China Online: Chinese consumers are logging on
Sundial, President’s Garden, UCC
Sundial, President’s Garden, UCC
Online business in China is growing and knowing the market is essential whether you are in banking, education or social media.
194 million Chinese consumers shop online and the market is expected to grow by 500% to almost €80 billion in the next 3 years. Irish businesses interested in the Chinese market need to know more about these consumers.
Recent research by students on the BSc (Business and Financial Economics) programme at the School o fEconomics in University College Cork has focused on this niche area and investigated "China Online" for several industries with produced valuable results for businesses in the area or considering entering the market.
Take online education - more female than male students are interested in online education, in the Chinese regions surveyed. The research also indicates that advertising for online education via traditional routes such as television and print is less effective than e-advertising.
The effectiveness of advertising on social media sites such as FaceBook/RenRen was also examined, revealing that banner adverts are the most effective position on such homepages, while adverts placed in computer games are also highly effective.
When it comes to purchasing virtual goods, like weapons and skills for those computer games, demand is increasing rapidly in large and small Chinese cities equally (of the cities surveyed) amongst young gamers. Also the demand for virtual goods is greatest amongst middle income, young gamers compared to high or low income gamers.
This work is part of the BSc Business and Financial Economics programme, under the supervision of Aileen Murphy and Dr Declan Jordan (programme director). The programme is an employment-directed degree offered jointly by the School of Economics, University College Cork and its partner Chinese universities. Currently, the programme accepts students from, Beijing Technological and Business University (BTBU), Henan University of Economics and Law (HUEL) and Guilin University of Electronic Technology (GUEL). Students study for two years at their Chinese university and two years in the School of Economics in UCC.
According to the Programme Director, Dr Jordan, "This is a great opportunity for the student to demonstrate their understanding of issues relevant to Irish and Chinese businesses operating online and for businesses to observe the employability of such graduates". Previous graduates of the programme have gone on to study at Masters level in Ireland, the UK and the USA and have found employment in a wide range of institutions, including Enterprise Ireland.
The research projects will be on display at a Research Showcase, hosted by the School of Economics at University College Cork, which is open to all with an interest in China-Ireland business.
The event will be in the Council Room, in the Main Quadrangle between 3 and 5pm on 29th March 2012. For further details, please contact the Programme Administrator Ms Breffney McCarthy on 021 4903574 or breffney.mccarthy@ucc.ie.