China's Super Consumers: What 1 Billion Customers Want and How to Sell it to Them

Chapter 17Segmentation

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

—Audre Lorde

After defining the Chinese super consumer—and coming to understand the fact that there is both a China market and a China Global Demographic Market—it is important that we further define Chinese consumers by way of segmentation. How can you possibly know which of the more than 1 billion consumers are potentially yours?

Surveying China

When it comes to studying and analyzing the demographic tapestry that is the China super consumer, the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company sets the standard. It has been conducting annual consumer surveys in China since 2005, with more than 60,000 people in over 60 Chinese cities interviewed so far. Surveying in China is not an easy task, due to its vast geography, but McKinsey has gained tremendous insights on Chinese consumers' income growth, shifting spending patterns, and rising expectations, and they are different from their American counterparts. These surveys provide a better understanding of the different consumer segments and how they've grown.

Gordon Orr has been the chairman of Asia for McKinsey since 1996 and he is responsible for McKinsey's client services in the region. Orr opened McKinsey's office in Beijing and led McKinsey's Greater China practice for many years. In addition, he has led McKinsey's strategy and technology practices in Asia. Orr has served on McKinsey's global ...