Two irons glued with glues made in China, 100 pounds to anyone who can break them open. Meanwhile, it recorded participants’ comments toward made in China before the challenge, selected meaningful clips and conversations, made short videos, posted them on social media, and created interesting hashtag such as #Surprisingmadeinchina and #Sorrymadeinchina.
By the end of the campaign, 10 participants joined the campaign.
There are three key word for participants’ impressions of Made in China: low price, mass production and vulnerable.
Overall, through this interactive activity, all the participants were failed to open the boxes and they all admitted the firmness of glue Made in China, which basically achieve my purpose to change the stereotype: low quality at some extents for Made in China.
“Why is the product quality the same as overseas, but consumer perception so poor? Because our country’s level of manufacturing and development does not reach a high level of credit with foreign consumers.” –Huang 2019
Huang Xiaochuan, founder and chairman of D&S Media Group, a renowned expert in public relations in China, director of the China International PR Association
WARC Report
-Causal Factors 1. Chinese firms did not have the long and deep history of brand strategy and brand management 2. The absence of a competitive context for most of the top Chinese companies, such as China Mobile or Bank of China, which were or had been owned by the state. 3. Most top managers in China are not trained in marketing and are more focused on operations, costs, and delivering functional benefits. -Misunderstanding Chinese marketers believe that the uniqueness of Chinese culture gives Chinese brands an overseas competitive advantage and that foreign consumers are interested in branded communications celebrating the growth of the Chinese economy.
Thoery Guidance
Brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers” (American Marketing Association). “Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand” (Kotler & Keller, 2015) According to Marion (2022),branding can be achieved through: 1. Brand definition: purpose, values, promise
2. Brand positioning statement
3. Brand identity: name, tone of voice, visual identity design (which includes the logo design, color palette, typographies…)
4. Advertising and communications: TV, radio, magazines, outdoor ads, website, mobile apps…
5. Sponsoring and partnerships
6. Product and packaging design
7. In-store experience
8. Workspace experience and management style
9. Customer service
10. Pricing strategy
Reference
China lacks brand instincts(2013), WARC[Website], Available at:https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/china-lacks-brand-instincts/31503 (Accessed on 4th May 2023)
Branding(2023), American Marketing Association[Webiste], Avaiable at: https://www.ama.org/topics/branding/page/41/ (Accessed on 4th May 2023) Holistic Marketing: A Broad, Integrated Perspective to Marketing
Management(Kevin Lane Keller & Philip Kotler 2006), Does Marketing Need Reform?: Fresh Perspectives on the Future[E-book] Available at: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315705118-48/holistic-marketing-broad-integrated-perspective-marketing-management-kevin-lane-keller-philip-kotler (Accessed on 4th May 2023)
What is branding? (Marion 2022), The Branding Journal[Website], Available at: https://www.thebrandingjournal.com/2015/10/what-is-branding-definition/ (Accessed on 4th May 2023)
Lack of manufacturing added value 26.5% is China’s industrial value added rate, while the global average for this figure is 35% and for developed countries it is 40% . –CNTV 2010
Lack of brand power Branding capabilities are still at the low end of the scale and lack a brand image. “Why is the product quality the same as overseas, but consumer perception so poor? Because our country’s level of manufacturing and development does not reach a high level of credit with foreign consumers.” –Huang 2019
Causal Factor
History Aspect According to Zhou(2021), the formation of luxury brands are based on the exclusive rights and benefits of the creation of class, the status symbols of the rich, and the self-realisation based on the emancipation of individuality. PRC was founded only a few decades ago, Open policy was only forty years ago as well, and modernization is even a recent event, so it is objectively impossible to cultivate local luxury brands
Policy Aspect According to Newsweek(2009), China’s weak protection for intellectual-property rights—the patents and ideas that are the solid core of any brand—makes it risky for companies to invest heavily in innovations that could make them famous worldwide but could easily be stolen by rivals at home. Aker(2013) also points China’s government is in lack of motivation to branding development in past decades due to most powerful enterprises in China were transformed by national enterprise or government-own enterprise, which build their initial trusts toward customer by authority endorsement rather than brand.
Motiviation
China’s labour costs are only 4% lower than those of the US Inherent patterns had to be changed！
China’s government is now importance on branding and manufactuing added value.
Made in China has the objective conditions to make quality, creativity and originality.
