, a group of high-quality, fashionable and tasteful domestic brands have come to the fore. They have been genuinely recognized by consumers, and the market has entered a virtuous circle of development.
For example, in the wireless vacuum cleaner market, Dyson has always occupied a major share.
However, with the innovation and improvement of domestic brands such as Xiaomi and Huawei, Dyson’s attention has dropped from 34.33% in 2016 to 22% in 2019. In the semi-annual statistics in 2020, it has dropped to about 14%. .
This shows that the market will not fail domestic products that focus on product strength.
In addition to the increase in product power, the increase in the added value of domestic products is also a key factor that triggers consumer purchases.
In the past, researchers described the mentality of Chinese consumers in this way, “Any Chinese consumer with strong self-esteem does not want to be seen as using domestic brands.” Only a few years later, this situation has changed drastically. In corporate publicity, it is clearly stated that the products they launch are not just cold "tools", but artistic works of art. More and more companies are beginning to pay attention to the value of their products.
For example, domestic brand mobile phones have more and more colors, more refined workmanship, and more and more ergonomic styles.
The improvement of the appearance of domestic products is an aspect of the upgrading of domestic products.
The excellent market pursuit of domestic products has satisfied the self-confidence and self-esteem of the younger generation of consumers. They are more and more willing to buy domestic brands, and even regard the use of domestic products as a new ritual for "building identity," "expressing emotions," and "connecting fun."
In their view, the high-end products created in China are no less than foreign brands in terms of quality and brand reputation, and the "social status" gap between the two has gradually been wiped out.
In addition, domestic brands are also gaining more overseas fans.
Due to continuous innovation, Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry's port machinery (quayside crane) products account for more than 80% of the global port machinery market share, and Chinese machinery is present in all ports that have container operations.
In the familiar fields of mobile phones, computers and televisions, domestic brands have also achieved impressive results in the global market.
At the same time as the rise of domestic products, we must also see that temporary consumption enthusiasm and word-of-mouth traffic do not mean permanent. In order to keep domestic brands always vigorous, in addition to internal continuous innovation, they also need the guiding support of national policies.
Since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, some companies have fallen into the dilemma of unsustainable innovation. Although the market economy can stimulate innovation with high returns, it cannot fundamentally solve all the risks of innovation.
Therefore, in order to ensure continuous innovation, it is necessary for the government to implement various preferential policies in taxation, patent protection, etc., to create the best policy environment for the rise of domestic products.
(The author is the deputy director of the Communication and Social Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law)
Nie Shujiang Source: China Youth Daily