At night falls, when in the security of their own room, are a Chinese consumer's dreams much different from those of say a North American? Or indeed, are they even more so?
Consumerism was not a sleeping partner in the mass of factors that has seen the US rise to the most powerful nation on earth, and it's citizens among the most wealthy. The desire to work harder to earn that next consumable is a powerful motivation.
For those marketers who focus on the difference between Chinese and American consumers, and indeed, within as well as between, the LA Times are running an interesting article titled - Welcome to Orange County, China
An hour's drive from the heart of Beijing, a Chinese developer, working with a Newport Beach architect and Orange County designers, is capitalizing on what may become the world's largest housing market in an era of rapid economic reform in China.
"We wanted to create a whole environment that was in the American style," said Yao Wang, the developer's representative in Los Angeles. "Sunshine. Palm trees. Make people feel good."
What's being built offers more than a window onto China's booming housing construction market. It's a recognition of cultural changes, fueled by money, that are sweeping China and creating a new upwardly mobile class with an appetite for all things Western.
The Chinese Dream, in this case, looks a lot like the American Dream, down to its last master-planned, manicured, marbled and guard-gated detail.
Published March 10, 2002 06:48 PM in China PRC
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