Using service design approaches to rebuild customer experience in cross-cultural expansion to China: A case study on Icepeak brand

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School of Arts, Design and Architecture | Master's thesis
Ask about the availability of the thesis by sending email to the Aalto University Learning Centre oppimiskeskus@aalto.fi
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Date

2019

Department

Department of Design
Muotoilun laitos

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

International Design Business Management

Language

en

Pages

126

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Abstract

Nowadays, the rise of emerging markets has redefined the competitive landscape of global markets. While the Chinese retail market is becoming increasingly attractive to Western companies, the cultural differences and unfamiliar consumers make it difficult for western companies to design effective marketing strategies successfully. Service design has been heralded as the new marketing (Finch, 2018), which could be a creative solution to the existing challenges. This thesis takes Icepeak as a case study to explore how service design approaches could be used in creating solutions for Finnish companies to overcome the cultural differences between the Chinese and the Nordic markets. Based on the literature study on cross-cultural consumption behaviors and the applications of service design in a cross-cultural context, the case project was framed into two phases: design development and concept design. In the design development phase, service design methods and visualization tools were utilized to research Chinese consumer behaviors and the cultural meanings behind them. This research identified three fundamental problems in this stage, which regard to “location and atmosphere”, “vanishing Finnish sports elements“, and ”disordered placement“. Based on these fundamental problems, this research found that “consumption upgrade”, “cultural traditions” and “urban lifestyle” are three major cultural differences issues that have the strongest relationships with Chinese consumers behaviors. In the concept design phase, focusing on customer insights about cultural differences, a strategic road map was designed for Icepeak to address the existing issues. The road map is divided into three steps: “creating engagement”, “building community”, and “maintaining loyalty”. Also, an innovative marketing campaign was designed to serve as the starter to the overall strategic planning. Co-creation workshops with customers and the brand ambassador were conducted by applying the tools of storyboards and service blueprints. This thesis analyses the deep cultural factors behind consumer behaviors, and further explored the role of service designers and service design processes in a cross-cultural context. The findings of this thesis provide strategic design guidelines for Icepeak, and could be utilized by the other Nordic fashion firms that aim to enter the Chinese retail markets.

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Supervisor

McGrory, Peter

Thesis advisor

Chun, Namkyu

Keywords

Chinese retail market, cross-cultural, service design, customer experience, consumer behaviors, sportswear

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-201912086376

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[master] Taiteiden ja suunnittelun korkeakoulu / ARTS