Globalisation has led to the growth of Chinese market and there is growth in the fashion industry that has attracted large number of customers from the global market (Kim and Ko, 2012). The firms have tried to bridge the differences among the cultures by manufacturing the apparels that are suitable for all types of cultures (Kim and Ko, 2012). The market stimulants such as the fashion shows conducted on the television and the fashion events held in the urban shopping malls increases the customer base for the fashion brands in the global economy (Knight and Young Kim, 2007). China has acquired a large market share by manufacturing the luxury brands and the luxury retailers across the globe have focused on the Chinese market (Shi, et al., 2012). The luxury goods manufacturers have focused on the rich young Chinese customers as they have a fascination for the purchase of the Chinese brands. The social media has played a key role in attracting the young generation of China towards the purchase of the products.
The market for fashion brand has become more diverse in China with the introduction of the designer brands, ethnicity and personalisation of the brands (Reinach and Wu, 2010). The demand for the fashion brands has also increased in the global market and the luxury brands are mainly demanded by the high income groups (Low and Lamb Jr, 2000). The social media is used by many of the customers in order to gather information regarding the newly launched products from the customers in the global market. The use of the social media marketing in creating the brand awareness in the Chinese market has began in the year 2009. The technology has helped the customers to know more about the brands and they can take up their decisions based on the information collected.
The luxury fashion market has gained its reputation in the Chinese market and therefore the research is conducted on the factors affecting the purchase intention as well as the brand loyalty of the Chinese customers (O'Cass, 2004). There is large number of fashion brands such as Gucci, Mont Blanc, Primark, Zara etc that has satisfied the customers in the international market and the customers demand more innovative products related to these brands. Moreover the marketers have been using various means to satisfy the customers that includes the internet marketing as well as the social media marketing.
The companies have been successful in promoting their products online and the brand loyalty among the customers has increased (Tong and Hawley, 2009a). The increase in the brand loyalty has added value to the purchase intention of the consumers and they are keen in purchasing more products (Kim and Ko, 2012). The research would help the researcher to understand the strategies adopted by the companies in creating the brand awareness and increasing the purchase intention of the customers. Social media marketing is considered to be one of the best strategies adopted by some of the luxury brands in order to set up their reputation in the global market. This type of marketing would be able to attract large population of people who use the social media for the communication purposes.
The aim of the research is to study the impact of the social media marketing on the purchase intention and brand loyalty of the customers in China. The companies consider the social media as the best mode to promote their products. The companies can attract the customers by informing them about the different schemes that they provide and also to collect the feedback from the customers regarding the products. The customers are able to select their brands online and know about the features that the different brand offers to them. Luxury brands mostly attract the young generation as they have the interest in using the innovative items and choose from the wide range of brands that are available in the market. The objectives of the research would be as follows:
The first chapter involves the introduction to the topic of study which involves the impact of social media on the brand awareness and purchase intention of the Chinese consumers. The luxury brands generally attract the young population and they prefer to carry out the research on different brands using the social media as well as online survey. The background of the study involves the details related to the Chinese customers and their interest towards social media. The significance of the research involves the importance of conducting the research. It indicates that the research would provide information regarding the strategies adopted by the company and the way the brands influence the customers’ intention to purchase the products. The objectives of the research are to evaluate the role of social media encouraging the customers to purchase the products.
The second chapter involves the literature review related to the purchase intention of the young generation in the Chinese market. The luxury brands are expected to attract the Chinese population as they are wealthy enough to invest money on these goods. The population in Chinese are interested in purchasing the goods with the unique designs and they are not concerned about the prices of the products.
