| Since China entered the aging society in1999, people from industry andacademia have paid more and more attention on consumption problems of agingChinese consumers. Unlike other ages, aging consumers have more leisure time andconsuming power, thus they are one of the business emphasis on the potentialconsumer market. In the study of aging Chinese consumers’ brand preference, wefound that they especially preferred Chinese old brands. From the analysis of itsformation factors, we found that Chinese old brands are irreplaceable in those agingChinese consumers’ mind. With the study on aging consumers’ brand preference andpreference to Chinese old brands, this thesis takes nostalgic tendency, reference groupand consumers’ self-confidence into the study of aging consumers’ preference toChinese old brands. The thesis considers nostalgic tendency and reference grouprespectively analyze consumers’ brand preference from internal and externalpsychological impact, while consumers’ self-confidence analyzes old brandpreference from the view of perception of the brand. Those three factors have certaineffects on aging consumers’ preference to Chinese old brands.Firstly, the thesis studied the effect of nostalgic tendency on aging Chineseconsumers’ preference to Chinese old brands. Nostalgic tendency is defined asconsumers’ good feeling to things (people, objects or places), which are morecommon during the younger period (early adulthood, adolescence, childhood or evenbefore birth)(Holbrook&Schindler,1991). Nostalgic tendency can better people’sbad mood and brings more good memories and comfort people with warmth andsupport. Nostalgic tendency can promote aging consumers’ emotional support andbrand trust for the old Chinese brands, and causes brand preference. Nostalgictendency can be divided into three dimensions, interpersonal nostalgia, familynostalgia and personal nostalgia (He Jiaxun,2010), which affect aging Chineseconsumers’ preference to Chinese old brands from various aspects.Secondly, the thesis studied the effect of the reference group to aging Chineseconsumers’ preference to Chinese old brands. Reference group is defined as individuals or groups of people, like family, friends, colleagues, neighbors orspokesperson, celebrities and authorities (Moutinho,1987). Specifically, the impactof the reference group can be divided into three dimensions, which are informationalinfluence, utilitarian influence and value-expressive influence. These threedimensions affect aging consumers’ brand preferences from various aspects.Thirdly, the thesis studied moderate effect of consumers’ self-confidence.Consumers’ self-confidence is defined as degree of certainty to products whenindividuals make market decisions (Bearden, Hardesty and Rose,2001). Through thestudy of references, this research found that consumers’ self-confidence has a widerange of effect on consumers’ brand preference. Compared with new brands, agingconsumers have more comprehensive and profound understanding on old brands. It’svery beneficial for the formation and maintenance of old brand preference. Therefore,it’s critical for aging consumers to explore consumers’ self-confidence. Especially inthe effect of nostalgic tendency and reference group to aging consumers’ preferenceto Chinese old brands, consumers’ self-confidence plays a very important role inregulating. The understanding and certainty of aging consumers to old Chinese brandsaffect brand preference a lot.Based on the studies mentioned above, This thesis takes nostalgic tendency,reference group, consumers’ self-confidence and old Chinese brand into a framework,comprehensively discuss the interrelationship among these four factors, and proposesa model of “nostalgic tendency, reference group—aging Chinese consumers’preference to Chinese old brands”. The model is consisted by four parts. These fourparts interweave together with their causality and regulation relations, outline thecomplex effect of nostalgic tendency and reference group to aging Chineseconsumers’ preference to Chinese old brands.A questionaire has been made according to some in-depth interviews to anumber of aged consumers and pre-tests done by them. Then a large-scalequestionaire investigation was made toward the aged customers in Jilin province,Liaoning province and Beijing, etc. Basic descriptive statistic analysis has been doneto the collected data, verification and effect tests to the collected data were done andfactor analysis and multi-level regression analysis were conducted and tested so that the theory structure and presumption of this study can be proved. This studydiscovers that:First, the inclination to nostalgia can influence the aged consumers’ preferenceto the Chinese old brands. During the in-depth interviews and the questionaireinvestigations, researchers have found that their nostalgia characteristics agree withtheir enthusiasm for national culture and national brands and that many agedconsumers still like old brands. They have good memories of the experiences,happiness and harmonic interpersonal relationship and family life in the past. Aperson’s past experience will have a deep effect on his/her brand preference now, andwill influence the aged consumers’ preference to the current brand preference. TheChinese old brands are liked by the aged consumers for their traditional culturalessence and quality assurance. Therefore, the inclination to nostalgia has a deepinfluence on the aged consumers’ preference to the Chinese old brands.Second, reference group can affect the aged consumers’ preference to theChinese old brands. The Chinese old brands can reflect national spirit and traditionalculture and have fine quality, and they have good market reputation. The brandpreference of the reference group will influence the aged consumers’ preference tothe Chinese old brands. This study shows that the aged consumers desire theacknowledgement of others and hope to show their values and tastes, and they willchoose a Chinese old brand to cater to the preference of their families, friends andneighbours. Therefore, the interest and valuing of the reference group will have asignificant positive influence on the aged consumers’ preference to the Chinese oldbrands.Third, consumer confidence can more or less adjust the influence of inclinationto nostalgia and reference group on the preference to the Chinese old brands. Throughin-depth interviews and questionaire investigation, it is discovered that the agedconsumers with stronger consumer confidence will be less affected by interpersonalrelationship and family nostalgia in terms of their preference to the Chinese oldbrands. Stronger consumer confidence is good for the relation between the influencesof reference group and the preference to the Chinese old brands. Meanwhile, it is alsofound that consumer confidence does not have significant effect on the relation between personal nostalgia and the aged consumers’ preference to the Chinese oldbrands.This thesis takes nostalgic tendency, reference group, consumers’self-confidence and old Chinese brand into a framework, and can clearly identify anddetermine the reality of nostalgic tendency and reference group influence, enrich theresearch ideas of the aged consumers’ preference，provide a useful complement to theaged consumers’ preference research in the field. At the same time, this study hasinsight into the behavior characteristics of the aged consumers, study the maininfluencing factors of brand preference, provide reference for enterprises to developeffective marketing strategy. In addition, this study reveals the real situation andliving condition of the aged consumers, take the analysis of the problems of the agedconsumers’ living. This is not only meet the needs of the aged consumers,but also hasa practical significance to improve the social security mechanism in China. |
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