The way out of piracy – Shaun Rein

Chris Anderson via CrunchBase

Piracy is the theme of one chapter in an upcoming book by Chris “Long Tail” Anderson and not surprisingly, China is at the core of the chapter. One of our celebrity speakers, Shaun Rein of the China Market Research Group (CMR) in Shanghai tells Chris Anderson how pragmatic young women look at pirated goods, since they cannot yet afford the real thing. And it show a way out for the future.
From an excerpt in Wired:

In 2007, the China Market Research Group surveyed consumers, mostly young women, in big Chinese cities and found an essentially pragmatic approach to piracy. They understood the difference between the original and pirated products, and preferred the originals if they could afford them. Sometimes they would buy one original and then complete their outfit with fakes. 

One of the researchers, Shaun Rein, reported that some young women making $400 a month said that they were willing to save three months’ salary to buy a $1,000 Gucci handbag or shoes from Bally. One 23-year-old female respondent said, “Right now I can’t afford to buy a lot of real Prada or Coach, so I buy the fake items. I hope that in the future I will be able to afford the real thing, but right now I want to look the part.”

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Shaun Rein by Fantake via Flickr

Shaun Rein is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your conference? Do let us know.

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