Study Proposal
By Xinyue Hu
Date: 20 September, 2022 Word Count: 524
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How digital marketing can ride on the trend of sub-culture to attract Chinese Gen Z consumers?
1. Context and rationale
The Internet creates a new market. Digital marketing brings development and possibilities, while digital technologies have a new era of consumerism and social networking (Ocampos, 2020; Han, 2021). The social Internet removes physical boundaries between subcultures, creating multi cultures, according to Holt (2004). Meanwhile, Gen Z has emerged as the primary target audience for large businesses to capture. They were born into the consumer society and Internet era, and the impact of subcultures is mainly reflected in fashion choices (Chen, 2021).
In the past, most Chinese people followed mainstream culture. But now, Gen Z isn't afraid to be themselves and follow their will (WARC, 2020). According to Tencent, 75.9% of Chinese Gen Z under 20 care about subcultures (GBI, 2021). Subculture in China typically represents subversive and uncompromising culture, such as Y2K, cyberpunk, and "Tuku," which on the surface means rustic but advocates a kind of open wear (WARC, 2020).
Image:
Subculture is not new to fashion as many brands have showcased subcultures through design before, such as Hood By Air, Gosha Rubchinskiy, and Nasir Mazhar (French, 2015). As e marketing gets more popular, it's crucial to integrate subcultures. So what lies in front of the brand is not whether to do it but how to do it.
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Supersonic youth: who said subcultures were dead? (Oliver Truelove, 2022)
2. Literature review
According to the above context, a research gap can be drawn as: how digital marketing can ride on the subculture trend to attract Chinese Gen Z consumers?
Figure 1: Venn diagram (Author's own, 2022)
Following this research question, a Venn diagram can be mapped out as above, and the literature review for this research can be conducted based on the below angles.
Gen Z consumers in China embrace online eCommerce sites (Zhou et al., 2020).
Chinese Gen Z consumers
For Gen Z, the digital world has its language, and they change the rules of engagement. So for the brand's digital marketing, more visual content, authenticity, and back and forth conversations with customers are necessary (Saars, 2021). What is more, brands must be willing to listen to Gen Z voices, understand their preferences, and speak to them using the language and platforms (Kim, 2021).
Exploring subcultures could be vital to understanding consumer behaviors and interests (Newsroom, 2020). To connect with Chinese Gen Z, brands must develop lifestyle products relevant to young people's interests, values, and subcultures. Meanwhile, successful products must resonate with Gen Z lifestyles and subcultures (Ma, 2021).
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Sub culture
Subculture is a subdivision of national culture, composed of factorable social situations such as class status, ethnic background, and regional (Jenks, 2005). Brands need recognition from subcultural pioneers within niche communities, a key factor to reaching this is authenticity (Wu, 2021). Another factor is looking at the local culture not from top down or outside in perspectives but from within the culture (WARC, 2020). Brands are beginning to realize the potential of marketing to subcultures (Newsroom, 2020). Conducting the necessary research and create a content plan tailored to those subcultural groups. Creating one or more content series targeting consumer subcultures, operating social media channels dedicated to consumer subcultures, and creating personalized niche marketing campaigns with messaging targeting different consumer subcultures (Smith, 2021).
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is the use of digital channels to promote or market products and services to targeted consumers and businesses (Monnappa, 2022). The most significant advantage of digital marketing is using social media and search engines to reach the target audience in the right way. Other advantages include increasing brand loyalty and driving online sales (NIBUSINESS INFO.CO.UK, 2022).
Subcultures can present a massive opportunity for marketers to make a significant impact among populations that may feel underserved by brands operating in mainstream markets (Lumen, no date). By concentrating on the aesthetic appeal of internet subcultures, brands can target hard to find niche audiences (Biswas, 2014). Nowadays, digital marketing is imperative (Nazimsha and Rajeswari, 2017).
Table 1: Literature review of this study (Author’s own, 2022)
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3. Aim and Objectives
Aim:
This study explores how digital marketing can ride on the trend of subculture to attract Chinese Gen Z consumers and provide an appropriate marketing strategy for fashion brands.
Objectives:
1. To identify the origin, definition, and characteristics of subculture.
2. To research practical applications of subculture in fashion creative and marketing fields.
3. To investigate the different types of the subculture that appeal to Chinese Gen Z consumers.
4. To analyze various application forms of subculture for digital marketing.
5. To build a structural model and provide appropriate digital marketing tactics for fashion brands.
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4.
Research methodology design
In order to figure out the research question, this study adopts interpretivism as the philosophy. The mixed methods combining quantitative and qualitative research design are considered. The research onion below depicts the planned methodology.
Figure 2: The Research Onion for this study (Author’s own, Adapted from Saunders et al., 2009)
Gaining an understanding of how brands develop subculture related marketing initiatives would provide insights for this research. Therefore, a qualitative case study on fashion brands is considered. Such a case study could potentially provide a new source of research questions (Saunders et al., 2009).
