BIGresearch China Quarterly: Employment Outlook Improves for Young Chinese but More Worse Off Financially

COLUMBUS, OH--(Marketwire - April 21, 2009) - It appears that the stimulus package enacted by the Chinese government last year has helped to ease employment woes among young Chinese consumers, according to BIGresearch's (http://www.bigresearch.com) 15th China Quarterly (4,336 18-34 year olds; 7,326 total respondents). 47.3% of Chinese consumers ages 18-34 think there will be more layoffs over the next six months, down dramatically from 66.1% in Q4 08.

Although the future outlook has improved for young Chinese, the past unemployment rate and economic anxiety has taken a toll on consumer sentiment regarding personal finance. 22% contend they are worse off, a percentage that has generally increased over the course of the last year. On the other hand, the percentage who says they are better off financially (26%) has decreased by 42% over Q1 2008 (44.5%).

Young Chinese Consumers (18-34) Versus Young American Consumers (18-34)

--  58.8% of Chinese consumers usually buy clothing when it's on sale
    compared to 66.7% of Americans, while 4.8% only buy clothing on sale (vs.
    21.4%).
--  Year-over-year, practicality among Chinese up 6.3%. 60.5% say they are
    more practical in their purchases over the past six months. Practicality
    among Americans is also up with 50.4% saying they are more practical (vs.
    43.2% in March 2008).
--  Young Chinese more likely to regularly or occasionally use new media
    formats than their 18-34 American counterparts. An example: percentage of
    Chinese who blog (86.3%) more than doubles the percent of Americans
    (41.9%).
--  26.7% of Chinese (vs. 13% of Americans) say blogs trigger their online
    searches.
--  After searching online, 19.6% of Chinese (vs. 9.7% of Americans) are
    likely to communicate with others about a service, product or brand via
    blogging.
--  95.8% of 18-34 Chinese regularly/occasionally research products online
    before purchasing them in a store, compared to 92.7% Americans.
--  Top media influence for apparel purchases among Chinese: in store
    promotion (39.8%), advertising inserts (27.3%) and magazines (26.5%).
    Americans are influenced by word of mouth (37.5%), coupons (33.2%) and
    magazines (31.5%).
    

Source: BIGresearch, China Quarterly Q1 2008, Q1 2009; CIA Mar 09 and SIMM 13

For complimentary data and charts: http://www.prosperchina.com/big.htm

The China Quarterly report is available for purchase in both English and Chinese: http://www.formsite.com/prosper/cqorder/

About BIGresearch

BIGresearch is a consumer intelligence firm providing analysis of behavior in areas of products and services, retail, financial services, automotive, and media. The China Quarterly monitors the purchasing behavior and media consumption of more than 7,000 Chinese consumers, focusing on consumers between the ages of 18-34 years old. The China Quarterly is available through BIGresearch in report or database format.

BIGresearch conducts the biggest surveys with sample sizes from 4,000 to 15,000 and employs unique computer intensive statistical methods to give highly accurate consumer information with a margin of error of +/- 1 percent. http://www.prosperchina.com

Contact Information: Contact: Chrissy Wissinger BIGresearch 450 West Wilson Bridge Road Suite 370 Worthington, Ohio 43085 (614) 846-0146