Wanted: Chinese Consumers For Luxury Survey

With Western luxury brands scrambling to attract wealthy Chinese consumers, there’s no shortage of consultants and analysts brandishing reports that promise to shed light on their spending habits. Bain & Co., Synovate, KPMG–pick a firm and they likely have a report on the ambitions of China’s consumer class. How do these reports come together?

Yuval Atsmon—the author of McKinsey & Co.’s report “Understanding China’s Growing Love of Luxury,” which was released on Tuesday—explains survey participants were asked to provide pay slips, property title deeds and receipts indicating recent spending on luxury goods. The candidates, who had to have bought from a predetermined list of brands, or have spent a large amount on a big-ticket item like jewelry, were then categorized according to their net worth.

“I certainly wouldn’t show all that [personal information to a stranger,]” said the Shanghai-based consultant. “But in China, there’s a willingness to participate, more than in Western countries. I think of myself and I’ve such fatigue of these kinds of surveys — everybody’s calling you for your opinion. But there’s more patience for this kind of thing here in China.”

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