Frontiers in Business, Economics and Management ISSN: 2766-824X | Vol. 4, No. 1, 2022 132 Potential Consumer Perspectives on: Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store Zhifeng Wu Xi’an Jiaotong-liverpool University, Jiangsu, 215123, China Abstract: The epidemic of the COVID-19 is driving the development of online sales. The aim of this paper is to write and analysis a market research report to promote the business practice of online sales of "Yunnan Specialties Shop". The report will use an electronic questionnaire as the primary research method to survey an anonymous random sample of potential target consumers at the Xi’an Jiaotong-liverpool University in Suzhou. The aim is to collect and analyze data from the electronic questionnaire to obtain a more accurate target consumer group and to dig deeper into consumer needs, thus providing a data base for this market and a reference for business people entering this market. Keywords: Yunnan Specialty Food; Potential consumers; Marketing research; Questionnaire data analysis. 1. Introduction Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store will provide Yunnan specialty food, and the main target group is the young group between 20 and 25 years old. China has a vast territory and profound culture, which all determine that China has a colorful food culture and various local characteristic products. Du (2012) maintain that China had rich food resources and food culture. Whatever the standard, food is an integral part of a visitor's experience of a place (Henderson, 2009). Boniface (2003, p.108) also maintains that more and more people believe that local food plays an important role in tourism. Yunnan province will become one of Asia's most popular tourist destinations in the next 20 years, which received 64 million tourists and earned 77 billion yuan from tourism in 2020 (Yunnan Becoming Popular Tourist Destination,2011). Yunnan has rich ethnic minorities and food culture, making Yunnan special food have more and more opportunities to be recognized by people. In the future, there will be a bigger market for Yunnan special food. Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store will open near universities in Suzhou. The COVID-19 epidemic has completely changed online shopping behavior; the young consumer group for online shopping consumption growth is the most obvious (COVID-19 has changed online shopping forever, 2020). Wu's store will target the country's entire young population as a niche market through online marketing in the future. The purpose of this research is to provide useful data for Wu's stores, lay the data foundations for opening this new market, and prove whether the business objectives and strategies are feasible. The research questions are: 1 What views of potential consumers influence the development of Wu's specialty stores? 2 What are the requirements of young consumer groups for specialty products? The significance of the research is to make the development direction of the business clearer, better to understand the user needs of the target potential customers, and to lay a data foundation for this blank market, to provide data support for the people who plan to enter this market in the future. 2. Method The study obtained more detailed data by conducting an online questionnaire survey of XJTLU students in Suzhou and completed on March 5, 2021. The research adopts the form of an anonymous random sampling survey; the survey sample is 37 people, with a total of seven multiple-choice questions and one short answer question be answered, which includes quantitative and qualitative data. Meanwhile, 75.67 per cent of the respondents in this sample are between 0 and 30 years old. The investigation focuses on the understanding degree and potential demand of young consumer groups for Yunnan specialty food. The sample groups that answered the questionnaire come from all over China; through thematic analysis and comparison with previous data literature, the research results obtained after the questionnaire analysis will also be of more practical significance. However, this research method's sample size is small, that only the target group of college students, other groups may have corresponding needs; besides, it has not been tested for reliability and validity. Therefore, the results of the study may represent only minimal commercial potential. 3. Result and Discussion This research takes the young consumer groups' demand for specialty food as the theme. It conducts thematic analysis on the information collected from the online questionnaire of Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store. Three key marketing factors about the demand of young consumer groups for specialty food are obtained: a) Product quality and variety, b) means of purchase and c) product brand loyalty. All in all, these factors are mostly positive, young consumers have both understanding and demand for Yunnan's local specialty food, and these three factors may be more important and critical. 3.1. Product Quality and Variety The variety and quality of products is a major factor affecting consumer choice. Quantitative data show that most interviewees have a better understanding and purchase demand for snacks of Yunnan specialty food. At the same time, there are signs that young consumers seem to have no demand for specialty food prices, and more people think the high 133 quality is more important. First of all, on the one hand, according to the online questionnaire for young consumers buy specialty food factors collected quantitative information shows that 59.46% of respondents said the product price is not important as long as the quality of the product as well, the other hand, 86.49% of respondents said they would prefer for the product taste and buy goods, which can realize high-quality products can attract more young consumer groups (Diagram 1,2). Secondly, some other quantitative data collected from the questionnaire show that young consumers have a greater demand for Yunnan specialty snacks. The data shows that 72.97% of the respondents prefer Yunnan specialty snacks (Diagram 3). The result is consistent with The NPD group (2019) concluded that snacking has evolved and will continue to evolve as a dietary solution for consumers who lack free time. Figure 1. Accept the price range of the product you purchase Figure 2. Reasons for being willing to buy the