SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE GALLUP COMPANY IN CHINA

        In the newly published October 11th edition of Fortune, there was a report on the consuming sense and the way of life of Chinese consumers. This report was the third one after the Gallup Company released their earlier reports in 1994 and in 1997. This report was first released in the whole world forum that was held by Fortune in Shanghai, and it led to a strong repercussion in the world. It was not only reported by many media, but also many companies bought it to get the information.
        When the Gallup company was established in 1993 in China, they insisted on taking only business purpose surveys, such as public opinion polls. As a foreign company, Gallup wanted to describe in its own view what China is. So, in 1994, 1997, and 1999, they polled all of the areas in China, excluding Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao, three times. Every poll included questions of Gallup's style, and the kinds of questions became more and more comprehensive. This time, 1,000 researchers, visited 4000 citizens and countryside residents who were more than eighteen years old in sixty areas. The areas covered included cities, towns, and villages. In order to carry out the investigation, the Gallup company's reachers did random sampling.  For example, in the town of Zhu Shan in Hu Bei Province, the residents live far away from each other. It sometimes often usually took the visitor  half a day to travel from the first resident's house to the second one, and when he arrived at the third resident's house, he found that he had climbed over a mountain.
        Every interview took at least one hour, because the questions involved many kinds of fields about a person's economic life. In order to learn more details about the report, I will summarize some of the information below.
 

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE REPORTS

        The first report was presented during the trade negotiations between China and the United States in 1994. The second time was the day that Chairman Jiang Ze Min visited the United States in 1997. The third time was released at the whole world forum  held by Fortune in Shanghai  in 1999. The interesting thing is that all the three reports of the Gallup Company coincided with a great event.
        In 1994, the first report was released in New York City. The Gallop's senior consultant was the MC during the trade negotiations between China and the United States. These data were included in that report: Among the top ten foreign brands, what Chinese people considered best was Hitachi (the main products were electric appliances) of Japan, and there were six other Japanese brands among them. There were only three American brands. This result caused strong repercussion in the United States. Americans said that Japanese arrived first and consolidated their Chinese market during the long negotiations between China and the United States. When China opened their gates to the companies from abroad, Japan invested in China first, because they knew that China, with billions of people, was a big market for them when some other advanced countries didn't pay attention to that fact.
        In 1997, the second report was presented in Hong Kong, on the same day that  Chairman Jiang Ze Min visited the United States. Here are some data about foreign brands in China. This time the brand that Chinese people considered best was Coca-Cola, and that became big news in America. American Columbia Broadcasting System broadcast this news and said that Chairman Jiang Ze Min represented billions of Chinese people and that Coca-Cola was the  foreign brand they liked best.
        In the summer of 1999, the Gallup company was ready for the third investigation. This time the study was wider in scope and content than before, and according to the changing times, they added some questions in order to reflect the overall changes of China. The 1999 report about Chinese consuming sense and way of life showed the change and progressiveness of China to the world.
        Here are some data from that research. Fifty-two percent of the people surveyed of all Chinese would choose different jobs; twenty-five percent want to be owners of their own businesses; fifty-one percent want to travel abroad, and  Singapore is the most attractive destination; and the most famous foreign brand is Coca-Cola.
Of all of the people who were surveyed, sixty-two percent had met  foreigners. Seventy-two percent knew about the World Cup. Thirty-nine percent knew Michael Jordon. Twenty-nine percent know Michael Jackson. Twenty-nine percent had seen foreign movies. Fourteen percent knew about the Internet, and one-third of the people from eighteen to twenty-nine years old had visited Internet sites. This was four times as many than the people who were older than forty.
 

