TY - THES ID - 134980495 TI - Belgian luxury fashion labels’ marketing strategies in China AU - Van Nuffelen, Emily AU - Emmers, Dorien AU - KU Leuven. Faculteit Letteren. Opleiding Master in de taal- en regiostudies. Chinese studies (Leuven) PY - 2023 PB - Leuven KU Leuven. Faculteit Letteren DB - UniCat UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:134980495 AB - The Chinese luxury market is a very attractive market for international luxury brands. As the Chinese people's standard of living has risen tremendously in recent years, they are also wealthier and more willing to buy luxury goods. This paper researches the Chinese luxury market through two case studies on two small Belgian luxury fashion labels, namely Katerin Theys Belgium - Hong Kong and Jan-Jan Van Essche. In doing so, the research focuses on marketing strategy. Both the marketing strategy in general, as well as the use of social media in the campaigns and the choice of a target group are discussed in this paper. Already existing research describes several possible marketing strategies to enter the Chinese luxury market, however, there is a gap in the literature, namely the use of social media. Looking at the target groups, already existing articles differentiate based on generations, people's attitude towards luxury goods and people's reason of purchase. The research question of this study is as follows: "What are the marketing strategies of small Belgian luxury fashion labels in China?". This research question is further complemented by two subsidiary questions, namely, "Is advertising on social media effective or necessary for all products and brands?" and "How do small Belgian luxury fashion labels define their target group?" To answer these research questions, the paper uses the methodology of semi-structured interviews. An interview guide was prepared for the interviews, as a tool to guide the interview but to leave enough room for sub-questions and themes. The paper analyses and discusses the results that emerged from the interviews using a comparison. The answers of the two interviewees from the two different brands were compared both to each other and to pre-existing articles. The main findings are that a comprehensive marketing strategy is not necessary for all types of businesses. This thesis discusses two small Belgian luxury fashion labels, namely Katerin Theys Belgium - Hong Kong and Jan-Jan Van Essche. The study found that neither brand has a comprehensive marketing strategy to exploit the Chinese luxury market and does not urgently need one, although at Katerin Theys Belgium - Hong Kong it is expected to be useful soon. At Jan-Jan Van Essche, they question whether it is necessary, but remain sort of averse to marketing. In terms of social media, the study concludes that both brands make fairly little use of it. They both have an Instagram account and are open to creating an account on Little Red Book, but this is not yet in use. Other Chinese social media platforms such as WeChat and Douyin were not mentioned in the interviewees' answers. Also, both brands do not have a clearly defined target audience. Finally, this thesis mentions some limitations and opportunities for future research. The main limitation is that it was a small convenience sample. By expanding this sample in future research, the results may be more representative. ER -