THE MALE CHINESE CONSUMERS GUIDE
DEMOGRAPHICS
Population：China has about 723 million men. The gender ratio is 105.07 and men make up 51.24% of the population. As of 2020, in the 25-34 age group, there were about 13 million more men than women.
Men outnumber women online as well and their online consumption can’t be ignored. In 2021, the number of male monthly active internet users hit 613 million in 2021 with Gen Z users showing higher levels of activity.
For purchases made online with computers 57% are by men and 43% are by women. For purchases made on mobile devices 53% are by men and 47% are by women.
The single male population: There are 240 million single people in China. This is equivalent to the population of the UK and Russia combined. There are far more single men in China than single women. There are 22.6 million more single men aged 20 to 29 and 7.16 million more single men aged 30 to 39. With more disposable income and less pressure to provide for the next generation, single men are more comfortable spending money on leisure, personal care items and high-end products and experiences.
Geographical distribution of male youth: The number of young men in eastern China is higher than in central and western China. Guangdong province has the most young men with 17.02 million permanent residents. The proportion of permanent urban male residents is highest in Beijing (88.4%), with Shanghai and Tianjin accounting for more than 80 percent.
Education levels and labour participation rates: Urban areas have the highest percentage of men with a secondary school education or higher (44.1 percent). Although the proportion of Chinese women in higher education is 7.2 percentage points higher than men, men have a greater advantage in employment. The size of the male working population is higher than the female workforce at all ages with the gap gradually decreasing with age.
Consumption levels: Male users are the backbone of online high-spending groups, and the trend continues to grow. There are 122 million men with online spending power over 1,000 yuan per month – an increase of 7% compared with the same period last year.
CONSUMPTION PREFERENCES
Consumption frequency and brand loyalty: Although Chinese women purchase more frequently than men, the unit price of Chinese men’s consumption is high. For online luxury consumption, women account for a slightly higher proportion than men, but the unit price for men’s purchases is 6% higher than that of women. The proportion of men who consume luxury goods three or more times per year is also higher than for women. Once Chinese male consumers start to pay attention to a brand, their brand loyalty is higher than women’s and they tend to keep buying it for a long time.
Use of credit payment options: Chinese male consumers have high acceptance for Ant Credit Pay (蚂蚁花呗) and other credit products because they’re more likely to overconsume. Overconsumption among young men aged 18-25 is as high as 72.8%. At the same time, their consumption purposes are clear and their decision-making time is short.
Consumption scenarios and channel preferences: Men spend on social and entertainment products and services as well as cars and financial products. Auto consumption has a TGI of 137 and financial product consumption’s TGI is 132. Men in a range of age groups account for 80% of consumers who plan to buy cars. For daily online consumption, top e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Pinduoduo and JD are the most popular with men.
Consumer preferences: Compared with women, male consumers pay more attention to the quality and practicality of goods. Most of them buy rationally and are not as easily affected by the appearance and presentation of goods.
They also pay attention to product efficacy and the overall quality of goods. However, a strong sense of status and competitiveness means that men pay less attention to prices when shopping than women and are unwilling to bargain to avoid being considered too stingy.
POPULAR CATEGORIES FOR CHINESE MALE CONSUMERS
Male consumer preferences change somewhat as they age. Young men spend mainly on sports, electronics and games. Older men focus more on cars, travel, watches, high-end consumption and luxury goods. Seniors focus on personal care and health consumption.
WHY DO YOU NEED CHINESE MARKETING RESEARCH AND STRATEGY?
It’s never easy to enter a new market, especially when it requires understanding the sentiment of a new group of consumers and their communication channels. By working with our agency, we offer you the following benefits:
- Helps you understand male Chinese consumers.
- Helps you understand your competitors targeting male Chinese population
- Helps you to determine the positioning of your products and plan digital marketing and ecommerce strategies
- Helps you align your offerings more accurately with the expectations of Chinese customers
WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING
OUR RESEARCH AND STRATEGY METHODOLOGY
Our China marketing research and strategy team gives you a detailed framework that will allow you to start and grow your business in mainland China. Our methodology mix is tailored for each project. In order to identify target consumers and understand their demands and develop marketing strategy for your product in China, Alarice team will develop tailor-made proposal for your project and discuss each phase methodology with your team to guarantee results. You can find more information about or methodology approaches here.