product Figure 3. Favorite varieties of Yunnan specialties 3.2. Means of Purchase Another concern for young consumers is the way they buy products. Although Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store plans to open near Suzhou's university district, the quantitative information analysis of the questionnaire shows that the number of interviewees who choose to buy goods online is much higher than those who buy goods from stores. The questionnaire's quantitative data show that 81.08% of consumers choose to buy characteristic food from the Internet, 45.95% of consumers choose to ask friends to buy products, followed by 40.54% of consumers choose to buy specialty food from physical stores (Diagram 4). These data can be concluded that young consumer groups are more inclined to buy products through online shopping. However, Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store's target customers are students 134 near Suzhou University, and they should be opened through online stores to meet the needs of young consumers in more regions. According to relevant data, as of 2017, China's Internet users accounted for more than 59.4% of the national population, and online shopping users reached 533 million, which will continue to grow in the future (Dang, V. T., Wang, J. and Vu, T. T., 2020), which is roughly the same as the results of quantitative data analysis. Figure 4. How to get the specialty food? 3.3. Product Brand Loyalty According to the qualitative data in the questionnaire, a product brand's trust is also a major factor affecting young consumer groups to buy specialty food. When respondents were asked, "How can you feel comfortable buying specialty foods that you have never bought before?” Student A replied, "First of all, I will check whether there is any brand I know. If not, I will check whether the product has food safety certification, then I will choose to buy it." Student B said: "I think I will buy products with well-known brands because I think big brands are recognized by people not only because they taste good, but also because they are more hygienic and safer." Therefore, Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store should introduce more branded specialty products to attract young consumers to buy them; gaining customers' trust can create Wu’s brand. The promotion of consumer trust is conducive to promoting positive word-of-mouth of products, which will bring consumers higher purchase willingness and higher price tolerance (The Future Is Bright for Snack Foods as Permissible, Portable, and Beneficial Eating Solutions, 2019). The results obtained after qualitative data analysis were the same. 4. Conclusion To sum up, this research realized the needs of young consumer groups for Yunnan specialty food. It had influenced Wu's Yunnan Specialty Food Store's future development direction by understanding the thinking of young consumer groups. The result of the research showed that young consumer groups have a certain demand for Yunnan specialty food. Meanwhile, consumers have a greater demand for specialty snacks and can accept product premium to a certain extent if the product quality is high enough. Besides, young consumers are more willing to buy products through online shopping. For some consumers who have never bought Yunnan specialty food, whether the product's brand is trustworthy is a major factor that affects whether they will try to buy it. In the future development, we should introduce more high-quality snacks and Yunnan specialty foods and cooperate with some big brands to win consumers' trust. Simultaneously, if the online sales platform is opened, it will meet the needs of more consumers and fill the market gap. References [1] Boniface, P. (2003) Tasting Tourism: Travelling for Food and Drink. Ashgate Publishing, Burlington, NJ. [2] Chaudhuri, A., & Holbrook, M. B. (2002) ‘Product‐class effects on brand commitment and brand outcomes: The role of brand trust and brand affect’， Brand Management, 10 (1), pp. 33 – 58. [3] Dang, V. T., Wang, J. and Vu, T. T. (2020) ‘An integrated model of the younger generation’s online shopping behavior based on empirical evidence gathered from an emerging economy’, PLoS ONE, 15(5), pp. 1–19. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0232213. [4] Du, Y. (2012), ‘A bite of China’ brings along the heat of food tourism’, Hangzhou Daily, 8 June, available at: http://fashion.ifeng.com/travel/roll/detail_2012_06/08/151524 55_0.shtml (Accessed: 2 April 2021). [5] Henderson, J.C. (2009) ‘Food tourism reviewed’, British Food Journal, 111(4), pp. 317-332. [6] The Future Is Bright for Snack Foods As Permissible, Portable, and Beneficial Eating Solutions (2019) Available at: https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press- releases/2019/the-future-is-bright-for-snack-foods-as- permissible-portable-and-beneficial-eating- solutions/(Accessed: 2 April 2021). [7] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (2020) ‘COVID-19 has changed online shopping forever, survey shows’, 08 October. Available at: https://unctad.org/news/covid-19-has-changed-online- shopping-forever-survey-shows. [8] Yunnan Becoming Popular Tourist Destination (2011) Available at: http://www.china.org.cn/english/8878.htm (Accessed: 2 April 2021). 135 Appendix: Questionnaire Questions 1. How old are you? A 0-18 B 18-30 C 30-50 D more than 50 2. What is your favorite Yunnan specialty? (multiple- choice question) A Snack B Meat C Drink D Herb E Wild fungus F Fruit G Arts and crafts H Flower I Other__________ 3. Have you ever asked your classmates to buy special products from other places? A Yes B No 4. What makes you more willing to buy Yunnan specialties? (multiple-choice question) A Culture B Friend recommended C Product quality D Distinctive E Famous 5. What is your acceptable price (rmb) for the product? A 10-30 B 30-50 C 50-100 D More than 100 E It doesn’t matter if it’s delicious 6. In what way will you get the special products of Yunnan? (multiple-choice question) A Ask friend to buy B Buy from physical stores C Home to send D Online shopping E Buy them in different cities F Other ways G Do not buy 7. What suggestions do you have for the sale of specialty food? _______________________________________________ 8. For the specialty products never bought, how can you really rest assured on the quality of the products? _______________________________________________