Abstract

With the increasingly severe impacts of the COVID-19, there is a need to analyse the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the organisations, in order to investigate the reasons behind the declining sales. For this purpose, the study had investigated the impacts of COVID-19 on the experience marketing in the Chinese retailing industry. Moreover, the study developed the research objectives for concluding the findings of the research study, which includes analysing how COVID-19 has affected the experience marketing in the Chinese retail industry; to analyse the impacts of COVID-19 on the Chinese economy and consumer spending; to analyse how COVID-19 pandemic era has affected the retail industry and consumer buying behaviour in China; to analyse the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing that is widely used in the retail industry in China; to examine how to experience marketing strategy could still become the first choice among marketing strategies in China retail industry.

In order to collect insightful findings, the study conducted in-depth interviews with eight respondents. In which, four of them were the managers, and four were the assistant managers, working in the retailing companies of China. Based on the analysis of collected data, it was identified that the COVID-19 has severely impacted the experiential marketing of the Chinese retailing companies. Moreover, consumers are changing their buying behaviours. Therefore, the retailing companies are required to come up with advanced and creative strategies, such as understanding consumers’ needs and wants during the pandemic and launching innovative and creative features, including Virtual reality and enhanced online experience, for retaining the sales in such uncertain conditions.

1. CHAPTER 01 INTRODUCTION

1.1. Research Background

The concept of experiential marketing is defined as a marketing strategy that calls the audience to network with a firm in a real-life condition. The business can show its customers what they offer with participatory and physical branding products (Becker, 2019). The existing literature, such as the Schmitt (2011), presented the concept of experience marketing as a rational process. It is always important for the companies to have a better interaction with the consumers with the help of experienced marketing but in the wake of COVID-19 that was impossible. However, there are limited research studies that aimed to analyse the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing within the retail industry; therefore, this research study aims to analyse the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing within the retail industry of China and to evaluate the purpose and importance of experience marketing in terms of consumer perceptions.

The need for conducting the research study has emerged because COVID-19 has influenced everyone in the world severely, especially the economies. Everything has been troubled because of this outbreak, leading to several issues and disturbance in the whole world's structure. The deaths, systems, nature, lives etc. are negatively affected, but COVID-19 has greatly influenced the operations of corporate firms in the economy. Some of the factors, such as enabling lockdowns in different parts of the world, putting up travel restrictions, global trading, experience marketing, investments, and commerce around the world were badly disturbed. (Ibn-Mohammed et al., 2020). Therefore, COVID-19 brought destructions with it for the whole world, and firms have developed other strategies to overcome this problem. Subsequently, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to income harm for the tourism initiatives and staff because of governments' restrictions. The government are supporting businesses but not to the tourist’s business owners and staff within the economy.

There was a report by Williams (2020), in which it was revealed that the various number of European citizen was involved in work of tourism which was destroyed due to the COVID-19 outbreak and people were not able to interact with customers or even attract consumers as the businesses were paused. Moreover, there is still a gap in existing literature, which had analysed the role of COVID-19 on the impacts of experience marketing in China's retail industry (Wen et al., 2020). Therefore, this study aims to fulfil the gap within China's retail industry, where the research has not been conducted and find major results about the impact of COVID-19 on experience marketing out of it.

For any retail industry, marketing and promotions are the most important features for any firm either functioning nationally or globally. It allows the business to create consciousness about its goods and services and offerings among segmented consumer groups. According to Vasundhara (2017), the experience has been quoted as a crucial trait when creating customer awareness. The researcher had found out the significance of experience marketing which is associated with maximum customer engagement. However, some authors, such as Ronn Torossian (2020) argued that customers wish for a satisfying experience are not much concerned about the product or service types. Therefore, it depends on the firm to decide whether experience marketing plays a major role in their business or not.

Furthermore, several articles have been studied and written, such as Wiedmann et al. (2018); Roth (1995), which deals with emotional, experiential, and the sensory extents of marketing. The pros of experience marketing are that it increases brand awareness and engages consumers through social media, especially in COVID-19 pandemic, where social distancing is necessary. The brands send their packages and gifts to people, and with the help of experienced marketing looking to produce unique experiences for the customers, this strategy is used as the perfect factor to marketing through social media (Ronn Torossian, 2020). People share their experiences on social media through hashtags and experience marketing. Therefore, many other strategies and tactics are present to use instead of directly interacting with the customers in COVID-19 outbreak. According to Same and Larimo (2012), there are several interpretations and perceptions about experience marketing, as experience marketing is analysed as an increasing focus. Although this idea was introduced back in 1998, it has gone far beyond tourism and retailing businesses worldwide. Therefore, the research will analyse the concepts of experience marketing based on the researchers' literature that experience marketing is a broader term than any other strategic approaches and how badly COVID-19 influenced all the operations of experience marketing for the businesses.

Similarly, Charm et al. (2020) explain that customer sentiment varies according to the countries affected by the pandemic of COVID-19. Customers in the countries, including Indonesia, India and China, are constantly reported with developed hopefulness. Japan and Europe remained less hopeful about their country’s economic situations after the outbreak of COVID-19. Through the world, customers have answered to the calamity as its usual consumer behaviour by trying out diverse brands and shopping habits. As there is no experience marketing available in the corona outbreak, customers are changing and shifting to other brands (MarketingWeek, 2020). Therefore, this report will find out what can be done to avoid these problems and how brands can get their customers back with experience marketing.

Moving onward, the market leaders have over the recent six months modernised marketing strategies, which helps them in setting up remote procedures and taking hard financials decisions. Some experts, such as Öni? and Güven (2011); Prideaux et al. (2020), proposed the three-wide economic situations that could unfold, including a quick recovery, an international slowdown and an epidemic driven recession. The success of a more confident result for the development of COVID-19 is supposed to be underrated. Initially, the Rapid recovery, in this situation, the instance count remains to grow, given the virus’s increasing transmissibility. While this unescapably grounds a strong communal response and decrease in demand, other nations can attain similar fast control in China, so that the highest in community apprehension comes relatively soon. The worldwide recession because of COVID-19 will have a more severe influence on small and mid-sized businesses. It can be said that not all industries are correspondingly affected. Therefore, the service businesses and the retail industry, are likely to be hardest hit, including tourism, transport and aviation and retailing experiences that involve experience marketing.

Moreover, all trades in the whole world have been clogged by the COVID-19 crisis, with varying degrees of severity. Some have harder defences, whereas others will fight to harvest to a repeatedly shifting “common.” Consumer demand configurations are unstable, global economic operations are disturbed and continue below pressure, and different regions, marketplaces, and governments rely completely upon the COVID-19 crisis. Companies must continuously adapt to advanced and undefined market conditions. Thought by daily conversations with the clients, the corporation offers industry-specific guidance on what leaders must consider executing now and next.

Moreover, the wake of COVID-19 enforced event terminations, promotional activities worldwide, and experimental marketing commerce had to adjust in different social distancing cultures. Firms like MAG experience, a New-York-based experience marketing agency, admitted the hard path ahead and sees a chance to boost their virtual actions and create a new innovative offering for consumers (Editors, 2020). However, in China, the coronavirus impacts on experience marketing are still yet to be discovered. Therefore, this report highlights the extent to which the experience marketing could be utilised to support the business within and outside of the organisation and how COVID-19 ruined all the experience marketing operations.

1.2. Research Objectives

Following are the objectives developed for the research study based on the identified gaps discussed before in the research background; • To analyse how COVID-19 has affected the experience marketing in the Chinese retail industry • To analyse how COVID-19 pandemic era has affected the Chinese economy and consumer buying behaviour in Chinese retailing industry • To examine how experience marketing strategy could still become the first choice among marketing strategies in China retail industry

1.3. Significance of the study

This research study has paramount significance as this research will help explore the impacts of COVID-19 on China's retail industry by focusing on the four Chinese retailing companies, including Sunning Commerce Group, Gome Electrical Appliances Sun Art Retail Group and China Resource Vanguard. The study aims to incorporate the experience economy theory for analysing the impacts of Convid-19 on experiential marketing. Moreover, this study's findings would help the other retailing companies develop effective and efficient strategies for experience marketing in unforeseen circumstances, such as the pandemic of COVID-19.

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2. CHAPTER 02 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. The Impact of Covid-19 Worldwide

Covid-19 has created much disturbance worldwide due to prolonged lockdown and economic downturn, causing a significant impact on the organisations and their marketing strategies, particularly experience marketing (McKibbin and Fernando, 2020). Owing to the pandemic and global lockdown, the idea of experience marketing failed due to lack of customer participation and interaction with the brands. Besides this, marketing managers have been pondering much upon the marketing strategies that fit the best in the era of Covid-19. Due to prolonged lockdown, China has been affected the most due by this pandemic, causing an economic disturbance. Pandemics have always created a sense of disturbance all over the world. Malaria, smallpox, leprosy, tuberculosis, influenza have always led to worst-case scenarios. Sharma and Sonwalkar (2013) in their work have found out that such pandemics had also historically affected the companies due to economic downturn and financial crisis. Covid-19 greatly impacted the businesses of the world. It was researched by Seetharaman (2020) that different kinds of businesses are suffering a lot due to the current pandemic situation. However, the researcher did a critical analysis of two main businesses: the businesses that provide information about the product and services, and the businesses that provide the customers with the physical products. Moreover, it was stated that the companies providing goods that need some labour to manufacture it, is highly impacted by the Covid-19. The labour-intensive businesses were forced to shut down for a short period. Covid-19 also affected the retail businesses as it requires labour to carry out certain operations. The prior research was analysing the business activities on the global level, whereas this present research will mainly emphasise China's retail businesses.