Solution
Based on theory from Yang(1997), there are 5 paths to increase added value: Technology This is my direction for making breakthrough because personally enterprise and individual can directly operate in technology innovation while other four paths may ask higher resources from external such as national influence, culture accumlation and so on. Culture Art Originality Brand
Brief
1. Create a faux fur, keeping the feature of animal-friendly, with advatanges of performance and environment like real fur. 2. Lab-grown Mink
Reference
Aavailable at：http://jingji.cntv.cn/20101025/103495.shtml (Accessd 28th April 2023) Aavailable at：http://hk.ocmfa.gov.cn/chn/zt/gjfz/201603/t20160318_8123892.htm (Accessd 28th April 2023) Aavailable at：https://www.sohu.com/a/312279024_786687 (Accessd 28th April 2023) Aavailable at：https://www.newsweek.com/why-china-cant-create-brands-81989 (Accessd 28th April 2023) Aavailable at：https://hbr.org/2013/06/will-china-catch-up-on-brandin (Accessd 28th April 2023) Aavailable at：https://hkje.com/2021/05/31/%E5%91%A8%E5%A9%B7%EF%BC%9A%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E4%B8%BA%E4%BB%80%E4%B9%88%E6%B2%A1%E6%9C%89%E8%87%AA%E5%B7%B1%E7%9A%84%E5%A5%A2%E4%BE%88%E5%93%81%E7%89%8C%EF%BC%9F/ (Accessd 28th April 2023) Aavailable at：https://www.ndrc.gov.cn/wsdwhfz/202302/t20230228_1350277.html (Accessd 28th April 2023) Aavailable at：http://www.news.cn/fortune/2023-03/31/c_1129481817.htm (Accessd 28th April 2023)
As reported in the presentation, the changing needs of women in terms of clothing versus the reality of purchasing power and productivity. This bibliography will mainly concentrate on female consumer psychology, fashion sustainability, shared economy and stakeholder theory. The article “Consumer Behavior: Women and Shopping”(Huddleston and Minahan 2011) highlights the complex relationship between women and shopping, and explores the various factors that influence women’s purchasing decisions. The authors argue that women’s shopping behavior is shaped by a variety of factors, including power and independence, creativity and self-identity, and meeting emotional needs. Honesty, this writing focuses primarily on marketing upgrades and macro-analysis of women’s shopping journey, but also explains the multiple psychological causes of women’s shopping in the process, which provides some evidence of the validity of the phenomenon reported on presentation. To emphasize, shopping for women is not simply a matter of buying, but a psychological release: it is about positive distraction, escape, indulgence, elevation of self esteem, activation, sense of control and social connection. Based on finding above, it must be admitted that women’s shopping behaviour is repetitive and does not stop when they already have something, and this poses a great challenge to the fashion industry, both in terms of objective productivity and ethics. Therefore, the aim of Todeschini et. al., (2017) is to investigate innovative business models in the fashion industry that have sustainability as their defining characteristic, especially in terms of value proposition. Essentially, this study aims to understand the entrepreneurial dynamics of sustainable business models in the resource-intensive fashion industry. It combines a systematic literature review with empirical research including interviews with specialists and case studies of innovative, sustainably-focused fashion startups. The study proposes a framework for trends, drivers, opportunities, and challenges in sustainable business models in fashion. In Todeschini’s theory, sharing economy is one of the many emerging entrepreneurial approaches that address sustainable issue. According to Martin(2016), the sharing economy includes a variety of online peer-to-peer economic activities, including Airbnb’s rentals, Uber’s for-profit services and Freecycle’s gifting systems. the success of Airbnb and Uber has sparked debate about the potential benefits and drawbacks of the sharing economy. However, all frameworks for the sharing economy have an innovative vision that aims to decentralise and disrupt established socio-technical and economic structures. Six methods of sharing economy are framed respectively (1) as an economic opportunity; (2) as a more sustainable form of consumption; (3) as a pathway to a decentralized, equitable, and sustainable economy; (4) as creating unregulated marketplaces; (5) as reinforcing the neoliberal paradigm; and (6) as an incoherent field of innovation. Last but not least, Martin points if the sharing economy continues on the path of corporate collaboration, it is unlikely to drive the transition to sustainability. Therefore, there is still a long way for sharing economy to accomplish sustainable goals while at least, this concept shows the potential and theory supporting for vision of sustainability. Moreover, in respect of stakeholder, Laplume et al. (2008) conducted a content analysis of 179 articles that directly addressed Freeman’s work on stakeholder theory. The study revealed five main themes: stakeholder definition and salience, stakeholder actions and responses, firm actions and responses, firm performance, and theory debates. The findings provide insights into how stakeholders and firms interact, and highlight key debates within the literature on stakeholder theory. This study adds to the existing body of research on stakeholder theory by identifying and analyzing the major themes and trends in the literature. Furthermore, Minming(2021) concludes 10 types of stakeholder in business which can be divided into internal or external, primary or secondary and direct or indirect. The stakeholder illustration in former presentation is also inspired under her guidance.