After the case study, a quantitative close end survey is selected to analyze Chinese Gen Z consumers' subcultures in fashion perceptions. Attitudes and preferences may vary from person to person, so that a large sample can assist acquire a comprehensive outlook (Jhangiani et al., 2014). In addition, the current research on this topic is insufficient therefore making the survey a suitable strategy for this exploratory and descriptive research (Saunders et al., 2009). After collecting case study and survey data, the thematic coding measures and IBM SPSS software will be applied as data analysis methods.
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Reference List
Ocampos, J. (2020) Why digital marketing is important for businesses? Available at: https://www.mmmatters.com/blog/why digital marketing is important for businesses (Accessed: 3 July 2022)
Han, C.Y. (2021) Analysis of the Meaning of Subculture Aspects in Luxury Fashion Brands. Available at: https://www.koreascience.or.kr/article/JAKO202210248816689.pdf (Accessed: 15 July 2022).
Holt, D. B. (2004) How brands become icons: The principles of cultural branding. Boston: Havard business school press.
Chen, S.S. (2021) Exploration on the New Direction of Fashion Design from the Perspective of Youth Subculture Doll Clothing as Example. Available at: https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=111939 (Accessed: 7 July 2022)
WARC (2020) Why Balenciaga gets China's Gen Z. Available at: https://www.warc.com/newsandopinion/news/why balenciaga gets chinas gen z/44480 (Accessed: 4 July 2022).
GBI (2021) Subculture marketing to ride the wave. Available at: http://www.c gbi.com/v6/9697.html (Accessed: 17 July 2022).
French, G. (2015) how fashion is undergoing a subcultural revival. Available at: https://i d.vice.com/en_uk/article/pabgbb/how fashion is undergoing a subcultural revival (Accessed: 22 July 2022)
Zhou et al. (2020) China’s Gen Z are coming of age: Here’s what marketers need to know. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/cn/our insights/our insights/chinas gen z are coming of age here s what marketers need to know (Accessed: 22 July 2022).
Saars, S. (2021) Generation Z Marketing Strategies. Available at: https://www.parallelinteractive.com/generation z marketing strategies/ (Accessed: 3 August 2022)
Kim, K. (2021) How to make sure you’re marketing to Gen Z the right way. Available at: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/marketing to gen z/ (Accessed: 5 August 2022),
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Newsroom. (2020) Marketers Look To Subcultures To Drive Consumer Engagement. Available at: https://marcommnews.com/marketers look to subcultures to drive consumer engagement/ (Accessed: 7 August 2022 ).
Ma, A. (2021) How Gen Z Anxiety Is Shaping The China Market. Available at: https://jingdaily.com/gen z anxiety china entertainment shopping/ (Accessed: 10 August 2022)
Jenks, C. (2005) Subculture: The Fragmentation of the Social. Google Play [online]. Available at: https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=qVHKpR0_ZrQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sub+cult ure&hl=zh CN&sa=X&redir_esc=y&sourceid=cndr#v=onepage&q=definition&f=false (Accessed: 10 August 2022)
Wu, W.Z. (2021) How Can Luxury Brands Earn Cultural Credibility From China’s Gen Z? Available at: https://jingdaily.com/luxury brands gen z cultural credibility/ (Accessed: 17 August 2022).
Smith, D.T. (2021) Betting on Subcultures With Your Content Marketing: Think Macro, Deliver Micro. Available at: https://digitalsummit.com/content marketing/think macro deliver micro/ (Accessed: 18 August 2022).
Monnappa, A. (2022) The History and Evolution of Digital Marketing. Available at: https://www.simplilearn.com/history and evolution of digital marketing article (Accessed: 19 August 2022)
NIBUSINESS INFO.CO.UK (2022) Develop a digital marketing plan. Available at: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/advantages and disadvantages digital marketing (Accessed: 22 August 2022)
Lumen (no date) Reading: Social Factors. Available at: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/clinton marketing/chapter/reading social factors/ (Accessed: 23 August 2022).
Biswas, M. (2014) 10 Internet Subcultures You Need to Know. Available at: https://www.indusnet.co.in/10 internet subcultures need know/ (Accessed: 25 August 2022).
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Nazimsha, S. and Rajeswari, M. (2017) COMPARING DIGITAL MARKETING WITH TRADITIONAL MARKETING AND CONSUMER PREFERENCE, OVER WHICH MEDIUM BY TAKING CONCEPT OF ADS. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325533483_COMPARING_DIGITAL_MARKETI NG_WITH_TRADITIONAL_MARKETING_AND_CONSUMER_PREFERENCE_OVER_ WHICH_MEDIUM_BY_TAKING_CONCEPT_OF_ADS_International_Journal_of_Sales_ Marketing_Management_IJSMMISSN_P_2319 4898_ISSN (Accessed: 25 August 2022).
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A. (2009) Research methods for business students. 5th Ed. Essex: Pearson Education
Jhangiani et al. (2014) Individual Differences in Person Perception. Available at: https://opentextbc.ca/socialpsychology/chapter/individual and cultural differences in person perception/ (Accessed: 28 August 2022)
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