Pandemics, like Covid-19, play an important role in the disturbance of businesses. In addition to this, Donthu and Gustafsson (2020) investigated that the current situation of Covid-19 negatively impacted the economy on the global level. Moreover, Covid-19 influenced not only the economy but also the society on a greater degree. Businesses have changed how they perform business activities as consumers' choices, and behaviour has shifted due to the pandemic. The researcher highlighted that Covid-19 left a great impact on the retail industry's business performance, particularly for experiential marketing. Therefore, it is important to examine the trends and outcomes of experiential marketing during the Covid-19 and how the pandemic impacts it within the Chinese retailing industry.

2.2. Experience Marketing Strategy - Concept and Importance

Since the COVID-19 has greatly impacted the businesses globally; however, experiential marketing is analysed as a feasible strategy for overcoming declining sales. Experiential marketing is defined as a strategy that allows consumers to interact with the business in real-world situations by having hands-on experiences or participatory strategies. Marketing and promotion are the most significant aspects for any organisation, either operating domestically or internationally, as it enables the company to create awareness about its products and services and offerings among the target customers (Schmitt, 2011). According to Schmitt (2011), experience has been cited as a crucial trait when creating customer awareness. Authors have found out the importance of experience marketing which is aligned to maximum customer engagement. Besides this, from Ismail (2011) 's academic work, it can be found that people desire satisfying experience and are only moderately concerned about the product or service types. Several articles have been studied and written that deal with emotional, experiential, and sensory dimensions of marketing. Same and Larimo (2012) have addressed the implications of experience marketing on purchasing and consumption behaviour of the target consumers and beyond the targets. Experience marketing is all about the interaction of the customers with the brand or the company. The better the level of interaction with an appealing message conveying strategy, the higher were the chances to attract and engage customers (Ismail, 2011). This study will be useful to verify whether experience marketing has an impact on customer perceptions or not.

From the studies of Aronne et al. (2009), it can be found out how companies have been using experience marketing strategies to create a maximum impression on the target market. Besides this, the authors have selected experimental method for research to provide insights and understand the impact of experience marketing on customer’s perceptions and behaviour towards any brand, along with the evaluation of documental data and qualitative research tools and techniques, particularly in the form of ethnography. The results presented by the authors were in mixed form, where the perceptions of some of the customers (sample participants) changed due to changes in what they experience, while some of them stay static and stable, i.e. unaffected due to changes in their experience or situation. The literary review will be useful in this research to determine how customer experience can be affected due to the situations and experiences they undergo. Same and Larimo (2012) have proposed a conceptual model of experience marketing that has been tested empirically, where experience marketing turned out to be more effective than any traditional marketing strategies used by organisations due to cost reduction and customer engagement a higher level. Since the concept of online experiential marketing is increasing; however, there is another condition of physical shopping, in which consumers are provided with hands-on experience that is another important factor towards the importance of experience economy.

However, Covid-19 has played a significant role in increasing the rate of online business trade. Dannenberg et al. (2020) did a critical analysis of the online trade shifts due to the current pandemic. It was concluded that Covid-19 caused an increase in online trade as consumers are reluctant to go out and buy basic need products from the physical stores. Socio-technical regime encountered a great increase, and the room for innovations expanded. The previous research emphasised the effects of Covid-19 worldwide; however, this study aims to examine the impacts of Covid-19 on the experiential marketing strategies within the Chinese retailing industry. Therefore, it is important to analyse the trends and outcomes of experience marketing during the pandemic.

2.3. Experience Marketing Trends and Outcome

Any organisation's marketing trends and strategies have always transformed from traditional to modern, subject to the market requirements and the customers’ reach. According to Dzisi and Ofosu (2014), marketing strategies play a significant role in reaching customers and attracting them through different means. Çizmeci and Ercan (2015) argued that it is the marketing strategy that enables a brand to create awareness among its customers. Appropriate marketing strategies are necessary to ensure that the brands' messages to convey to their target market reach them on time and aptly. Brunello (2013) argued that companies use experiential marketing as one of the most valuable strategies to instil the brand's name and its messages in the minds of the consumers. Despite the fact, experience marketing became the trend in the modern era to influence the customers based on their emotions and feelings and the idea they had with regards to the brand. It has also become one of the major strategies among the companies to engage with the customers in large numbers to ensure maximum customer reach and retention. Khalufi et al. (2019) argued that companies in the modern era, where there is tough competition even among the lesser-known brands, try to create something unique that makes them stand apart from the rest of the competitors. Also, Moravcikova and Kliestikova (2017) state that the greater the customer reach, the more value it creates for the companies regarding customer engagement and loyalty. In addition to this, Lewnes and Keller (2019) argued that customer loyalty also plays a vital role in any brand's progress and growth. This is one of the major reasons why companies generally approach the customers with best of all their products and services. This enables the companies to ensure maximum customer satisfaction which improves their experience with the brand.

Volkswagen also adopted experience marketing when the automobile industry took a big leap into the environmentally friendly product (LA Times, 2009). The company created the piano staircase to attract customers. Each step taken on the staircase by the customers sounded different music, which attracted the customers in large numbers. The fun factor mattered the most for the customers while stepping up the stairs and coming down. Such an experience created a strong impact on the overall community. Besides this, Google also used experience marketing by building a better Bay Area, with the help of online voting system and using the hashtag: #GoogleImpactChallenge, enabled the voters to participate and share their experience on social media. Google also encouraged its customers to decide where the company should put their charitable money in 2012-2014, as part of corporate philanthropy (City Wise, 2019). This increased curiosity among the general public and their experience with Google become better every day.

GE also made appropriate use of experience marketing by partnering with agency-EA to create "movie sets" representing different healthcare environments where Healthy-imagination work took place: a rural African clinic, an urban clinic, and an emergency room (GE Healthcare, 2020). This was done to help people see and feel the impact of the initiative. The experience marketing idea behind the initiative was that the doctors were required to share their stories live among 700 attendees, illustrating the significance of GE's healthcare technology to deal with uncomfortable healthcare issues and providing access to healthcare to disadvantaged people worldwide. This resulted in more engagement from the end of the audience than ever before.

Jiang and Wen (2020) highlighted the impact of Covid-19 on the hotels' marketing and management practices. The researchers mentioned that to provide the best possible experience for the customers, the hotels have started following certain steps. The hotels focus on Artificial intelligence, health care, and cleanliness to enhance customer experience and retain sustainability. However, the research was focused on the experience marketing of the hospitality industry. Therefore, the present research would highlight the impact of experience marketing in terms of Chinese Retail companies. According to Reddy and Gupta (2020), the impact of Covid-19 can be reduced with effective communication. Effective communication can be achieved by providing customers with enhanced experience marketing. It is also essential to take care of the economy, social-cultural, health factors, and psychological factors when communicating with the consumers. However, the previous research paper’s main idea was revolving around the grocery retail stores, whereas, this research would emphasise the retail stores within China for building strong consumer relationships through experiential marketing during the Covid-19.

2.4. Consumer Relationships, Emotions and Experience with Brands

According to Hultman et al. (2011), engaging with customers has become one of the most significant aspects for any organisation. It has been found out by Same and Larimo (2012) that through marketing and promotional strategies, companies try to engage with the customers and create maximum awareness of its offerings. Alrawi et al. (2008) studied how brands try to create an emotional relationship with the target consumers. The greater the emotional association amid any brand and consumer, the more powerful is the relationship. In addition to this, Gupta (2016) stated that a strong emotional connection among the brand and consumer could be easily determined by the level of positive feelings or emotions any customer has towards a brand and how they connect with the brand’s key attributes.

Furthermore, the study of El-Ansary (2006) also revealed that positive emotions on brand trust are generally induced through marketing communication that also results in a higher level of brand loyalty. Besides this, the impact of negative emotions on the brand’s trust was also significant. Romaniuk and Nenycz-Thiel (2013) argued that in the era where organisations compete to make their brands unique, one of the best solutions they generally find is through establishing consumer-brand link at the sensory as well as an emotional level. In this manner, the marketers aim to develop long-lasting and deeper brand attachment for the consumers. There are numerous researches conducted and evidence collected through past studies of literature regarding the tipping significance of emotions for building strong associations amid brands and consumers through penetrating their values. Therefore, it can be said that emotions play a significant role in experience marketing technique, as little effort needs to be channelised to deepen or extend the research on experience branding. According to the scholars Tynan and McKechnie (2009), experience has been considered vital in marketing for a long time. Tresidder (2015) found that experiences included progression over time and included involvement and uniqueness, making activities stand out from ordinary. However, Islam et al. (2020) analysed that the Covid-19 has significantly impacted the consumer relationships, emotions and experiences with the brands, which is because the majority of the consumers have limited their spending for shopping.

