ABSTRACT
Twenty-five years ago China embarked on one of the most unprecedented economic reforms in human history The transformation from a planned economy to a market-oriented one has huge social and economic consequences, one of which is the freedom to purchase and consume in the open market. The economic reforms, normalization of international trade relations, and opening to the outside world have led to a remarkable growth in gross national product and a much expanded retail sector. Despite some institutional obstacles and social and cultural barriers, a large number of foreign retailers such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Metro, KFC, and Cartier have succeeded in entering China (Davies 1994; Zhang and Kapur 1995; Child and Stewart 1997; Cui and Liu 2000; Wong and Yu 2003). Meanwhile, driven by the forces of modernization as well as increased foreign competition, the Chinese domestic retail sector has also undergone dramatic restructuring (Nilsson and McNiel 1994; Wang and Jones 2001). New retail formats and retailing concepts such as chain stores, supermarkets, and shopping malls have been adopted in many Chinese cities. As global marketers and international retailers of all stripes are looking for a slice of the Chinese market, few studies attend to how retail modernization and the presence of international retailers change Chinese shopping behavior or how Chinese consumers respond to the expanded and modernized retail sector (see Sin and Ho 2001 for a review of consumer research development in greater China).