MY ANALYSIS

        The ten years Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976 destroyed many parts of Chinese lives. Most common citizens didn't know anything about the rest of the world at that time. China only began to open its gates to other countries step by step from the early 1980s. All these data from the survey show Chinese people are learning about the world, and they can understand many aspects about culture from abroad. The result of the investigation also showed that half of foreign companies have begun to earn profits from their investment in China, and seventy-three percent of foreign companies say they are going to invest to China.
        For a company, especially a foreign company, reliability is most important, because it represents their country's image. Many Korean companies have failed in China. I think there were problems on both sides. But as I have stayed in Korea for two years and heard and learned what many Koreans think about China, I think they should reconsider their own reasons. Most of them don't know what China is. For example, the time that Korean companies invested in China was later than some other countries, but there are potential profits in China for Koreans, because there are many people of Chaoxian nationality in China. They have the same language and ancestors. But many Korean people who have come to China to do business have deceived people of their same nationality, such as selling inferior machines at a high price, when they invested or opened personal businesses at first in China. I don't mean that all Korean people are bad, but at least many people of Chaoxian nationality in China can't trust Korean people again now. Another problem is that many Korean bosses in China abused their power to harass female employees in their companies. So many employees, especially females, left the Korean companies after they had some bad experience and never took a job with a Korean company again.
        Some days ago, I attended an academic report that was held by the Chinese Department at Daejin University. A Korean man who did research about China for the government said, "If you ask ten people in China, what do think about Korea, then most of them will say that it is a good country, but if you ask what do you think of Korean people, all of them will say Korean people are bad." He also said that the main reason that Chinese people dislike Korean people is because of harassing females, so he suggested "We should do that kind of thing in secret. Don't let many Chinese people know about it, especially everyone who is female here." He actually said these words in that academic lecture. Many persons who were listening to that lecture laughed when he said that. I didn't know what their laughing meaning. Did they agree or disagree? But I was shocked at that time. Is that the correct method to help Korean companies succeed?  I can understand why so many Korean companies failed in China. The speaker also said, "We (Koreans) should be careful about of our safety in China." I don't know if it was true, and I never heard that there is any foreigners who are afraid of their safety problem in China, because Chinese people are famous in the world because of their friendliness. But if it was true, especially for Korean people, I think they should think over the reason why Chinese people dislike them so much that they have to worry about their safety.  Different countries have different social systems, but when someone wants to do business in another country, it is most important for them to understand that country's customs, history and culture instead of denying them.
        This time, Gallup added more questions than the first two times, such as the following: If you had a chance, would you choose the same job? What kind of work would you prefer to do? What kind of job would you recommend to young people? Have you ever talked with a foreigner in the past one year? Do you have foreign friends? Before, many people in China thought that it was a kind of good life to find a job in the public sector, and they seldom thought of changing their jobs, because that kind of job was secure for them. But now, many young people in China are changing their thoughts about jobs. Most of them would like to get a job in an international company or some private companies. They would rather become the owner of their own business than work for others companies. They like lives of adventure instead of always having calm lives.
 

CONCLUSION

        Chinese people think that their lives are just like climbing a mountain now, and the investigation showed, in some markets, the foreign brands could never replace the Chinese brands. Fand Xiao Guang--the manager of the Gallup company in China--said that he learned three good points through the results of this survey: in China, people were positive, people were willing to learn about the world, and they were welcoming their future.
        In this poll, all people who were surveyed were asked the same question: If the summit of a mountain is the happiest life, and the foot of the mountain is the  poorest life, where is your position on this mountain? Most people answered, "In the middle."
In addition, however old the people were, how much their incomes were, and which areas they lived in, all Chinese people had the same view: Their lives have improved and changed during five years, and they think that they will be  better off than now after five years. This proves, the people in China didn't decrease their satisfaction with their lives, although many problems appeared.
        Guo Xi--another manager of the Gallup company--said about his deepest impression of this investigation, "I thought that people had decreased satisfaction with their lives because of decreasing consumption in society, but the result of this investigation showed most people are satisfied with their lives, and more than sixty percent of the people trust their own brands. It made me excited. Chinese people regard their own brands as good, which is a motivating force for the development of economics."
        The results can't represents all of China now of course. There are fifty-six different nationalities in China. All of them have different histories, customs, religions, and all kinds of cultures, and they have so many different economic levels and live in different areas. Many people in  foreign countries, especially one like Korea which only has a single nationality and a small area, can't understand that for a country like China, it isn't easy to control their economy and develop. I am glad that most people of China haven't lost their hope for a happy future and trust their country.