Experience with any product has a significant impact on the purchasing behaviour of the consumers. Better the experience greater are the chances of repeat purchase and referral marketing. Besides this, it has been found out by Ackerberg (2003) that good experiences always induce a feeling of positivity among the customers and vice versa. Also, Patrício et al. (2008) argued that customer experience becomes of greater importance to the organisation as it enables the managers to understand what the customers’ need and desire of, as well as their likes and dislikes. Tax et al. (1998) also supported this view and have stated that the customers' experience and their emotional association altogether encourages them to make decisions regarding any product or brand. Rageh Ismail et al. (2011) states that the meaning of experience varies for different people. For some, the experience is subjective and is a secondary aspect when deciding on marketing strategies. On the other hand, Quan and Wang (2004) argued on the customers' objectivity when it comes to making strategic decisions in marketing.

According to Leone et al. (2020), the consumer's behaviour is directly influenced by the business environment. Moreover, the researcher further investigated that Covid-19 has greatly impacted the distribution, purchase, sale, consumption, and food preparation in the USA. The main focus of the researchers was on the food retailing environment and the model of consumer interaction. It was concluded that the current pandemic situation highly influenced consumer behaviour and retailing business model. In addition to this, it was researched by Szymkowiak et al. (2020) that Covid-19 has successfully influenced the emotions of the consumers and their decision-making manner. Therefore, consumer behaviour has shifted because they perceived that they would catch the Covid-19 virus during shopping.

Further, it was analysed by Anand (2020) that consumer emotional loyalty with the brands shifted due to Covid-19. However, the researcher stated that the customer could be retained by innovative engagement by solving their problems and promoting social values. Similarly, Machado (2020) stated that customers' emotional attachment during Covid-19 could be assured by leading with empathy, by promoting health protocols, by focusing on value-driven content and providing the customers with engagement platform. However, all the previous researches were unable to discuss the same idea regarding experiential marketing within China's retailing industry.

It was researched by Goeltom et al. (2019) that Covid-19 situation pandemic led them to investigate four factors which include price promotion, brand image, perceived value and product quality. Researchers focused on these factors for measuring the satisfaction level on the customers during the Novelty Corona Virus period. However, it was concluded that only price promotion out of the four factors could not influence the customer satisfaction level. The previous research was on the impact of Covid-19 on the consumer behaviour towards Boba drinks; however, the present research paper would be centred around the impact of covid-19 on the customer’s behaviour towards the retail industry of China. Since the consumers` behaviours are based on various factors, such as economic downturns and purchasing decisions; therefore, it is argued that experiential marketing is significantly impacted during the economic downturns (Kahild et al., 2020).

2.5. Economic Downturn Affecting Purchase Decisions

The economic downturn has always affected consumer behaviour significantly. Whether it is the Great Recession of the year 2007-2009 or the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020, both seem to impact the economy worldwide significantly. Economic downturn leads to problematic situations for the national economy and the disposable income of the people as they need to curb their spending on necessities only. According to the study conducted by Kalleberg and Von Wachter (2017), the financial crisis affects consumer behaviour economically and psychologically, which subsequently impacts the marketing strategies, such as experiential marketing, of brands. Premium products lose value and switching to cheaper brands become common. East et al. (2016) found out that understanding consumer behaviour is one of the most significant roles while making business decisions. Consumer behaviour is nothing but the study of the processes that individuals generally undertake whilst making purchasing decisions that satisfy their needs and desires. Sethna and Blythe (2016) defined consumer behaviour as a combination of buying awareness of the customers, combined with external motivators resulting in changes. Bognar et al. (2019) has defined consumer behaviour as a study on consumers' buying or purchasing habits and the changes in their taste and preferences with time or situations.

Consumers opt to purchase any product either when they feel that getting it will fulfil their desire or their basic need. Ambikai and Selvaraj (2017) studied consumer behaviour through a survey of a hundred people. They found that 40% consumer behaviour changes according to their needs and necessities while 40% of them change their purchasing habits depending on the situations they go through, and 20% try to spend carefully and remain more interested in savings. Another study conducted by Ramya and Ali (2016) revealed that consumers keep changing their buying and purchasing habits as per the market trend, especially in the fashion or retail industry. The financial crisis of the Great Depression created uncertainty and affected the experiences of consumers for shopping. Besides this, from the studies of Sharma and Sonwalkar (2013), it has been found out that reduced employment and earnings were the major reasons that affected the financial position of the people significantly.

It has also been found that the social impact of the financial crisis was found to be more significant and obvious in the emerging nations, where the poor people were severely hurt during the crisis for the reason that the labour demand fell, price of essential commodities escalated. Social services were cut down in order to have an experience economy. Argued by the scholars Sharma and Sonwalker (2013), consumer behaviour changes a lot, depending upon their disposable income. The higher the disposable income, the greater the spending and vice versa within the experience economy. The financial crisis and economic downturn have always curbed the disposable income of people worldwide. During the Great Depression, consumer spending declined significantly (Hampson et al., 2018). Also, many companies were affected tremendously due to decline in sales, lack of engagement with customers and fewer earnings due to limited sales generated by a few customers. Therefore, it can be said that consumer spending is highly dependent on their choice of spending, their necessities and the situation which they face.

No matter the companies' effort in marketing, in terms of investments, time and setting targets, and the consumer purchasing power significantly declines whenever there is a financial crunch in the economy, affecting the disposable income and spending power of the consumer. According to Schmitt (2011), marketing does play a significant role in attracting the target market. However, it is entirely on the consumers whether to spend on the brands or go with the necessities only. The financial parameters and the consumers' disposable income matters a lot when they make their purchase decision. This is one of the major reasons organisations need to invest carefully in their marketing and promotional campaigns to engage with the target market effectively. Experience market plays a major role in engaging with customers by connecting with the brand in useful ways. However, several instances (as discussed above) whereby the economic downturn and financial crisis affect the consumers’ engagement with the brand. This study will be conducted on the impact of Covid-19 on experience marketing using the large companies in China in the retail industry as they use the maximum number of marketing strategies, experience marketing is one among them, to engage with the customers and connect with them in the long run.

2.6. Theoretical Framework

The author has outlined that experience marketing is primarily based on the experience economy theory, as identified before in the significance of the study. This theory explains that on the commoditisation of goods and services, customer experiences matter the most for any company in the long run (Horner and Swarbrooke, 2016). Any changes in the customers’ experience might create a significant impact on the companies' overall business, leading to subsequent losses and affecting their financial position. This theory will help current research study on how consumers’ perception changes due to changes in their experiences and conditions. The theory of consumer behaviour studies consumers' strategies to spend their funds in different situations (Lepeyko et al., 2018). This theory will also be used in the present research, which will help in finding the relational aspects, such as consumer experiences, that have changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Consumer behaviour theory will be taken up for review and research on the factors that affect the consumers’ behaviour to make the purchase decision and avoid the purchase due to the economic downturn or financial crisis. This theory will also be used in line with brand engagement and how to experience marketing can prove to be a useful strategy to win over such consumer groups.

The scholarly contributions with regards to the importance and significance of experience marketing are rich and diverse. In addition to this, there are different interpretations and conceptualisations made by the academics concerning the customer experience despite the differences in their perspective. However, there is limited and inadequate research or study on how the strategy of experience marketing has changed or been affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic with worldwide lockdown and economic downturn, no lesser than the Great Recession of 2007-2009. Additionally, the study aims to examine how the experience economy is affected by economic downturns. The study will be conducted to fulfil this gap by finding out the impact of Covid-19 on experience marketing, particularly concerning one of the most affected nations, i.e. China. The retail industry is best to take up for the research as this industry widely uses experience marketing to attract and engage customers on a large scale.

2.7. Research Questions

Following are the research questions for the study based on the developed research objectives; • How has COVID-19 affected experience marketing in the Chinese retail industry? • How has COVID-19 pandemic era affected the Chinese economy and consumer buying behaviour in Chinese retailing industry? • Can experience marketing strategy still become the first choice among marketing strategies in China retail industry?

3. CHAPTER 03 METHODOLOGY

3.1. Introduction

The research methodology is considered as a most important part in the research paper as it helps in answering the research questions, the research approach, secondary research, primary data which is collected by interviews or questionnaires, analysis techniques of data and it also discuss the limitations of the research method which is adopted for conducting the study (Kumar, 2019). Moreover, Research methodology helps in expanding the knowledge about the research study. Therefore, this research methodology will provide the researchers with techniques, processes, and procedures that would help collect, analyse, and evaluate the information about the impact of COVID-19 on China’s retail industry and the marketing strategies adopted by the organisations.