Reference 1.Huddleston, P. and Minahan, S(2011). Consumer behavior: Women and shopping [e-book]. Business Expert Press. Available at: https://www.businessexpertpress.com/books/consumer-behavior-women-and-shopping/ [Accessed 13 Apr. 2023]. 2.Villa Todeschini, B., Cortimiglia, M. N., Callegaro-de-Menezes, D., & Ghezzi, A. (2017). Innovative and sustainable business models in the fashion industry: Entrepreneurial drivers, opportunities, and challenges. Business Horizons, 60(6), 759-770. 3.Martin, C. J. (2016). The Sharing Economy: A Pathway to Sustainability Or A Nightmarish Form of Neoliberal Capitalism?. Ecological Economics,volume 34, issue 6 . 4.Laplume, A. O., Sonpar, K., & Litz, R. A. (2008). Stakeholder Theory: Reviewing A Theory That Moves Us. Journal of Management. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0149206308324322 [Accessed 13 Apr. 2023]. 5.Minning, L. (2021). The 10 Types of Stakeholders That You Meet in Business[Website], Active Campaign. Available at: https://www.activecampaign.com/blog/types-of-stakeholders [Accessed 13 Apr. 2023].
Image from https://www.amazon.com/The-Up-Series/dp/B074MGWDPF
Basics: The Up series of documentary films follows the lives of ten males and four females in England beginning in 1964, when they were seven years old. The first film was titled Seven Up!, with later films adjusting the number in the title to match the age of the subjects at the time of filming.
Inspiration: From the first film, all participated kids were invited to London Adventure Playground for fun. Even under similar age and occasion, all kids made different performance, some wanted to climb, some enjoyed the slides, some observed others quietly, some want to fight with others and some showed nervous and wanted to leave…Through this short scene, it is obvious that desire is uncertain. It changed constantly and be different from each individuals completely.
Image from video screenshot
Qinyi Du push
Image from https://www.baike.com/wikiid/1190564815940241130?view_id=2tgibzvt6sk000
Qinyi Du: Du qinyi formerly known as Du Changrui, was born in Tianjin on September 30, 1983. She is an actor, program host and singer in Mainland China. Graduated from the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy. In year of 2017, Du joined the international extreme variety show “Beast-master” produced by Netflix as the host of the Chinese team.
Tips: Du is a good entertainer in China, however, she get her fume mainly through her push over Tiktok, China about her shift from Dink member to a well-known mother. Through her video, it is all fact a lady owns a totally opposite idea about next generation in different ages. Therefore, it is a great example desire is uncertain and changeable.
Image from video screenshot
https://v.douyin.com/BLhHJQs/ (Accessed on 30th Jan. 2023)
This theory from SEP mainly talks about three aspect of desire: existing theories, varieties and related controversies.
1. Existing theory are mainly different from the desire base: action, pleasure, good, attention, learning and holistic analysis. In order to clarify the importance and differences among all theories. Here is a chart inspired by author:
Theory classification
Concept Brief
Own-Reflection
Action-based Theories
For an organism to desire p is for the organism to be disposed to act so as to bring about p.
It is full of opposes due to insufficient limitations. However it is the fundamental and most widely-hold theory.
For an organism to desire p is for the organism to be disposed to take whatever actions it believes are likely to bring about p.
It is more advance based on theory above, however it is still in lack of distinction and strict proofing
Pleasure- based Theories
For an organism to desire p is for the organism to be disposed to take pleasure in it seeming that p and displeasure in it seeming that not-p.
It finds a distinction, pleasure as the adding for action-based theories.However, sometimes pleasure has causal or representational relationship with desire.
Good-based Theories
For an organism to desire p is for it to believe p is good.
This kinds of theories are inspired by the close relationship between good and desire. However, it is in lack of discuss as a disparate theory with action-based theories.
For an organism to desire p is for p to appear good to the organism.
Attention-based Theories
For an organism to desire p is for the thought of p to keep occurring to the organism in a favorable light, so that its attention is directed insistently toward considerations that present themselves as counting in favor of p.
