Use SNAs to Analyze consumer behaviors – Dink family in China

            Background

In China’s traditions, having a baby is the most important task. Since the One-Child Policy was launched in China in the 1970s, Chinese family structure and relationship have been changed. With the changes of traditional structure, the economy grows rapidly. Family incomes have increased, coupled with the demand for high quality lifestyle. (Xia, Xu, 2014)

More and more couples prefer to be Dink. However, the reasons why they prefer to be Dink are different and it also makes their lifestyle different.

One article published on Shanghai Star is as follows: “I think I am still young and have a lot of things to do. Every day, we are busy with our business and we have no time to bring up a child. I would have to quit my job to give my baby a really quality life”, said 27-year-old Wendy Chen, who got married recently. They think their total income cannot allow them to bring up a child. Having a baby will cost a lot of money, impact work performance, bring stress and reduce their life quality.

From the above points I have mentioned, there is huge potential market among Dink families in China. SNAs is used to analyze their consumer behaviors for marketing, which can bring unimagined big profits for business. Therefore, I want to use SNA to analyze what kind of lifestyle they prefer and how it is related to their consumer behaviors. Then, business can analyze consumer behaviors to find out the greatest potential market in Dink families.  

            The data required to draw this network are couples' thoughts:

·      Cost for children is too high, not affordable

·      Responsibility for raising a child is too much, not prepared for it

·      Too much stress, no time for children

·      Both partners want to enjoy their lives as a couple

These four data are used to divide Dink families into four groups. And each group also has the attribute data as follows.

            

            ATTRIBUTE DATA 

AVERAGE FAMILY AGE

FAMILY INCOME(MONTHLY)

EDUCATION

LOCATION

TRAVEL TIME PER YEAR

BUYING THE LUXURY BRAND

OWN CAR

OWN HOUSE

BUYING THE LUXURY BRAND PER YEAR

Then we can create attribute data form as below,

	AVERAGE FAMILY AGE			FAMILY INCOME(MONTHLY)			EDUCATION
1	20 - 30 years old		1	< $2000		1	< Bachelor
2	30 - 40 years old		2	$2000-$4000		2	Bachelor
3	40 - 50 years old		3	$4000- $7000		3	Master
4	50 - 60 years old		4	> $7000		4	PHD
	LOCATION			TRAVEL EXPENSE PER YEAR			BUYING THE LUXURY BRAND PER YEAR
1	Beijing		1	<$1500		1	<$2000
2	Shanghai		2	$1500 - $3000		2	$2000-$6000
3	Guangzhou		3	$3000 - $5000		3	>$6000
4	Others		4	>$5000
	OWN CAR			OWN HOUSE
1	NO		1	NO
2	With loan		2	With loan
3	Yes		3	Yes

               Analysis

            Combining the data together, we can figure out Dink families’ consumption level and their lifestyles. Business can use it to explore the market suitable for the Dink Family. Dinks have no kids; they can spend as much as money to enjoy their life if they want. Therefore, this is a great part of profits for business. For example, if the majority of Dink families have travel expense per year more than $5000, travel agencies can design luxury travel package for them.

Word Cited

Xia, Yan and Xu Anqi. “The Changes in Mainland Chinese Families During the Social

Transition: Critical Analysis.” 2014.

<http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1094&context=famconfacpub>