3.2. Research Method

Research methods are the tactics and techniques for conducting the research study. There are mainly two types of research methods which are adopted by the researchers for conducting the study. One of the research methods is a qualitative research method, and the other one is a quantitative research method. In qualitative research, the data collected and analysed is not numerical and purely based on theory. The qualitative research method is used to have in-depth insights about the experiences, opinions and concepts. In addition to this, qualitative research helps the researcher get a critical analysis of data, which provides a clear result (Celo et al., 2008). Therefore, this research study will conduct its research using the qualitative research method as it will give detailed information about the impact of COVID-19 on China’s retail industry and the organisations' marketing strategies.

Furthermore, qualitative research can provide solutions to the problems in the study. In contrast to this, quantitative research is based on numerical data; however, this research method is not preferred in the present research study (Maxwell, 2010). Moreover, quantitative research presents statistics and factual data. However, qualitative research is adopted because semi-structured interviews will be conducted from the collection of required data from four managers and four of their main assistants from selected companies. These eight selected people for the sample will be related to the retail organisations of china. Therefore, the semi-structured interviews consist of open-ended questions that would qualitatively lead the detailed discussion of the topic.

3.3. Research Philosophy

Research Philosophy is a certain way in which the data should be collected, analysed and then used. The research philosophy is examined as an approach for understanding and developing the nature of the knowledge. It is the system of fully-structured principles and expectations to expand the study's information (Crossan, 2013). The research Philosophy is divided into five different dimensions: positivism, realism, Interpretivism, postmodernism and pragmatism. However, researchers focus majorly only on its two dimensions, which are positivism and Interpretivism. In Positivism approach, the information is based on observations from factual data (Holden and Lynch, 2006). However, in Interpretivism, the researchers interpret other existing studies, which is more qualitative based than a quantitative one. This present research study will be using Interpretivism as it would help analyse and evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on China’s retail industry and the organisations' marketing strategies in detail. In addition to this, Interpretivism is selected because all the research this study will conduct will be based on qualitative research. Semi-structured interviews will be done with the managers and assistant of China’s organisations. It is also said that interpretivism approach is the manipulation of reality (Lin Chih, 1998). Moreover, qualitative research based on the interpretivism approach is dependent on philosophical assumptions, which are dependent on the research study. One of the main purposes for selecting the interpretivism approach is because it aims to analyse the presence of a majority of the subjective interpretations which could be understood in reality.

In contrast, the positivism approach is not selected because it is not identified as suitable for analysing the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing in the retailing industry of China that is because this approach is based on focusing the unchanging reality and mostly based on the objectivity within the research study (Clark, 1998). Moreover, positivism approach is used to manipulate the actual data for analysing the relationship between different variables; however, in this research study, the researcher aimed to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing in China's retail industry. Therefore, the interpretivism approach is more feasible for examining the retailing industry's challenges and strategies within China.

3.4. Research Approach

The set of strategies and procedures used to conduct a research study is known as the research approach. The research approach is based on the procedural steps, including collecting, analysing and interpreting the collected data through different means. There are two main research approaches used by the researchers, the first one is the deductive approach, and the second one is an inductive approach. The inductive approach is the one in which the researcher observes certain information from collected data and then, in conclusion, develops theories based on the findings (Williams, 2011). In comparison, in the deductive approach, the researcher uses a certain type of theory for conducting the research paper. In the inductive approach, the researcher conducts interviews and surveys from different people for data collection purposes. The researcher's collected data makes him able to make his new theory (Martin and Turner, 1986). Therefore, an inductive approach is selected in this research paper. The researcher aims to collect the data from eight employees, including four managers and four of their main assistant, to interview the topic “Impact of COVID-19 on China’s retail stores and the marketing strategies that organisations use”.

Moreover, the inductive approach allows the researcher to find similarities and differences within the data for explaining the themes on the different stages of abstractions (Graneheim et al., 2017). However, in contrasts, the deductive approach is not feasible within the current study because it aims to achieve the research objectives by conducting in-depth interviews. The deductive approach is applied to examine the casual data only, which moves from the general information to the detailed. Therefore, the inductive approach is analysed as the most suitable approach for achieving the objectives of this study to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing in China's retail industry.

3.5. Research Strategy

The research strategy is the plan which the researcher follows for conducting the research study. This strategy is a guide for the researcher to plan, execute and monitor the research study. The researchers can use various research strategies for research purposes that include experimental analysis, case study analysis, in-depth interviews, grounded theory, survey analysis, and action-based research study (Katz, 2015). This study aims to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing; therefore, this present research study will focus on conducting in-depth interviews. The strategy of conducting In-depth interviews of the managers and their assistants would help the researcher to understand the impact of COVID-19 on China’s retail store and the marketing strategies used by the organisations.

Moreover, this would help the researcher to know about the perceptions of the respondents. Furthermore, the strategy of conducting in-depth interviews would allow the researcher to examine the respondents' attitudes to achieve the objectives of the research study (Macdonald, 2012). For this purpose, the researcher aims to collect the data from eight respondents from the selected retailing companies within China. In contrast, the other strategies, such as case study analysis or experimental analysis, are feasible because of the research topic's nature and availability of limited information within the existing research studies. Therefore, this strategy would allow the researcher to provide the latest insights for analysing the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing.

3.6. Research Design

Research Design is considered an overall strategy required for conducting a research paper because the research design is defined as the plan or outline for conducting the research. There are three categories of research design, in which the first one is Casual, the second is exploratory, and the last one is the descriptive research design. Casual research design mainly focuses on the cause and effect theories which may affect the research study's validity (Novikov and Novikov, 2013). In comparison, the experimental research design provides the researcher with a judgmental outcome, which may also affect the research paper's validity. The descriptive research design aims to describe the population and phenomena of the research study precisely and systematically. Hence, the casual and exploratory designs are not suitable for this research study; therefore, this study will use the descriptive research design for examining the impacts of COVID-19 on the experience marketing in the retail industry of China.

One of the main reasons for selecting the descriptive design is because it helps the researcher to explain the wide range of variables that are analysed within the research study. Thus, this research design would allow the researcher to conduct in-depth interviews to collect information based on the respondent`s perceptions (Tobi and Kampen, 2018). Moreover, the sampling approach within descriptive research is used for conducting in-depth interviews within the research study. In contrast, other research designs, such as experimental and causal research designs are not selected within the research, because these research designs provide the judgemental outcomes that could impact the research study's validity (Ghauri et al., 2020). Therefore, the descriptive research design is identified as the most suitable approach to examine the challenges and strategies for experience marketing within China's retailing industry.

3.7. Sample Population

The procedure of sample population is analysed as the most important and critical step while conducting the research study. That is because the sample population is comprised of various factors, such as sample and overall population for the study. The sample population's strategy is analysed the best technique to select the most feasible size for the sample to conduct the research study (Robinson, 2014). The current research study is based on collecting the information from primary data; therefore, the sample is collected appropriately from the overall targeted population. Based on the current research study's aim, the research population is the overall retailing industry in China. Four retailing companies of China, including Sunning Commerce Group, Gome Electrical Appliances, Sun Art Retail Group and China Resource Vanguard, are selected as the research study sample. To collect the information, eight employees, including four managers and four of their main assistant from selected companies, are taken for conducting the in-depth interviews.

Moreover, selecting the Chinese retailing industry is because there is very limited data available within the context. Furthermore, it is most convenient for the researcher to research within the retailing industry of China. Since the pandemic of COVID-19 initially started from China; therefore, it has severely affected the overall economy of the country, due to which, it would be more feasible to collect insightful and latest information within the context of China, as compared to other countries, including the UK, Japan or USA.

3.8. Data Validity and Reliability

During the research study, the evaluation of the data's quality is based on the validity and reliability processes. These validity and reliability processes use different techniques and methods to examine the research study's quality of findings (Leung, 2015). The validity process is applied to check the accuracy of the collected information, and the process of reliability is used to evaluate the consistency within the collected data. It has been argued that the process of validity and reliability is an important stage during the research study, which is because these processes allow the researcher to collect the most appropriate and relevant information for concluding the research study (Zohrabi, 2013). Subsequently, to have appropriate information, the collected information is required to show consistency as per the dimensions of the research design to confirm the reliability and validity of the comprehensive research study.

The reliability of the collected data is measured by conducting multiple tests, in which the data shows consistency; thus, it ensures the reliability of the collected information (Cypress, 2017). For this purpose, the researchers often conduct the pre-test before conducting the actual in-depth interviews. Moreover, the research study's validity is confirmed by improving the overall quality of semi-structured interview questions based on the reviews of experts. Therefore, the researcher aims to conduct the proper reliability and validity tests to have precise and accurate results for examining the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing in China's retail industry.

