Is anything made in a brand’s country of origin these days? On a recent trip to buy Australian paraphernalia for Australia day, I discovered that even our plastic flags are made in China. China’s high tech manufacturing capabilities and cheap labour costs are well documented – you can understand why brands choose to manufacture there.

But do consumers really know the extent to which their products are made in China? Do they know that their premium-priced ‘German’ car was actually made in a Chinese factory? And do they care?

We touched on this topic recently with a couple of simple questions on our consumer electronics study. We focused on the TV category, simply because it’s a category where we know the products are manufactured in China – just go and check out your local JB Hi-Fi and look on the back of the Sony, Panasonic, LG & Samsung TVs. These are all brands underpinned by their country of origin’s superior technological capabilities (Korea & Japan), but who assemble most of their products in China.

The first question addressed awareness of manufacturing country:

Q: Are you aware that most brands, including leading brands such as Sony and Samsung,
manufacture their TVs (LCD, LED and plasma) in China?


Yes – know most brands including leading brands now manufacture TVs in China
33%


Yes – know some TVs are manufactured in China but didn’t know leading brands are also
19%


No – did not know that most TVs are manufactured in China
48%

So only a third of consumers are aware that major brands are manufacturing in China, and half had no idea. But do consumers care? We also asked their opinions of Chinese manufactured TVs.

Q: Which of the following statements best applies to you when thinking about the quality of TVs
manufactured in China?


TVs manufactured in China are of poor quality
20%


TVs manufactured in China are not as good as TVs made in Japan or Korea
48%


TVs manufactured in China are better than TVs made in Japan or Korea
5%


TVs manufactured in China are of high quality
23%


TVs manufactured in China are of better quality than TVs made anywhere else
4%

Ultimately consumers perceive Chinese manufactured products to be of inferior quality, be it correct or not. But given almost all TVs are manufactured there, they have little choice.

Really the bigger question is ‘can the emerging flood of Chinese branded products (e.g. HiSense) win the heart of Australians, based on these preconceived notions of quality?’

Let’s rewind 15 years. LG was Lucky Goldstar and Samsung was launched in Target. Korean brands were perceived to be inferior and had low consideration amongst consumers. In 2010, LG is perceived to be one of the most innovative technology companies and Samsung is #1 in televisions in Australia.

How did they achieve this shift? LG did so through a sustained localised communications campaign that helped to build a strong emotional bond with consumers, coupled with innovative products. Samsung achieved their position through a consistently strong product line up and in-store recommendation. Both strategies took time and money to achieve.

But in today’s world there is of course a third option.  The scale achievable through digital advertising and social media and the role reviews play in the path to purchase means brands no longer need big budgets to build their profile.  It will be interesting to see if the next generation of Chinese brands to hit Australian shores can generate enough good word of mouth and ride the low price point wave to success.

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