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http://dx.doi.org/10.20522/APJBR.2019.4.1.45

Attitudes Toward Mini-Packaging Products: The Case of China  

Pornpitakpan, Chanthika (Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau)
Li, Qiuling (Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau)
Sy-Changco, Joseph A. (Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau)
Chen, Junsong (Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau)
Publication Information
Asia Pacific Journal of Business Review / v.4, no.1, 2019 , pp. 45-60 More about this Journal
Abstract
Proposing that the main barriers to mini-packaging success in China, in contrast to India and the Philippines, is Chinese consumers' sociocultural values and attitudes toward products in mini packages, this study investigates the factors that potentially make the China market relatively not conducive to buying products in mini packages via a survey of 468 Chinese adults in Shanghai (first-tier city) and Zhuhai (second-tier city). Results show that respondents agree that products in mini packages are difficult to store once opened, are more expensive than are larger-sized products, do not provide good value for money, entail frequent shopping, are harmful to the environment, are not advertised, and are mainly for trying new products and for traveling. They disagree with many possible reasons for the unpopularity of products in mini packages. This study's contributions are (1) providing in-depth quantitative analysis of the possible reasons mini-packaging is not popular in China, (2) offering managerial advice for using mini-packaging to increase brand competitiveness, (3) developing a scale to measure attitudes toward products in mini packages; and (4) being empirical as opposed to merely anecdotal/speculative like some studies in this area.
Keywords
Product-management strategy; China's retailing; Mini-packaging; Sachet marketing; Chinese sociocultural values;
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