Chinese distribution practitioners' attitudes towards Italian quality foods
| Pages | 214-231 |
| Published date | 03 October 2008 |
| Date | 03 October 2008 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/17544400810912374 |
| Author | Hasimu Huliyeti,Sergio Marchesini,Maurizio Canavari |
| Subject Matter | Economics |
JCEFTS
1,3
214
Journal of Chinese Economic and
Foreign Trade Studies
Vol. 1 No. 3, 2008
pp. 214-231
#Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1754-4408
DOI 10.1108/17544400810912374
Chinese distribution
practitioners’ attitudes towards
Italian quality foods
Hasimu Huliyeti
Department of Economics and Trade, Xinjiang Agricultural University,
Xinjiang, People’s Republic of China, and
Sergio Marchesini and Maurizio Canavari
Department of Agricultural Economics and Engineering (DEIAgra), Alma
Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Abstract
Purpose – Food products’ ultimate destination is intended for the general public, but those who
supply the international markets are usually composed of a relatively small group of businessmen
including international buyers, purchasing agents and importers. Understanding the motivation
behind their purchasing decisions and the perceptions they have of the source countries can be
considered a key factor in developing a successful marketing approach. This paper focuses on
understanding the position of such a powerful minority towards imported Italian, high-quality agro-
food products in China, as well as the current communication, marketing, strategic and organizational
approaches of Italian producers, especially compared to other European competitors.
Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory approach based on qualitative interviews is
adopted, with the aim of highlighting Chinese perceptions regarding Italian food suppliers’ relevant
strengths and weaknesses. The primary data were collected through personal interviews with 25 key
informants in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
Findings – Survey results indicated that while Italian products are appreciated, current market
shares remain inferior to other countries due to inadequate marketing strategies and low investments
in promotion. Price sensitivity of Chinese consumers, less-established distribution channels and
competition with local products hindered further the market penetration.
Originality/value – At the best of our knowledge there is no prior research concerning the
gatekeepers attitudes towards quality food in the Chinese market. The paper provides a useful
insight into a topic that is relevant togathers of marketing intelligence and planners of marketing
strategy for Chinas market access in the rapidly changing and highly competitive food trade
environment.
Keywords China, Italy, Qualitative research, Distribution, Food industry, International trade
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1754-4408.htm
The present research was conducted in the framework of the BEAN-QUORUM project (TH/
Asia-link/006), cofunded by the European Union, within the Asia-link Europe-aid Cooperation
Programme. The authors acknowledge the support of the Alma Mater Studiorum – University
of Bologna through the Internationalisation grant assigned to the project Interlink II04C2B2CG.
An earlier version of the paper was presented during the International Workshop ‘‘China’s
agricultural economy and trade: agribusiness, food marketing, environmental issues and
evolving policies’’ organized by the Western Education and Research Activity (WERA 101) at
the Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 12-13 July 2007. The authors contributed equally
in designing the study, discussing the results and drawing the conclusions. S. Marchesini
contributed in collecting data and reviewing the literature and wrote section 5, H. Huliyeti was
the main contributor in data collection and wrote section 3, M. Canavari coordinated the
research and wrote sections 1, 2 and 4.
Attitudes
towards Italian
quality foods
215
1. Introduction
In terms of market expansion, China’s economic development holds potential that no
business would ignore. The population size, the increasing consumer affluence and a
strong momentum of economic growth make China a market in which many foreign
companies are attempting to gain a foothold. Its value is strategic for gaining global
market share and increasing competitiveness (Reuvid and Yong, 2003), especially for
the European Union (EU), as China represents the EU’s second largest trading partner
since 2003. With such rising influence of China in EU trade affairs, it becomes
extremely important to determine whether the factors that influence pu rchase in
western markets are of similar importance in the Chinese market.
Primary goods are by far the most important trading category for China. The rapid
growth of the food industry in China, as well as the growing demand for cheaper foodstuffs
in the EU markets is strengthening and intensifying the trade relationships between the
two trading blocks. The rise in exports from the EU to China reflects the country’s growing
interest in European food and drink products which are often perceived as stylish, elitist,
status-building and of good quality. In this article, we focus on Italian agri-food products,
considered to be a fundamental component of the so-called ‘‘Made in Italy’’ consumer
marketing strategy. This strategy utilizes a group of high-quality products, primarily
exported by Italian producers that are considered to be influential in shaping the country’s
image. While Italy generally is perceived as having a very positive image for Chinese
consumers, the market share for Italian products in China is surprisingly small.
The ultimate destination for agri-food products is intended for the general public ,
but those who actually supply the market belong to relatively small group of
businessmen: international buyers, purchasing agents, retailers and representatives
from large-scale distribution chains. The importance of such a p owerful minority is
often underestimated. These suppliers are, in fact, the gatekee pers who decide the
range of imported products available to consumers (Sternquist, 1994). Understanding
the drivers that influence consumer purchasing decisions, and the perceptions
consumers have of the source countries, is therefore a key factor in establishing a well-
developed marketing channel. The present study aims to classify Chinese distribution
practitioner’s attitudes towards imported Italian quality food products, as well as the
perceived effectiveness of the current marketing strategies of Italian producers, in
comparison with other competing countries.
Aside from updating the available knowledge on import and distribution of Italian
food products in China, this market-oriented study aims at pointing out the strengths
and weaknesses of Italian food manufacturers in China with the purpose of providing a
cognitive basis on how to satisfy customer requirements as efficiently as possible.
For this purpose, an exploratory research approach was adopted. The primary data
have been collected through personal interviews with key informants of trading and
distributing companies in three major cities of People’s Republic of China: Shanghai,
Beijing and Guangzhou. This information has been augmented with available literature
and secondary data. The interviews have been administered as conversation-like
dialogues, with the help of a semi-structured interview outline. The responses have been
evaluated in accordance with such framework, performing a qualitative content analysis.
The paper is structured as follows: first we provide an outline of the theo retical
background and a short discussion of the most relevant literature. Then, China’s
market for Italian food products is briefly depicted, the research methodology is
described and data and results of the analysis are examined. Finally, some conclusions
and managerial implications are discussed.
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