By now, you have learned the importance of <i>guanxi</i> management when you do business in China. And we have showed you earlier the rapid increase in Internet usage in China. How can you leverage on the information highway offered by the Internet to build <i>guanxi</i> between your brand and the Chinese customers, even if you are not doing online marketing in China? WeChat is a champion in China’s digital world. Its app-in-app function allows Chinese consumers to do a lot with its embedded functions like talking to friends, paying your utility bills, sending your friends money, and getting a cab. The list will grow, and is only limited by the imagination of the app writers. Taking advantage of the widespread influence of WeChat in the daily life of Chinese consumers, some companies have set up pages within the app to promote relationship with the consumers. Indeed, many companies soft launched their companies or products exclusively on WeChat first to build up a user community. Social media has shifted the playing field of traditional marketing from product-centric to consumer-centric. Businesses that use the new media in marketing should pay attention to the following points. First, the Internet offers very powerful media for corporate communication, particularly for companies that try to establish longer relationship with the Chinese consumers. Companies can use the new media to communicate their commitment and promises to the consumers. In general, communication on social media should serve four main purposes. They offer and communicate in a clear, relevant customer promise. They build trust by delivering on that promise. They drive the market by continually improving the promise. They seek further advantage by innovating beyond the familiar. Second, companies can engage the consumers in sharing information and experiences with your products and services to other consumers in an extended relationship network. However, it is also important to manage the word-of-mouth reputation of your brand in the online discussion forums. These concerns are particularly relevant to companies doing business in China. Why? Compared to American consumers, Chinese consumers tend to have stronger and tighter social network ties. Consumer views and perceptions, including rumors, tend to spread faster among consumers in their extended social networks. Again, compared to American consumers, Chinese consumers are more inclined to share their consumption experiences with their friends and families. Chinese consumers are more brand conscious. They are more likely to tell their close friends their experiences with a certain brand, or introduce their friends to the new brand. In short, for the Chinese more than for Americans, the new media is not a channel for product or brand exposure. It is social forum for building or destroying relationships between the brand and the consumers. Nonetheless, in social media, consumers can give unmediated feedback immediately to others or to the brand. Statistics like number of “Likes” are shown at a glance. Negative comments from a few vocal consumers can bias perceptions and dissuade new consumers from trying out new brands. Therefore, if not carefully managed, marketing on social media can easily backfire. Third, Chinese consumers tend to trust the informal social information, including information from the WeChat groups, more than they do information from formal institutional sources. The tendency of the Chinese consumers to trust the information and opinion from informal WeChat groups more is a reflection of the stronger collectivist values in Chinese culture. Research shows that collectivism is highly valued in Chinese culture. Collectivist culture, according to Hofstede, has a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society that is more collectivist will define their self-image as “we” and not “I”. Another reason for the Chinese consumers' tendency to trust informal groups more is the lack of relational mobility in Chinese societies. Most Chinese people belong to relatively stable social groups. Their relationships with others in the social groups are built on long-term exchanges of favors and in some cases positive affect. Compared to the faceless institutions, the informal groups are more trustworthy. Thus, the use of WeChat groups to promote trust with a consumer brand can be particularly effective in Chinese markets. Let’s recap what you have learned in this segment. Even if you are not doing online marketing in China, you can still leverage on the information highway offered by the Internet to build <i>guanxi</i> between your brand and the Chinese consumers. Companies have set up pages within the popular WeChat app or other similar platforms to promote relationship with their customers and build user communities. Companies can try to establish longer relationship with the Chinese consumers by trying new media to communicate their commitment and promises to the consumers. Companies can engage the consumers in sharing information and experiences with your products and services to other consumers in an extended relationship network. In social media, several unmediated hostile comments from a few vocal consumers can bias perceptions and ruin brand reputation. Therefore, companies should carefully manage online forums for customer sharing. Chinese consumers tend to trust informal social information more. Companies can leverage on this characteristic and build consumer trusts through informal social media groups. In the next segment, you will hear from an expert who will tell you how research in social media can help understand Chinese consumers.