3.9. Research Instrument

The research instrument is analysed as one of the measuring tools involved in gathering the primary data for the research study. This measuring tool allows the researcher to collect data for making guidelines while conducting in-depth interviews. Similarly, this tool enables the researcher to structure the in-depth interviews and examine the questions required to be asked during the in-depth interviews (Lewis et al., 2015). Therefore, this measuring tool of research instrument provides direction to the activities during conducting the in-depth interviews, which eventually reduces the researcher's extra efforts for conducting the research studies. In the current research study, since the researcher aims to conduct the in-depth interviews of eight managers; therefore, this measuring would enable the researcher to get information through semi-structured questions from the respondents for analysing their perspectives regarding the challenges and strategies for overcoming the effects of COVID-19 on experience marketing within the retailing industry of China.

3.10. Data Collection Methods

The data collection method is one of the most important parts of the research methodology, as it explains how to collect the data from concluding the findings of the research study. There are two types of data collection methods, including the primary method and secondary data collection method. The primary data collection method is based on collecting the latest information from primary sources, such as interviews, experiments and surveys. In contrasts, the secondary method is based on collecting information from already available information from different sources, including existing research studies, case studies etc. Since the aim of the current research study is to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing in China's retail industry, the primary data collection method is selected to conduct in-depth interviews of eight managers from the selected retailing companies of China. One of the main reasons for selecting this method is because it allows the researcher to collect the latest data for concluding insightful findings for the research study (Palinkas et al., 2015). Since the Covid-19 is new latest pandemic and there is very limited data available for research topic; therefore, the primary data collection method is identified as most suitable approach. For this purpose, the researcher aims to conduct the interviews through an online platform, i.e. Skype. The researcher would ask the semi-structured interviews from the selected participants to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on the experience marketing in the retail industry of China. The reason for developing the semi-structured interview questions is because of aligning the collected information with the research study's objectives.

The secondary method is not applied in the study because it is based on gathering data from the already existing literature (Bürger et al., 2013). Moreover, since it is identified before that there is limited information available on the research topic, there is a wide gap; therefore, the only primary method could help the researcher fulfil the identified gap by achieving the research study's objectives. Thus, the primary data collection method is identified as the most suitable approach for collecting the insightful information for examining the challenges and strategies within the experience marketing of retailing industry during the pandemic of COVID-19 in China.

3.11. Data Analysis Procedures

Data analysis is identified as a systematic method for analysing the collected information and subsequently to present most efficiently to conclude the study's findings. Data analysis procedures are categorised into two types, including content analysis and thematic analysis approach. The content analysis approach is based on analysing communication artefacts, such as pictures and videos (Dumay and Cai, 2015). In contrasts, the thematic analysis is based on developing themes to achieve the research study's objectives and have critical analysis for the collected information (Castleberry and Nolen, 2018). Therefore, the thematic analysis is analysed as the most suitable approach for conducting this particular research study.

In the thematic analysis, the researcher develops the axial coding, in which the main themes are further divided into various sub-groups for achieving the objectives of the research study (Williams and Moser, 2019). Therefore, to examine the impact of COVID-19 on experience marketing in China's retailing industry, the thematic analysis approach is identified as most suitable for concluding the insightful findings for the research study.

3.12. Ethical Considerations

The researcher often has to face different ethical issues, including ethical issues within data collection, analysis of data, and publication of the research study while conducting the research studies. During conducting the research studies, most of the times the collected information is not authenticated, or often it does not meet the requirements of the research, which is because most of the times respondents are not interested in giving answers or does not want to share the essential information; therefore, the researcher is required to provide complete assurance of confidentiality to the participants (Roberts, 2015). Moreover, the researcher should involve participants at their own will; therefore, he cannot force anyone to be a part of the research study. Furthermore, the researcher must make sure that there are no personal conflicts and interests involved in the research study (Gajjar, 2013). Therefore, the researcher needs to ensure ethical considerations during the research study to successfully achieve the objectives of the research study.

4. CHAPTER 04 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1. Introduction

This part of the research study describes the major findings which are gained by both research methods, which are primary and secondary. The secondary research method is used to collect and analyse the relevant information which is provided by the previous researchers. Different reports, articles, journals and research papers are studied in detail to analyse the impact of Covid-19 on experience marketing in the retail industry of China. Moreover, the credible and authentic secondary material related to the questions and objectives of the research are examined in the current research paper. Additionally, in the primary research method, interviews are conducted with the managers and their main assistants (4 managers and four assistants) for investigating the impact of Covid-19 on experience marketing in the retail industry of China. Furthermore, the interviews are based on some themes which the researcher understood from the complete current research study. Hence, the findings of this research paper are based on both secondary and primary data which helped in gaining in-depth knowledge about the impacts of Covid-19 on experience marketing in the retail industry of China.

4.2. Findings

In the section of findings, the secondary and primary research data are analysed together, which helps in providing the reader with the sufficient knowledge of all the objectives of the research. Moreover, the researcher has used the thematic approach, which was developed through various stages, including familiarization, coding, generating themes, reviewing and defining themes and finally writing up. From this, the five themes were created by frequently reviewing the transcription of interviews. This will connect different components of the present research study. Furthermore, the themes are made to answer all the research questions and for meeting the objectives of the research. The themes can provide the researcher with an understandable knowledge to analyse the impact of Covid-19 on experiential marketing in the retail industry of China by interviewing the managers and assistants of China’s retail industry companies. The themes are emerged based on the data collected from interviews and identified research gaps. Following are the main and sub-themes;

1. Covid-19 affected Experiential marketing of China’s retail industry 1.1. Impacts of Covid-19 on business activities 1.2. Role of the digital platform to attract consumer

2. Impacts of Covid-19 on Chinese economy 2.1. Downturn of the economy affecting consumer spending 2.2. Experience economy theory

3. Impacts of Covid-19 on the buying behaviour and retail industry of China 3.1. Change in consumer requirements 3.2. Influence on consumer behaviour

4. Impacts of Covid-19 on widely used experiential marketing in China’s retail industry 4.1. Consumer’s faces difficulty in trying products 4.2. Customer satisfaction is affected by Covid-19

5. China’s retail industry’s marketers prefer to experience marketing strategy 5.1. Importance of experiential marketing 5.2. Trends of experiential marketing

4.2.1. Covid-19 affected Experiential marketing of China’s retail industry

4.2.1.1. Impacts of Covid-19 on business activities

It is analysed that Covid-19 has impacted the business activities a lot. Businesses are facing many difficulties because of Covid-19 and are not able to fully market their products. Moreover, Mckinsey (2020) researched that two industries are greatly affected by Covid-19, which include retail industry and the fashion industry. However, it was investigated by Bruce (2020) that the Corona Virus pandemic greatly impacts experiential marketing. The researcher also highlighted the fact that the companies who have a real-life connection with their consumers are most likely to be successful. Furthermore, Covid-19 forced the industries to change the concept of experiential marketing and start focusing on other ways to provide experience. As one of the managers also emphasised on the ways for improving experiential marketing;

“We are focusing on providing our customers with the best experience, even though Covid-19 has impacted our business activities greatly. Our company is, however allowing a limited number of customers to enter and experience the displayed product. SOP’s are also given much importance to avoid virus spread during experiential marketing.” (Manager 3) Hence, all of the above analysis shows that business activities and experiential marketing of Chinese retail industry are quite effected due to the pandemic. Moreover, it was highlighted that there is a need for expansion in experiential marketing.

4.2.1.2. Role of the digital platform to attract consumer

EMarketer (2020) presented a detailed analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on experiential marketing. Researchers investigated that different marketing events are cancelled due to the pandemic, and companies are emphasising on the need for creating new innovative ways to fulfil the experience requirements of the consumers (Jiang, 2020). Moreover, the culture of remote work and social distancing is also given much importance in enhancing experiential marketing. Retail companies are shifting to virtual experiential marketing for better customer loyalty. As one of the manager’s assistant and managers also mentioned the importance of virtual experiential marketing;

“Yes, our company is also thinking about shifting to virtual experiential marketing, as we want to satisfy our customer no matter what. Most of the customers prefer to try the product before purchasing; however, due to Covid-19, we are unable to provide them with this service completely, so our team has decided to go for virtual marketing. In virtual marketing, we will make sure that the customer gets a complete understanding of the product’s quality and features. Moreover, I think virtual marketing will also help in keeping the customers engaged.” (Assistant 1)

Similarly, other respondents identified the role of the digital platform as; “We shifted our physical approach for experiential marketing into virtual approach at the start of the lockdown, and I think this is the main reason that our company is performing well than other companies.” (Manager 2)

“As our country is very advance in technology, it was best to move to digital marketing. People were on their phones and laptops etc. most of the time during the lockdown, so it was easy to attract them.” (Manager 4)

Hence, based on the collected information, it is quite clear that Covid-19 has impacted the experiential marketing of China’s retail industry and businesses are finding different ways, such as offering customer services around the clock, investing in customer engagement initiative, offering services virtually, delivering quality services, giving customers free upgrades, adopting personalization, getting feedback from customers, to satisfy consumer needs. Moreover, Virtual experiential marketing is considered as the best mean to attract and engage the customers in this current pandemic period.

