Definition

Market Research is defined as the systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation (here the market entry to China) that a company is facing.

Introduction

For many first-time entrants China might be quite different than any other foreign market they have ever entered before. This is due to some unique features of the Chinese market, such as:

• Its pure size (both territorial and population)
• Its geographical, demographical, and cultural complexity
• The rapid speed by which the market evolves
• Frequently changing rules, regulations and focus of law enforcement authorities
• Non-coherent implementation of WTO rules and their enforcement.
• The lack of transparency regarding regulations
• The lack of publicly available data (including consumer information)
• The degree to which information can be trusted

Lessons learned

• Do not only rely on information that is freely available through the Internet in English or any other language other than Chinse
• The best information comes from within China, thus get a qualified translator and researcher
• Unless you were raised in China, get help from local advisors, consultants, and lawyers.
• Do not get the research done yourself!
• To achieve the same reliability in your findings, you must do more than sqr(mC/mH)
• Chinese bureaucracy is a monster, thus do not rely on generic information but specifics in any situation (product, region, governmental level, ...)
• Do not hire the first best consultant, but spend much time on evaluating one. Trust and reliability is key and finding the right person(s) can be quite time consuming.
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