It is a theory focus on reasons rather than goodness. It may be not complete enough because of an attention-based sufficient condition for the existence of a desire onl
For an organism to desire p is for it to be disposed to keep having its attention drawn to reasons to have p, or to reasons to avoid not-p.
It is an enriching for attention-based theories on standing desire. Again, it is new and not sufficient discussed by conservation theorists.
Learning-based Theories
For an organism to desire p is for it to use representations of p to drive reward-based learning.
For an organism to desire p is for it to use representations of p to drive reward-based learning. It points desire is a reward-based learning mechanisms. However, there is few followers for this theory due to the loss of common features public endorse with: either a rejection of a priori constraints on theories of desire, or acceptance of the idea that it is a priori that desires are best theorized as a natural kind that might.
Holistic (Functionalist and Interpretationist)
Holistic theories rarely provide full list of desire-like features but some features always play role for desire and further desire observation.
Different with former theories with single feature focus. Holistic theories emphasize the whole desire-related features as the theoretical core.
2. Existing theory are mainly different from the desire base: action, pleasure, good, For desire varieties, it is including desire for object and state of affairs. Majority of theories point desire is always for conceivable states of affairs. While some think desire is for object at some or all situations. Moreover, intrinsic, instrumental and realizer desire actually is the explanation for desire under primary, secondary and further stage, which personally regards as a similar trend with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Last but not least, this section also talk about feature classification for desire:strong and weak desire,; occurrent and standing desire. 3. The controversies of desire are on 6 aspects: direction of fit, origins, preference, reasons, well-being and praiseworthiness:
In direction of fit, beliefs is another important concept which has opposite “direction of fit”
For origins, instrumental and realizer desires have relative rare doubts and it is generally generated by reasoning process, for intrinsic, some think it is inherent, some think it is another further reasoning process while some focus on its rationality and non-rationality.
Preference and desire are mainly talked in literature of decision theory. It may have different utilities, action, pleasure and choice-worthiness to support the different aspects of desire theories and avoid the conflict between decision theories and desire. However, which one is more fundamental is still the main debating between preference and desire.
Reasons and desire are strongly debated on meta-ethic, whatever humean or neo-humean is, both of them have similar view that reason to act depends on exiting desire. The biggest challenge for this theory is moral consideration: there is no motivation for people to act morally based on their desire.
Well-being and desire have controversies in normative ethics. Personally, controversies in this area is over ideal. It may ignore the negative part of human-being.
Praiseworthiness is another debate with desire. However, similar with well-being, its role toward desire is also idealistic. Most theory related to this area show idealism.
Overall, this literature basically illustrates concept, theory, focus and related academic research about desire in current circumstances. Through this book, my personal knowledge toward desire is enriched and this literature also inspire me for further learning about desire.
The greatest uncertainty of human-being is desire(Xue 2020)
This is an article inspired by book, Gap(Wang Chong 2013). It illustrates desire as 4 layers: physical-driven, result-driven, self-realization and curiosity-driven.
In this article, physical-driven desire is from comparison, which leads competition, envy and enemy. This may be subjective views from author however it, indeed, shows some related factors leading uncertain desire.
For result-driven desire, it is secondary form which is based on the satisfaction for physical needs. Author use ‘losers are always in the wrong’ to illustrate the sate of result-driven. Personally, the writing for both physical and result motivated shows a feeling of despise, but it is still the fundamental for desire in actual.
Author points there is a controversy for shift between self-realization and result-driven desire. The main distinction is based on consequence: mental or physical.
Last but not least, curiosity is a transcendent layer of desire which can assisting all former layers of desire. In author’s opinion, it is uncertain and can leading the uncertainty of desire, which positively affecting the development of human-being.
Interview–Cheyenne
In order to understand further about desire, I make a quick interview with peer, Cheyenne. As a primary research, this conversation is a good reference for public perception for desire uncertainties.
Image from phone screenshot
Question
Feedback
What is your biggest desire at present? Is it changed compared with 5 years ago while do you think will it be changed in 5 years later?
1. Desire is more about relationship and friendship on Cheyenne’s current age. 2. When she were younger, her desire was mainly about fun, laughing and making friend. Therefore, desire was changed. 3. She believes her desire will be changed to find a partner and have a family in the future.
How do you think about uncertainties of desire? Terrifying, interesting, confusing or something else?
It is confusing because she points the variation of experience and age can both influence life and desire incessantly.