4.2.2. Impacts of Covid-19 on Chinese economy

4.2.2.1. The downturn of the economy affecting consumer spending

It is stated by Bank of England (2020) that economy depends upon the spending behaviour of the business and households; however, both the households and businesses spend according to their predictions of the future. The researchers investigated that Covid-19 has impacted the economy of many countries all around the world because of the change in spending behaviour. Moreover, Covid-19 caused a sharp decrease in the sales of the year 2020. Furthermore, Lietzow et al. (2020) researched that the Covid-19 affected the demand more than the supply. One of the managers also highlighted the fact that people’s fear of Covid-19 impacts their spending decisions;

“We conducted a complete survey of our regular customers to analyse why our sales are decreasing. The most common answer we received was that people are afraid that they will get the Coronavirus by purchasing products from public shops. Moreover, one other major reason we analysed was that customers are not spending on stuff because of our declining sales by 25%.” (Manager 4)

Barua & Levin (2020) did a critical analysis of the impact of Covid-19 on the economy and also on consumer spending. The researcher investigated that the consumers spending habit is effected and the rate is decreased. The consumers fear that they might contract with Coronavirus due to the purchased products. The other reason for decreased spending is because of the economic downturn.

Hence, it is quite clear from the above information that people are afraid of Covid-19 and taking certain precautions which are leading to a decrease in sales of the products. The spending behaviour of consumer changed because they are uncertain about the future and want to have some money in the backend. Moreover, the economic downturn also impacted the behaviour of consumers.

4.2.2.2. Experience economy theory

The experience economy is the one in which the sales of the goods and services are made by emphasising on the effect they will leave on the life of the consumer (Newman, 2015). Moreover, it was highlighted by Pine (2020) that currently, the experience economy is not doing well; however, the future of it is quite bright. He further added that people are social beings, and they need social experience in their life. The social experience is provided to the customers by the digital platform because of the pandemic. In addition to this, Boswijk (2020) stated that Covid-19 had impacted the economy greatly, which led to a decrease in economic activities. He also mentioned that retail business, events, public transport, fitness clubs, conferences & meetings, educational institutes and the tourism business are highly affected by this current pandemic. Different ways of providing the experience to the consumers were also investigated by the researcher like shopping virtually through video calls or by the online shopping coach. One of the assistants also focused on the need for new experiential marketing for improving sales;

“The current situation has impacted our company a lot, so we are thinking to focus more on digital marketing where we would fuse the virtual with the real. Moreover, we will not only make sense and respond to the customers, but we will also try to understand the needs of the consumer for providing them with a better experience. Our company, however, is allowing private shopping of 2 clients maximum at one time. Additionally, we are trying to provide our customers with the best services in these difficult times to retain them. Recently the company has introduced one-hour delivery service and online discounts during the Covid-19 lockdown.” (Assistant 4)

Hence, all the mentioned information proves that Covid-19 has greatly impacted the economy. Moreover, companies are finding it difficult to boost up their sales in the pandemic and are unable to conduct experience marketing properly. However, companies are focusing on digital marketing and converting experience economy into experience platforms, where they not only respond to the customer but also focuses on their needs. China’s Retail industry is also moving to digital marketing, and fulfilling customer needs online.

4.2.3. Impacts of Covid-19 on the buying behaviour and retail industry of China

4.2.3.1. Change in consumer requirements

Cheung (2020) analysed that most Chinese consumers are ordering stuff online and prefers not to leave home. Grocery products purchase from retail stores has increased a lot. Moreover, people time spending online increased a lot, and they want to make purchases through the digital platform. Furthermore, Whitten (2020) highlighted the facts that there are two types groups of companies, one group is overwhelmed with orders like grocery companies, pet suppliers, and medications etc. whereas, the other group is lacking in orders like automotive, hospitality and furniture companies. It was also investigated that consumers what to learn about the products from various influencers before purchasing it, so companies are required to send PR packages to the famous influencers to attract customer’s interest. Pirc et al. (2020) researched that customers want certain things from the companies during this pandemic period. Customers expect that they experience consistent interactions across all the departments while making a purchase; however, customers sometimes feel that they are talking to different departments of different companies. In addition to this, currently, consumers want all the departments of the company should have the same information, so they do not have to re-explain every single thing. Following are the responses of the people who were interviewed;

“Most of the products which we sold during the lockdown include board games and food products. However, sales of yoga mats were also high. We adopted a new strategy, and our company made certain packages which were able to catch the interest of the consumers.” (Assistant 3)

Moreover, another respondent identified the changing consumer requirements as, “Yes, I know, some people were extremely into healthy activities. Our company sold a lot of protein shakes and similar products. One thing which helped us in attracting consumers was that we started a campaign online where we introduced the #healthy_lockdown_term. We used to post quotes and activities ideas related to a healthy diet.” (Assistant 1)

Subsequently, one of the respondents also analysed the changing needs and wants of consumers as, “Our firm put a great focus on the data collection of the customer. We updated our data collection processes and strategies. Additionally, some workers presented the idea that the company should hire people who can handle big customer data efficiently. I must say, collected data helped us a lot, we now know what specific products our regular customer wants and needs.” (Manager 4)

Therefore, all the collected information shows that customer’s needs, wants and requirements of China’s retail industry has changed a lot due to Covid-19. Customers are asking for different kind of features which will ease up the process of online buying of the goods. Moreover, it is noticed that customers are intensely buying health-related and fun products for passing their time in lockdown.

4.2.3.2. Influence on consumer behaviour

Consumer behaviour is greatly affected due to Covid-19 as it was researched by Sheth (2020) that Covid-19 caused a 97% decrease in in-person marketing engagement. In-person marketing engagement, the customer does store, events and trade show visits. Moreover, some significant changes occurred to the consumer behaviour like the consumer’s openness to the digital offering, consumers’ likely hood to make a purchase decreased, companies were able to attract new customers because of their attractive products and services and digital experiences value increased. Additionally, one of the respondents analysed the influence on consumer behaviours as;

“Covid-19 greatly impacts consumer behaviour. Sales of our company suffered a lot, but we are trying very hard to cope-up with it. Company is trying very hard to provide the customers with a best and memorable experience. Furthermore, we are also introducing some new techniques to attract customers; we are also posting Covid-19 related information on our social media pages.” (Manager 3)

Furthermore, companies used digital media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram etc. to market their Covid-19 precautionary operations and sales. It was also investigated that there has been a 30% increase in media site’s traffic whereas, 50% decrease was noted in the travel site’s traffic. However, Wright & Blackburn (2020) stated that consumers are more into panic buying due to Covid-19 and are storing products for future, in addition to this, consumers are placing vital importance on the value for money and are currently spending most of their money on basic products. The researchers mentioned that Covid-19 had transformed the consumer buying behaviour. One of the managers explained variation in consumer behaviour;

“Our company is deeply analysing the change in consumer behaviour for increasing sales. However, our team noticed that consumers are highly focused on buying basic need products. Moreover, one other thing that I must mention is that the rate of panic buying has increased a lot in the pandemic. We have come up with certain strategies to overcome abnormal consumer behaviour, out of which digital operations are the most important one.” (Manager 2)

Hence, by all the collected information, it is visible that Covid-19 greatly influences consumer buying behaviour. The China retail industries companies notice different buying patterns; however, they are coming up with various kind of strategies to increase their sales and for managing the changing behaviour of customers.

4.2.4. Impacts of Covid-19 on widely used experiential marketing in China’s retail industry

4.2.4.1. Consumer`s faces difficulty in trying products

Since the pandemic of Covid-19 has greatly impacted the lives of individuals; therefore, it is analysed that consumers are becoming cautious than before. Huang et al. (2020) identified that the sales of retailing stores are decreasing due to various factors, in which one of the main factors is that consumers are avoiding to try the products, including clothes and shoes, because of the fear of Covid-19. Moreover, one of the managers also highlighted the issue as;

“Besides many other factors, one of the factors that customers are avoiding to visit us because of the fear of COVID-19, which is because they are facing difficulties while trying the products at stores.” (Manager 4)

Similarly, another report by Rene Vadar (2020) identified that the retailing sector of China has seen different and strange changing behaviours and perspectives from consumers during the pandemic of Covid-19. Therefore, it is evident from the collected information that consumers are facing different issues, such as difficulty in trying products, while purchasing from the retailing stores in China.

