Redefining the Customer Journey of Young Chinese Luxury Customers: The Role of China’s Social Media and O2O Strategies in Building and Nurturing Relationships with Millennials and Generation Z

The Chinese luxury market is undergoing a profound transformation driven by young digital-native consumers. This thesis aims to explore how China’s social media landscape and related online-to-offline (O2O) marketing strategies influence the customer journey of young Chinese luxury consumers, specifically Millennials and Generation Z. The preliminary assumption of this project is that, despite fluctuations in the domestic market’s sales performance, Chinese consumers remain valuable and willing to spend on luxury goods, regardless of the purchase location. In the first chapter of the study decodes the local cultural and social factors, to explain why the Chinese market is unique and why understanding Chinese values is essential for foreign brands. The second chapter is devoted to understanding how Millennials and Generation Z build their perceptions, desires and loyalty towards luxury brands. In particular, this section showcases how the two cohorts navigate the luxury customer journey, highlighting the emergence of an innovative Multidimensional pathway that goes beyond the traditional sequence of stages. The third chapter focuses on the growing relevance of China’s social media platforms in shaping the development of the O2O, a model increasingly defined by New Retail and Retailtainment, namely a multi-sensory, immersive and technologically interactive experience with luxury brands. The final chapter presents an empirical overview of how international luxury brands, such as Gucci, Loewe, Louis Vuitton and Hermès, are implementing successful strategies tailored to the tastes of younger segments, covering a variety of strategic approaches, for instance phygital activities and emotional storytelling. The present work successfully proves that, in order to stay top-of-mind among these consumers both before and after the purchase, digital and emotionally resonant marketing actions are crucial.