The Beauty Ideal in Chinese Luxury Cosmetics: Adaptation Strategies of Western Companies

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine if the standardization strategies, widely implemented by the luxury companies in international markets, can successfully adopted in the Chinese Markets. In order to verify this statement, we analyse the luxury cosmetics industry in a market characterized by evident cultural differences. The cultural differences have been studied in term of beauty ideals and consumers’ behavior and expectations. We study four western luxury cosmetics companies. Although the first moves were mainly shaped on replication and standardization, the cultural differences force the four western companies to transform their orientation towards adaptation. This finding was partially unexpected and suggests that for specific type of luxury products the adaptation and flexibility are required despite the drift to replicate the standardized marketing strategies. These results are consistent with those of other studies suggesting the need for a balanced approach of standardization and adaptation in managing the international strategies.

Keywords: Cross-Cultural Marketing, International Management, Luxury Marketing

JEL Classification: M31