4.2.4.2. Customer satisfaction is affected by Covid-19

Due to lockdown and certain restrictions, consumers are facing many problems in the trying of products. However, Niemiec et al. (2020) researched different ways to enhance customer’s experience like providing complete preview and information about the product on the website as it would help a lot in satisfying the customer. Moreover, Willott (2020) critically analysed the factors which would help in satisfying the customers, and he stated three main factors which include dealing with empathy, adapting and reinventing. The researcher also added that customer satisfaction level was increased by resolving the issues which they faced during the purchasing process within experience economy. Similarly, one of the respondents analysed the impacts of Covid-19 on customer satisfaction as;

“My team and I are working hard to satisfy our customers and retain them. We are focusing on some innovations for better customer experience. We are trying our best to provide them with what they want.” (Manager 2)

In addition to this, Vigue (2020) highlighted the fact that Covid-19 caused many events cancellation where companies provide the customers with the trial of the products, trying products before purchasing it was the main source of satisfaction for the consumer. The researcher investigated that companies are emphasising on live brand experience, tradeshows and conferences through media to compensate trials. Moreover, companies are using influencers for product promotion as customer’s satisfaction level is highly influenced by the influencer review. Curtis (2020) added that customers are attaining satisfaction by buying from companies who provide with security and the best delivery of the product by following Covid-19 precautions. Additionally, it was analysed by Ghelber (2020) that customer satisfaction is important as it helps the business in retaining the customer. The researcher investigated that business who are 24/7 connected with the customers are performing very well during Covid-19. Customer satisfaction can also be increased by supporting them, why improving the supply chain and by providing them with after purchase services. Below is the information which we collected through the interview;

“We are focusing on empathy and are doing our best to listen to the needs of the customers, to learn and finally to evolve as these steps would be a great help in satisfying the customers. Also, I must mention that most of our customers are facing a lot of stress and panic so dealing with empathy is a great way to retain them.” (Manager 1)

YES, you have heard it right. We are promoting our products online and have a team who are carrying out live streaming on Instagram and Facebook for attracting the customer and also for showing the products and safety measures. These actions have helped a lot in satisfying the customers. (Assistant 2)

Hence, all the information which is collected shows that China’s Retail industry managers are striving hard to satisfy the customers and also to retain them. They are following certain strategies which are quite helpful in attracting the customers and satisfying their needs. Social media is the main source which the companies are considering in these difficult times for better customer satisfaction level.

4.2.5. China’s retail industry’s marketers prefer to experience marketing strategy

4.2.5.1. Importance of experiential marketing

Experiential marketing is one of the most important kinds of marketing as it helps in retaining customers. Covid-19 had impacted the experiential marketing a lot, and the companies are forced to think about some new and innovative ways to improve their marketing and advertising, however, as experiential marketing the main way to attract the consumer the companies are focusing on bringing some changes to it and introducing new ways which will help the customers to get the knowledge about the product in detail (DiResta et al., 2020). Moreover, it was researched that providing information about the product is the new way of giving the customers an experience of the product. In the same manner, one of the respondents analysed the importance as;

“We noticed that the customers were interested in experiential marketing, so our team started formulating ways which helped us a lot in retaining them. We came up with the plan that we would conduct a small gathering were limited people would be allowed, and we will also do the live streaming of the same event to get the attention of the customers who were not able to join the event.” (Assistant 3)

In addition to this, Mohan (2020) investigated that some brands are operating online and are attracting customers with activities like virtual concerts etc., helps a lot in providing the customer with the best online experience. Furthermore, customer experience is essential for the growth of the company. Companies are combing talents and technology for the betterment of the customer experience. It was found that technology is the best way for providing the customer with the best experience during the current pandemic (Hernandez-Kakol et al., 2020). It was critically analysed by Martin and Saunders (2020) that experiential marketing is very important for the customers and the researchers noticed that some of the customers still wanted to try the goods even though Covid-19 was still on the rise. Virtual experience provided by the companies is fulfilling the gap of experiential marketing for the customers. Livestreaming is the new way to provide the customers with the best experience, just like experiential marketing. However, companies are somehow able to provide the customer with experiential marketing by conducting events on a smaller level with a little gathering of people. The people who will attend the event will follow all the precautionary measure to stop the spread of the virus. Responses of the respondents also ensured that experiential marketing has a lot of importance towards customers;

“I must say marketing plays an important role in the sales of the goods and experiential marketing is the best way for boosting up the sales. Customers love to try the product and test it before deciding to purchase. Our company is doing its best to provide the customer with the experience they want.” (Manager 2)

Hence, the information collected from secondary data and the responses of the interviewee clearly shows that customer gives much importance to experiential marketing. China’s retail industry is majorly focusing on different methods to provide the customer with the best possible experience as it helps in improving the company’s sales and customer satisfaction.

4.2.5.2. Trends of experiential marketing

Since the spread of Coivid-19 has forced the closure of the retailing sector all over the world, the new trends of experiential marketing are growing to have the new culture of remote working and social distancing. The research report by eMarketer Editors (2020) identified that the retailing sector of China is developing transformational strategies, including experiential marketing, in order to maintain their sales and retention rate through e-commerce platforms. Additionally, one of the managers also analysed the growing trends of experiential marketing;

“Our industry is rapidly adopting the strategy of experiential marketing, because it is more effective during the uncertain situations, such as Covid-19. It is helping us to offer consumers interactive and engaging experiences.” (Manager 3)

Hence, it is evident from the above-collected information that the trend of experiential marketing is rapidly gaining the popularity within the retailing sector of China, because it is more effective, sustain the experience economy and helps the businesses to have interactive and engaging experiences for the consumers during the uncertain situations, such as Covid-19 pandemic.

4.3. Discussion

4.3.1. Impacts of Covid-19 on experiential marketing

Since the Covid-19 has resulted in significant disturbance all over the world because of the extensive lockdowns and economic downturns; therefore, it is identified by McKibbin and Fernando (2020) that organisations from all over the world are developing effective strategies, such as experiential marketing, for overcoming the uncertain situation. The research study by Schmitt (2011) identified the trend of experiential marketing as a growing trend for the retailing industry. However, Bruce (2020) identified that the pandemic of Covid-19 has significantly impacted the trends of experiential marketing that is because the consumers are continuously changing their preferences and behaviours because of uncertain situations and resulted in the declining in the sales by 25%, as identified by one of the respondents. Moreover, it is identified from interviews that experience economy is significantly affected by Covid-19, because consumers have stop purchasing products due to the fear of Covid-19. Subsequently, one of the managers also identified the impacts of Covid-19 on the experiential marketing within the retailing industry of China, as it is examined that the businesses are facing huge losses due to the pandemic. However, the trend of experiential marketing is analysed as the most suitable and effective approach for managing the uncertain situation of Covid-19.

4.3.2. Implications of Experiential marketing strategies

Experiential marketing has significant implications on the consumption and purchasing behaviours of the individuals, as identified by Same and Larimo (2012). It is analysed that this strategy of experiential marketing is based on the interaction of consumers directly with the retailing brand. Ismail (2011) identified that the strategy of experiential marketing helps to have better levels of interaction with an appealing message conveying strategy; the higher were the chances to attract and engage customers. Subsequently, the research article by EMarketer (2020) explained the extensive analysis on the impacts of Covid-19 on the experiential marketing and argued that retailing companies of China are required to create new opportunities to cater the experiential requirements of consumers during such uncertain situations. Therefore, it is analysed that the retailing industry of China is effectively developing strategies for creating unique experiences for consumers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the continuous changing, consumer engagement is becoming one of the most important factors for organisations to focus. Same and Larimo (2020) identified that retailing companies are developing promotional and marketing strategies for engaging with the consumers and creating optimum levels of awareness for their product and service offerings. Moreover, Gupta (2016) argued that the strong emotional connection between the retailing brand and consumers could be easily measured through the levels of positive feelings of customer towards the brand as well as the extent to which they connect with the brand’s key attributes. However, Lietzow et al. (2020) identified that the pandemic of Covid-19 has severely affected the demand more than the supply and emotional connection between the retailing brand and consumers. Additionally, one of the respondents also highlighted the issues, such as consumers are not spending on stuff because of the downfall within the economy. Moreover, the critical analysis by Barua and Levin (2020) also identified that Covid-19 has significantly impacted consumer spending.

4.3.3. Impacts of Economic downturn on experiential marketing and economy

Apart from the decreasing consumer challenges, it is analysed that Covid-19 has also impacted the downturn within the economy of China, due to which, even effective marketing does not work out as the research study by Schmitt (2011) argued that marketing does play a significant role in attracting the target market within the experiential economy. Subsequently, Lietzow et al. (2020) identified that the Covid-19 affected the demand more than the supply because people have stopped purchasing. Moreover, Newman (2015) identified that the experience economy is the one in which the sales of the goods and services are made by emphasizing on the effect they will leave on the life of the consumer. Similarly, it is identified by one of the respondents that the retailing industry of China is developing effective strategies, such as incorporating the virtual reality within the real world to enhance the overall experiences of consumers.

In order to overcome such uncertain challenges, majority of the studies, such as Niemiec et al. (2020) and Tynan and McKechnie (2009), argued on the use of advanced trends, such as experiential marketing to provide consumers with better experiences. Moreover, Tresidder (2015) identified that the experiences involve uniqueness and progression over the time that allows the retailing activities to stand out from the traditional and ordinary experiences. Since Pine (2020) identified that the economy is not doing well currently; however, the future is full of opportunities with new and advanced strategies and experiences. Additionally, it is identified by one of the respondents that the retailing sector of China is trying to develop effective strategies to provide the best experience even during the tough times of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the changings in the buying behaviours of consumers, Cheung (2020) identified that are the majority of the consumers are preferring to purchase products through online platforms. However, Huang et al. (2020) argued that consumers are acting very different because of the Covid-19, and they have stopped purchasing irrelevant products because of the fear of Covid-19. Moreover, Rene Vadar (2020) argued that consumers are facing a different kind of problems, such as they are unable to try products while making purchases from the retailing stores. Moreover, the online platform is also unable to provide a full experience for consumers to purchase retailing products. Furthermore, one of the respondents also argued that the retailing sector of China is greatly facing difficulties while trying to sell the products, which is because consumers are unable to try such products.

