Local brand aversion or aspiration? The influence of socioeconomic status on Chinese consumer brand preference

Why Our Choice of Brands Reveals Who We Are

Walk down a shopping street in China today and you will see shoppers juggling a curious mix of sleek foreign labels and proudly traditional homegrown brands. This study asks a deceptively simple question: when do people reach for a local brand instead of an international one, and what does that choice say about who they are and where they see themselves in society? By following Chinese consumers across several experiments, the researchers show that brand choice is not just about price or quality, but also about social class, personal identity, and feelings of belonging.

How Social Standing Shapes Shopping Habits

The authors start from the idea that people use brands to signal status and identity. Classic theories suggest that those with higher income and education tend to favor global brands that project modernity and worldliness, while those with fewer resources may embrace local brands that feel closer to home. Using survey data from hundreds of Chinese consumers, the study confirms that, on average, people with higher socioeconomic status are less inclined to prefer local brands, and more inclined toward foreign ones. Lower-status consumers, in contrast, show relatively stronger preference for brands made in China.

Two Different Ways of Seeing the Self

To understand why social standing matters, the researchers look inside the psychology of identity. They distinguish between “self-focused” identity—seeing oneself as unique and independent—and “social” identity, which centers on belonging to larger groups such as the nation. Higher-status participants tended to emphasize their individuality and uniqueness; this orientation nudged them toward brands that help them stand out, often global labels. Lower-status participants leaned more heavily on social identity; they were more likely to see local brands as symbols of shared culture and national pride. Statistical analyses show that both forms of identity help explain the link between social class and local brand preference, with self-focused identity playing the stronger role.

When Culture-Rich Design Levels the Playing Field

The team then asked whether local brands can win over higher-status consumers by changing how they present themselves. In a controlled experiment, participants evaluated a simple household product that either looked purely modern or was infused with traditional Chinese cultural elements—classic artwork, historical color schemes, and heritage-inspired design. When the product carried little cultural meaning, higher-status participants liked it less than lower-status ones. But when traditional motifs were added, that gap disappeared: high- and low-status consumers showed similarly strong interest. The culturally rich version also strengthened people’s sense of connection to their country, and this heightened social identity, in turn, boosted enthusiasm for the local brand.

The Power of Friends and Familiar Faces

Brand decisions rarely happen in a vacuum; our social circles matter. In a third study, the researchers manipulated who seemed to recommend a new local product: close in-group members such as friends, or distant online strangers. Recommendations from friends made participants of all social classes more favorable toward the local brand, and especially amplified the effect of social identity. When people felt proud of belonging to their national group, praise from familiar others made choosing a local brand feel like an act of shared loyalty. Interestingly, these social cues did not change the way self-focused identity influenced preferences, suggesting that the desire to appear unique follows a slightly different logic.

What This Means for Shoppers and Brands

Together, the three studies paint a nuanced picture of how class and identity shape the tug-of-war between local and global brands. Higher-status shoppers are not simply immune to local products; they are more responsive when those products carry rich cultural meaning and are endorsed by their own social circles. Lower-status shoppers, meanwhile, often turn to local brands to affirm belonging and cultural confidence. For marketers and policymakers, the message is clear: weaving authentic cultural elements into products and highlighting support from valued groups can strengthen the appeal of local brands across the social spectrum, helping build a more resilient and distinctive homegrown brand landscape.

Citation: Wang, P., Xia, X. & Liang, K. Local brand aversion or aspiration? The influence of socioeconomic status on Chinese consumer brand preference. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 13, 432 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-026-06743-w

Keywords: local brands, socioeconomic status, consumer identity, Chinese shoppers, brand culture