Kids in China 2007: Children As Consumers & Lifestyle Trends

appreciate the full horrors suffered by the previous generation during a World War, it will perhaps be even harder for the new generation of Chinese to appreciate the shadows of pre-Deng Xiaoping China, and the “Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution”.

Many of China’s children are now born in a country that is radically different to the China of just 25 years ago. The economy has gone from bust to boom, the nation is now an outward-looking international heavyweight rather than an hermit pariah, there are computers and mobile phones everywhere. The bicycle used to represent technology, there are now massive luxury shopping malls, the Chinese can world travel, put a man in space and host the Olympics. Chinese children must feel that the new century is all about them and their country.

There were, in 2006, about 312 million Chinese under the age of 15. But, while the rest of the population of China grew by about 7.5% since 2000, the 0-14 age group only grew by about 1%. China’s children are therefore entering an ageing population - a profound break with history, and in stark contrast with other, more youthful, developing Asian nations, such as India and Vietnam.

As China develops into one of the world’s largest economies, and its consumer market grows in world significance, so the Chinese consumer of tomorrow has become the focus of huge amounts of product and brand marketing expenditure. If the children of today can be made loyal to a brand now, what potential for sales in the future, in a country where the economy continues to grow at over 9% a year?

China’s children are bombarded with media messages from all angles, all the time - from billboards, posters, TV at home, TV in taxis, cinemas, magazines, food packaging, lunch boxes, clothing, text m essages, websites, store shelves, radios, etc. All of this is having an effect, and some of it detrimental. Childhood obesity rates are soaring, and rates of depression and mental health problems are also increasing.

Yet, this new generation has a world view that their parents’ generation never dreamed of, has access to better healthcare, better education, more and better toys and electronic gadgets and not only a wider choice of careers to aspire to, but choice, full stop. Not only can they aspire to own a home and a car, many are likely to have these provided for them by their doting parents.

This is also the generation of the One Child Policy - the “little emperors”, doted upon by two parents and up to four grandparents, plus various aunts and uncles. Only children, in a society of only children, will learn to, and be expected to behave differently, more pressure to succeed will be placed upon them, and all of this is affecting how these children see themselves within their society, and how this affects their behaviour as people, and as consumers.