It was researched by Seetharaman (2020) that businesses are suffering a lot because of Covid-19 as it has disturbed activities of the businesses. In addition to this, the researcher also added that different types of business are influenced by the current pandemic. The business types include the one which provides the customers with products and services information, and the other one are those who provide the physical products. However, the businesses which provide with physical goods are majorly affected by the Novelty Corona Virus as it requires some amount of labour for manufacturing the products. Furthermore, it was analysed by Mckinsey (2020), that businesses of the world are impacted immensely by the current Covid-19 pandemic; however, retail and fashion industry has highly influenced by the Novelty Corona Virus. Besides, Bruce (2020) mentioned that businesses are impacted on a global level. Similar kind of response was received from one of the managers. The manager stated that Covid-19 greatly impacts our business. He then added that for retaining the customers we are trying to adopt the online experiential marketing as it would help them identify the good features of the product, and ignore the fact of Covid-19 spread during the buying process.

According to Dannenberg et al. (2020), Covid-19 has increased the use of digital technology. It was highlighted that online trade has boosted up because people are reluctant to go out for the purchasing purpose. Moreover, the researchers also mentioned that the most affected business is the retail business, and it is somehow rescued by the purchase of the products online. In addition to this, it was analysed by EMarketer (2020) that the current pandemic situation has greatly impacted the experiential marketing as various marketing events were cancelled due to it. It was furthered researched that the companies started to shift to digital platforms and conducting experiential marketing through virtual means. Similarly, one manager also emphasised on the use of the digital platform for the success of the company. He added that his company is focusing on promoting their products online. The company was making sure that the customers are getting full knowledge about the product’s detailed information and also about the features of the product. The manager mentioned that virtual experiential marketing had helped the company a lot in getting the satisfaction of the consumers.

5. CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION

5.1. Conclusion

This dissertation was conducted to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the experience marketing within the retailing industry of China. For this purpose, the study analysed the existing literature and successfully identified the gap within the existing research studies. The necessity for conducting the research study emerged because COVID-19 had severely influenced all over the world, especially the economies. Every single thing had been troubled because of this outbreak, which has led to several issues and disturbance in the structure of the whole world. Not only the deaths, systems, nature and lives are negatively impacted; however, the COVID-19 has greatly influenced the operations of corporate firms in the economy.

In order to have the insightful findings for the dissertation, the research objectives were developed based on the identified gaps, which includes analysing how the COVID-19 has affected the experience marketing in the China retail industry; to analyse the impacts of COVID-19 on the Chinese economy and consumer spending; to analyse how COVID-19 pandemic era has affected the retail industry and consumer buying behaviour in China; to analyse the impacts of COVID-19 on experience marketing that is widely used in the retail industry in China; to examine how to experience marketing strategy could still become the first choice among marketing strategies in China retail industry. The reason for selecting the Chinese retailing industry was because there was very limited data available on the Chinese market; therefore, the researcher was interested in collecting insightful findings for the research study. The literature review of the dissertation was based on the thematic analysis approach, in which various themes based on the research objectives were developed for critically examining the existing research studies. Based on the analysis of existing literature, it was investigated that experience marketing is significantly impacting by the pandemic of COVID-19.

In order to collect the research data, the study applied the interpretivism approach for collecting the primary qualitative data from the respondents. For this purpose, the researcher collected the data from conducting the in-depth interviews of eight respondents, including four managers and four assistants from the Chinese retailing companies. The in-depth interviews were conducted through the online platform, i.e. Skype. Moreover, the researcher also considered the ethical considerations while conducting the research study, in which the researcher ensured the respondents for their confidentiality and privacy.

Based on the collected information from both primary and secondary data, it is identified that the consumers give significant importance to the experiential marketing, due to which the Chinese retailing industry is majorly focusing on different methods for providing the customer with the best possible experience as this helps in enhancing the company`s sales and customer satisfaction. Moreover, the experiential marketing is helping Chinese retailing industry to rapidly gain the popularity within the retailing sector of China, which is because it is more effective and therefore, helping the Chinese retailing industry to have interactive and engaging experiences for the consumers during the uncertain situations, such as Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, there are three main factors which include dealing with empathy, adapting and reinventing of experiential marketing. Additionally, it is identified that the strategy of experiential marketing helps to have better levels of interaction with an appealing message conveying strategy, in which the higher were the chances to attract and engage customers. The researcher also identified that customer satisfaction levels were increased by resolving the issues that they faced during the purchasing process based on experiential marketing. Therefore, this research study successfully achieved the research objectives by identifying the importance of experiential marketing within the retailing industry of China.

5.2. Limitations

Even though this research study has provided insightful and relevant information about the importance of the experience marketing within the Chinese retailing industry; however, there are some significant limitations that researcher had to face while concluding the research study. Firstly, the research study was based on collecting the data from both primary and secondary data, in which the study collected data from conducting in-depth interviews as well as reviewing the existing literature. Therefore, the researcher was required to focus only one of the research methodology. Secondly, the sample size of the research study was very limited and small, in which there were only eight respondents, due to which, there were high chances of biasness. Moreover, the researcher was able to collect limited information. Therefore, future research studies are required to extend the sample size to the larger population in order to gather more useful information. In the last but not the least, the research study was based on only investigating the impacts of COVID-19 on the experience marketing; therefore, future research studies are required to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the other factors as well.

5.3. Future Implications and Recommendations

Based on the examination of the research study, it is identified that the retailing industry is required to adopt the strategy of experience marketing, in order to have effective strategies for providing a better experience to the customers within the uncertain situations. In which, the retailing industry is suggested to have the experiential activities, such as better online platforms and experiences, for maintaining the sales during the uncertain situations, including the pandemic of COVID-19. Moreover, the retailing companies are required to bring up the element of emotional appeal in order to change the minds of consumers, who are currently in fear of the COVID-19. Since it is analysed that consumers are unable to try the products because of the fear of COVID-19; therefore, the retailing companies should come up with advanced technology of virtual reality and enhance the online experience of consumers. Thus, the retailing companies could enhance their sales and keep the optimum level of retention by developing creative and effective strategies of experiential marketing within the retailing industry.

5.4. Reflection

Working on this dissertation was an honour for me because I was able to learn how to research by working on this research study. This dissertation helped me to learn how to carry the research in a sequential manner. The most interesting part of the research study was identifying the gaps for the research study, which I collected after reading a bundle of existing research papers. Additionally, the chapter of the literature review was also very interesting, because it helped to learn how to conduct a critical analysis between two or more existing literature. However, the most complex part of the research study was selecting the methodological processes and techniques for collecting the data for a research study. Since it was the most important part of the study; therefore, I had to be very careful while selecting the most suitable approaches for concluding the research study. Therefore, I selected the approaches that were the most relevant for achieving the research objectives. Subsequently, I also provided solid reasons for not selecting the other approaches, processes and techniques. Since the objective of my dissertation was to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on the experience marketing in Chinese retailing industry; therefore, I selected the techniques and processes that were most relevant for achieving the research objectives. The next of chapter of findings and discussion was also very interesting, as it allowed me to learn how to collect the information through conducting the interviews and then concluding the findings based on the most relevant and useful information.

Moreover, this dissertation is an addition in the existing research studies that could help the readers to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on the retailing industry of China. This study could help the retailing industries, not only in China but also in other countries, to learn how they can develop experiential marketing strategies in order to be successful during the uncertain situations, such as the pandemic of COVID-19, where the consumers are rarely interested in buying such products.

 

 

 

 

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Appendices

Appendix I: Interview questions

• Could you please talk about your job in general?
• What does a typical day look like?
• What do you think of COVID-19, which is now affecting the world?
• Do you think COVID-19 has an impact on China's retail market?
• Do you understand experiential marketing?
• Your opinion on experience marketing.
• Do you think COVID-19 has any influence on the implementation of experiential marketing?
• In the case of COVID-19 this time, can you talk about your work impact? (If the company does not allow this topic to be skipped)
• If you are the owner of a retail company whose marketing strategy is experiential marketing, what new changes will you make to your company's experiential marketing strategy.
• If you are a customer, would you prefer the company's products because of your changes?
• For the impact of COVID-19 this time, do you prefer experiential marketing or traditional marketing.
• Because of my lack of experience, the questions I may ask are not comprehensive. You still have any ideas you want to publish about this research, you can post your comments to add.

Note: The order of the interview questions above will change according to different people.