China Buys A CrowdSurvey Production Chocolate Purchases Findings of a survey conducted July 22, 2014

China Buys Past series of reports: 1.Domestic Milk Report 2.Imported Milk Report 3.Yoghurt Report 4.100% Juice Report 5.Mixed Juice Report 6.Milk Powder Report 7.Bottled Water Report 8.Carbonated Drink Report 9.Energy Drink Report 10. Yellow Rice Wine Report 11.Red Wine Report 12. Beer Report Current: 13. Chocolate Report Future series of reports: 12.Yoghurt Drink Report 13.Tea Report 14.Coffee Report 15.White Wine Report 16.Shampoo Report 17.Hair Conditioner Report 18.Body Wash Report 19.Sunscreen Report 20.Facial Wash Report And More is going on……

China Buys China Buys is a new series of reports on the purchasing behavior of those who will be the heart of China—that part of the population under age 40 that is enabled in more than one sense of the word. China Buys will ask large number of consumers every week where they buy different products, what brands they have bought recently and what brands they will buy in the near future. We will then look at the differences between consumers—do women buy differently from men? Do consumers in one province buy differently than another? How does age impact purchase location and preference? And we will bring these answers to you within a week. This is the latest in a series of reports on surveys conducted by CrowdSurvey, China’s largest mobile research panel. Copyright CrowdSurvey, a joint venture of Weichaishi and nQuire China.

China Buys Chocolate Our latest survey is about Chinese purchases of chocolates; We asked 12,148 consumers to tell us about their past purchases of chocolate, the locations where they bought it and brands they bought most frequently as well as brands they are going to buy in the future. Our follow-on survey on purchases of instant noodles is now in the field and will be added to this, along with a further survey on the fast-food industry.

Key Findings According to the data, there are around 10% percent of people who purchased Dove before are more willing to choose Ferrero Rocher and HERSHEY'S in the future, no matter what type of store it’s in, or how rich or old they are. The market for chocolate is concentrated, with 3 brands holding almost 90% of mentions by our respondents. And Dove is absolutely at the top. Province also shows an influence on the chocolate purchased. Respondents in Hebei purchase Dove more than Shanghai. And 16% of the respondents in Shanghai said they would buy a different brand next month instead of the one they bought last month, but only 9% said the same in Hebei.

Who We Talked To—And Who We Didn’t Readers are strongly advised to look carefully at the demographics section at the end of this report. There are only a handful of respondents over the age of 60, for example. On the other hand, we achieved very good geographic representation, with respondents coming from almost 200 cities in every province in China. Their incomes look fairly representative, as do their educational achievements. Only a third of our respondents are married—that’s far lower than for China’s under 40s as a whole, but understandable when we see that 45% of our respondents are under age 25. This report is not intended to represent the opinions or behavior of all of China. It captures meaningful data about the consumers whose decisions and attitudes will be important to businesses all over the world. Our survey was conducted using a questionnaire delivered by mobile applications on smart phones. That alone means that we had no access to those without smart phones, nor to those who shy away from downloading mobile apps.

Q1: Where do you most frequently buy chocolate? To our surprise much more than half (65.6%) of chocolate mentions were of purchases at supermarkets. Age influences the place where chocolate is purchased. The percentage of people who mentioned supermarket purchases increased steadily with age, from 49% for under 18 year olds to 75% for year olds. Gender also has an influence on the place of chocolate purchase. According to the data, females (72%) were more likely to purchase chocolate in the supermarkets than males (58%).

Q2. What was the brand of chocolate you purchased most frequently last month? Dove’s dominance (82.1% of mentions) is surprising. The second most frequently mentioned brand was Ferrero Rocher at only 6.2%. Location had an influence on the chocolate purchased. Respondents in Hebei who purchased Dove (89%) much more than Ferrero Rocher (0.3%) and Hershey'S. But in Shanghai, it’s a little different, as respondents purchased Dove dropped to 66%, still well ahead of Ferrero Rocher(12%) and HERSHEY'S(11%).

Q2. What the brand of chocolate will you buy most frequently in the future? Dove (70.3%) was mentioned also the most frequently, but not as much as in the question regarding previous month’s purchases. And the second most frequently mentioned brand Ferrero Rocher rose to 11.6%. Gender also influences chocolate purchases. Males purchase Dove(74%) most frequently, they did not mention Ferrero Rocher (9%) or Hershey’s 4%) very much at all. But female’s purchase were a little different, with Dove at 67%, Ferrero Rocher 14% and Hershey’s at 8%.

If You Need More Information We hope this information is valuable. We offer it to you for free. (Of course, we hope that you will want more information that we can charge you for. Not too much—just 3,000 RMB.) If you do want more information please send an to

Methodology CrowdSurvey is powered by China’s largest crowdsourcing company Weichaishi and nQuire China, a full service market research company headquartered in Shanghai. Respondents are recruited by an invite placed on their Weichaishi mobile application. Those who complete the survey are rewarded with 0.2 yuan. The survey consists of three questions and is part of their welcome dashboard when they start the mobile app. All of Weichaishi’s users are eligible to participate.

Demographics 1 Age -As we have mentioned in the report, our respondents are younger than China as a whole.

Demographics 2 Gender - As is often the case with surveys conducted electronically, more women than men participated in the study

Demographics 3 Education

Demographics 4 Marital Status

Demographics 5 Employment by sector

Demographics 6 Income