WU YUE 1155081703
Tampax, a tampon brand owned by parent company P&G announced entered the Chinese market. Actually, it is not Tampax’s first try with Chinese consumers. It had been launched in the market in 1989 and 1997, but both times departed owing to the low sales. This time, Tampax came back by developing both offline and online channels. However, many people still doubt whether or not Tampax will be success.
Tampons were introduced to China over two decades ago, but they never really caught on in Chinese market. O.B., owned by Johnson & Johnson, which occupies the major market share in China, are available in some convenience stores, and there are small internet retailers selling imported tampons from abroad.The retail value of tampons in 2015 in China was $3.6 million, just 0.03% of the total sanitary protection market, according to Euromonitor International. And only 2% of Chinese women use tampons, according to a 2015 survey by Cotton Incorporated.
Why tampons always fail to become popular in China? I would like to employ the knowledge of Consumer Decision-Making Process to answer the question.
1.Need Recognition
Need recognition occurs when a consumer identifies a need and thinks of a product that might meet this need.
Tampon and sanitary pad are both sanitary protection products and can satisfy females’ physical needs during the period. However, it is much more common for a Chinese consumer to recognize that sanitary pads would be able to meet her needs.
One of the problem is that a majority of Chinese consumers do not perceive a need for tampons, thus, they generally will not move forward with considering a tampon purchase.
I think one reason behind it is that there are not enough external stimuli triggering consumers’ needs for tampons. On the one hand, it is hard to see tampons in offline shops. Often，tampons only occupy a small corner on the shelf of feminine hygiene products in a high-end shops in big cities and consumers may miss them. It is even impossible for consumers to find tampons in small cities or rural areas. On the other hand, there are few commercials about tampons. When I searched the Chinese TVC of tampons on web, I only found one TVC published in 2007. On the contrary, sanitary pads are ubiquitous in various kinds of shops and people can see advertisements for different brands of sanitary pads everywhere. As a result, the consumers’ needs for tampons are seldom trigger by external advertisements and product display.
2. Information Search
⬩ Internal Search
An internal search refers to a consumer's memory or recollection of a product.
In this case, a strong cultural bias and traditional taboo in consumers’ memory can influence their internal search. There is a concern that using a tampon will hurt, or will impact females’ virginity, which still a very serious belief for women who are not married yet. And it may be resulted from the lack of sex education in China.
Because of this bias, many female consumers, especially young women have a fear and conflicting emotions of the product, which stop them from trying tampons. For those who does not have such a fear, may face other problems, such as lack of knowledge of tampons due to the limited personal experience.
⬩ External Search
When a consumer has no prior knowledge about tampons, she may tend to seek information from personal or public sources.
Since period is a rather private thing in China, young females always like to acquire information from their moms or other trusted elder females. However, there is little information shared from mothers to daughters on the issue of tampons. In some situations, mothers, who hold a more traditional mindset, discourage daughters from using tampons or young girls are often told by their mothers to use tampons after they get married.
The internet becomes a rare place where consumers can get relevant information and true knowledge. Now, people can see some articles sharing the knowledges, benefits, and methods of tampons on the Internet.
However, another concern is that there are substantial negative information about the preduct online. The news reports about people suffering Toxic Shock Syndrome after using tampons are widely spread. Many media over-dramatized the relation of tampons and TSS, which leads to a brand product image in consumers’ minds.
⬩ Factors for External Search
The amount of effort a consumer puts into searching depends on a number of factors. From my view, there are two main factors hinder consumers from external searching.
Firstly, tampon is low-involvement products, by which means consumers do not regard sanitary protection products as significant investments, and they do not want to spend lots of effort and consideration in the purchase decision. Secondly, in general, Chinese consumers lack relative knowledge about tampons. According to the relationship between knowledge level of product and possibility to search information, people with low level of knowledge, are less likely to search information about products.
Although Internet provided a good place to communicate information about tampons, still very few Chinese consumers will do external search to find relevant information which can play an important role in their purchase decision.
3. Evaluating Alternatives
During this stage, consumers evaluate and compares all of their products or brand options in their evoked set.
A big problem of tampons is that the product is not part of the evoked set for most Chinese consumers. For example, when talking about a sanitary protection product, consumers may recall many sanitary pad brands without one tampon brand. Because of the past experiences and high product and brand awareness in sanitary pad category, it is easy for them to recall and consider these brands in decision making process.
For some consumers, tampons may in a inert set, which may results from the fact that they just know little about this category. For some consumers, tampons can be an inept set, since they fear of the myth of losing virginity after using tampons or they have received negative information, comments about the product from other resources. Even some consumers totally do not know tampons and it can be an unawareness set for them. As a consequence, pads are always in consumers’ evoked set and they are less likely to switch from a sanitary pad.
4. Conclusion
Seen from the consumer decision-making process, it is hard to convince Chinese females to convert to use tampons. And I think the biggest barriers are low product awareness, lack of relevant knowledge, cultural bias, lack of advertisements, and negative information about the products online.
However, I think there is a potential in Chinese marke. Although a complex mix of cultural and commercial factors have kept tampons from widespread acceptance, interest in tampons is starting to take off, especially among those young women are are well educated and influenced by western ideas in big cities. And Chinese people and media are becoming more and more open about these issues. For example, during 2016 Olympic Games, FU Yuanhui admitted she actually had gotten her period during the Games, talking so frankly about menstruation on social media. Some tampon brands in China caught the opportunity and tried to build awareness by explaining tampons won’t leak and women athletes can use them during period.
For Tampax, OB, or other tampon brands that wants to try the Chinese market, the most vital step it to gradually change the consumers’ mindsets. Some of tampon corporations thought it is very difficult to change Chinese consumers’ cultural bias, so they do not want to waste their investments in marketing. As a result, though tampons launched in China about two decades, consumer awareness and knowledge about products are still very low. I think those tampon brands should try their best to advance the sex education for consumers by some attractive advertisements, creative marketing campaigns and persuasive promotional articles, and convince Chinese consumers that tampons are safe, comfortable and hygienic, if they are used properly. Additionally, the advertisements can not only tell consumers about the benefits and methods of the tampons, also can add more emotional values in them.
Reference：
Tampons Never Really Caught On In China. Will That Ever Change?
China made 85 billion sanitary pads last year, and not one tampon. Here's why
Why Chinese women don't use tampons?
Thanks for The Sharing This Information.
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