MARKET RESEARCH
- Online Market Research
- Industry performance research
- Market sizing
- Competitors Benchmarking
- Mystery Shopping
- Case Study
BRAND AUDIT
- Brand SMM Audit
- E-commerce Audit
- SWOT Analysis
- Perceived USPs
- Value Perceived
CONSUMER RESEARCH
- Online Survey
- Consumer Panel
- Focus Groups
- In-depth interviews
- Offline intercepts
- Semantics ( usage differentiation )
- Social listening
- Ethnographic research
- Sentiment Analysis
- Sensory Analysis
- Consumer Journey Tracking
STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
- Brand Positioning review
- Brand pricing strategy review
- Market channels strategy
- Content strategy
- SMM strategy
- KOL/Influencer strategy
- Roadmap timeline budget
- Seasonal events / campaigns
- Conversion funnel strategy
YOUR CHINA MARKETING TEAM
We have an unmatched ecosystem of services to help clients worldwide build their brand in China from 0 and enhance performance for those already in the market:
- Chinese Social Media Account Set Up. Chinese social media account set up and verification are steps which seem easy to handle. However, for newcomers, it can be a challenging process, especially when interfaces are only in Chinese or the English version is very different. Our team will help you with the list of documents needed, account options and the rest of the verification process. We also do account migration, account mergers, integration and more.
- Digital Brand Audit. We can do a full spectrum analysis of your digital marketing matrix and point out what’s effective, what’s hitting the mark, what’s missing and what needs urgent attention.
- Chinese Social Media Marketing. With our understanding of China’s unique social media landscape, we’ll help to select the most suitable platforms for your services and products and turn them into effective marketing channels with creative content. Apart from China’s top social networks, WeChat and Weibo, we also work with niche Chinese social media platforms suitable for different industries.
- KOL Marketing and Campaigns. Working with bloggers in China is very different from in most Western countries. In order to succeed in China, key opinion leader (KOL) marketing is not an option, it’s a necessity.
- Chinese Brand and Product Naming. Choosing the right brand name for the China market is one of the most sensitive aspects of an entrance strategy. We help with China brand name and slogan development.
- Digital Online PR . We help with China PR strategy to get attention from users and visibility in the market.
As each project is unique, we also organize free consultations to discuss your projects and suggest solutions. Contact us and we’ll help you turn your business goals into real outcomes
FAQ
Chinese men are showing strong purchasing power not only in traditional male consumption areas such as digital 3C and cars. When it comes to clothes, men spend as much as women. In addition, Chinese men also showed a high purchase rate of products traditionally reserved for women, such as skin care, makeup and perfume in recent years.
Our research and strategic services help you gain a deeper understanding of your target customers. We can provide authentic mainland China customer interviews and customer surveys based on your budget. Help your brand grasp the pain points of your target customers through target audience insights and intelligence about your potential.
For relevant brands, this is an opportunity market that cannot be missed. If you want to enter the Chinese elderly market from scratch, we provide local branding services, including brand and product naming, logo design,product guidelines and more.
The trend of Chinese male beauty makeup is becoming more and more obvious. The current short videos and influencers/KOLs have also played a strong demonstration effect, stimulating and promoting men’s attention to cosmetics consumption to a certain extent.We can provide you with KOL marketing and campaign services, we have cooperative MCNs and can also carry out risk assessment of KOLs.
Medical cosmetology and kitchen appliances have become new growth points for male consumption. Chinese men are beginning to pay more attention to their appearance, and more men are involved in the consumption of medical beauty. 30% of the medical cosmetology population is male, and the number of consumers who invest more than 1000 yuan every month is the same as that of women. Meanwhile, cooking has become a new trend for Chinese men, with 53% of male office workers cooking at home on weekends, higher than Chinese women in general.
Chinese male consumer behavior is constantly dynamic, our market research and strategy services give you the latest consumer insights and data to help you know your target customers in a quick and clear way.
If you do have it, provide your Chinese business registration, the account administrator’s details and phone bills and the company’s address.
We can also do account migration, account mergers, integration and more.