Title: Evidence of the reluctance to purchase Chinese cars by low-income consumers in the Brazilian market

Authors: Viviane Chunques Gervasoni; George Bedinelli Rossi; Dirceu Da Silva; Marcos Roberto Luppe; Rony Locher

Addresses: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades da Universidade de São Paulo (EACH-USP), Marketing Department, Rua Arlindo Bétio, n. 1.000, Building I1, Room 253 D, Ermelino Matarazzo/SP, 0328-000, Brazil ' Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM), PMDGI, Rua Dr. Álvaro Alvim, 123 – Vila Mariana, São Paulo – SP, 04018-010, Block 'C', 4th Floor, Brazil; Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades da Universidade de São Paulo (EACH-USP), Marketing Department, Rua Arlindo Bétio, n. 1.000, Building I1, Room 253 D, Ermelino Matarazzo/SP, 0328-000, Brazil ' Marketing Department, Nine of July University Av. Francisco Matarazzo, 612 São Paulo, 05001-100 Brazil ' Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades da Universidade de São Paulo (EACH-USP), Marketing Department, Rua Arlindo Bétio, n. 1.000, Building I1, Room 352H, Ermelino Matarazzo/SP, 0328-000, Brazil ' Business School, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, Rua Casa do Ator, 275 São Paulo, 04546-001, Brazil

Abstract: In this paper, our objective is to explain why Brazilian low-income consumers are reluctant to buy Chinese cars by using the path dependence analysis approach, and the country effect considering social, instrumental, and emotional facts. For this, Chery Motors is the object of study of this research. The sample was selected by judgment and homogenous. Data collection took place through focus group interviews and were analysed by content analysis. Findings were that, the country effect is an important factor, as Chinese brands are seen as of low-quality and as of low status, and by introducing cheap cars Chery breaks with the dominant pattern in Brazil, whose preference is either for premium cars or those perceived as of high quality, by being the first to be launched by automakers settled in Brazil. The main finding of this research is that a firm will fail if it starts on a different path from the main players.

Keywords: Chinese cars; low-income consumers; country of origin effect; path dependence analysis; Brazil; reluctance to purchase; purchasing reluctance; Chery Motors; automobile industry; content analysis; automotive brands; cheap cars; China.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2016.081634

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2016 Vol.16 No.4, pp.412 - 435

Received: 09 Dec 2015
Accepted: 29 Aug 2016

Published online: 18 Jan 2017 *

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