The Impact of Cross-Cultural Trade Conflicts on the Product Design Strategies of Chinese Home Appliance Enterprises

Abstract

The signing of a memorandum by the President of the United States in March 2018, the U.S. coordinates the use of the clause mechanism to protect the U.S. trade interests, making the home appliance industry, which is already quite competitive in the market, more directly face alternative competition from imports from other countries. Therefore, the trade conflict has a significant impact on the development of China’s home appliance industry. This study examines the product design strategies of Chinese home appliance companies. The study also analyzes and summarizes the opportunities and threats that may arise from the changing environment under the trade dispute, and proposes strategies for Chinese home appliance companies to respond. SPSS analysis was conducted on 24 samples. Factor analysis was conducted on the samples based on strategic factors to investigate the impact of the trade conflict on the product design strategies of Chinese home appliance companies and the types of product design strategies they adopted to respond to the trade conflict. The main findings of the study are: 1) the impact of the US-China trade war on Chinese home appliance companies includes three aspects: production cost, reduction of exports to the US, and cooperation between the US and Chinese industries; 2) six product design strategies were summarized based on the analysis of interviewed companies’ data and manufacturers’ interview information; 3) it is worth noting that the product design strategies adopted by the case home appliance companies are related to the characteristics and specifications of the case companies. Therefore, these research results will provide a valuable reference for the sample companies in the home appliance industry to respond to trade conflicts and future competitive design strategies, as well as a reference for product design strategies for companies in other fields to respond to cross-cultural management.