School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science, Woodview House, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland.
School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland.
J Dairy Res. 2021 May;88(2):226-237. doi: 10.1017/S0022029921000364. Epub 2021 May 17.
The consumer survey reported in this research paper aims to understand how Chinese mothers learn about and confirm the origin of powdered infant formulas (henceforward formulas), their knowledge level and preferences between formulas from different origins. With globalization, dairy companies can source ingredients for domestic production and manufacture finished products across the world. Chinese consumers are now facing a variety of formulas with different brand origin, main ingredient origin ('nai yuan'), manufacturing origin, and country-of-purchase. Drawing on a large representative sample of Chinese mothers who have purchased formulas, we found that most of them had intensively engaged in learning about and confirming formulas' origin through different strategies. However, they may not interpret related cues correctly: a majority of Chinese mothers incorrectly considered the 'main ingredient origin' as the 'manufacturing place' and could not necessarily recognize between 'foreign' and 'domestic' brands. Among formulas from different origins, authentic foreign branded, produced and packaged formulas showed a high popularity in Tier 1 & 2 cities and among more knowledgeable consumers. In low-tier cities, these products were equally popular as domestically branded and produced formulas using imported milk powders and other ingredients. Formulas directly acquired from overseas markets through unofficial channels were least favoured by consumers. The study shows that Chinese consumers' previous one-sided endorsement towards foreign formulas appears to have weakened. Decisions made by formula companies on the origin of the main ingredient and the place of manufacture would influence product attractiveness, and the segments of Chinese consumers to target.
本研究报告中的消费者调查旨在了解中国母亲如何了解和确认婴儿配方奶粉（以下简称配方奶粉）的来源，以及她们对不同来源的配方奶粉的知识水平和偏好。随着全球化的发展，乳制品公司可以在全球范围内采购原料用于国内生产和制造成品。现在，中国消费者面临着各种不同品牌来源、主要成分来源（“奶源”）、制造来源和购买国的配方奶粉。本研究通过对大量购买过配方奶粉的中国母亲进行代表性抽样调查发现，她们大多通过不同的策略积极了解和确认配方奶粉的来源。然而，她们可能无法正确解读相关线索：大多数中国母亲错误地将“主要成分来源”视为“制造地”，而且不一定能区分“外国”和“国内”品牌。在不同来源的配方奶粉中，正宗的外国品牌、在国外生产和包装的配方奶粉在一线城市和知识水平较高的消费者中很受欢迎。在低线城市，这些产品与使用进口奶粉和其他成分在国内生产和包装的国内品牌配方奶粉同样受欢迎。消费者不太喜欢通过非官方渠道直接从海外市场购买的配方奶粉。研究表明，中国消费者以前对外国配方奶粉的片面认可似乎已经减弱。配方奶粉公司对主要成分来源和制造地的决策将影响产品的吸引力以及目标消费者群体。
