Marketing communication strategies for chinese automotive OEMs operating in South Africa: the role of diversity in consumer decision-making

Abstract

Chinese automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have expanded rapidly in South Africa, yet performance is uneven when global playbooks meet a super‑diverse market where cultural legitimacy, identity alignment and informal institutions (e.g., language, dignity norms, community values) shape how consumers decode brand messages. This study explores how marketing communication strategies can be designed to align with South Africa’s plural consumer base and how diversity cues influence decision‑making in a high‑involvement category. An integrated lens, Institutional Theory (macro), Homophily (meso) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB)(micro) guides the inquiry. An exploratory qualitative design combined four online focus groups (FG1–FG4) (South African consumers) and a document/content analysis of recent brand communications by OEMs operating locally (including Chinese OEMs). The data was analysed thematically and triangulated to strengthen credibility and generate practice‑proximal insights. The research setting was Gauteng, reflecting South Africa’s socio‑cultural heterogeneity and media density. Findings converge on eight themes, the salience of localised language and cultural relevance, the positive yet fragile effects of representation (risk of tokenism and backlash), patterns of marketing exclusion/disconnect, the role of storytelling in emotional resonance, entrenched brand heritage and generational loyalty, indecisive attitudes toward Chinese brands, multi‑factor purchase dynamics (value, reliability, financing, service coverage) and peer‑based homophily and social proof that amplify or dampen purchase intention. Across cases, attitudes and subjective norms are moved by identity‑congruent cues, while perceived behavioural control (PBC) hinges on transparent finance and aftersales architectures. The study delivers a context‑sensitive framework that sequences institutional fit (what communications must signal to be legitimate), identity congruence (how cues are read as “for people like me/us”) and intention levers (attitudes, norms, control) to translate communication fit into action. Managerially, it specifies four design imperatives, vernacular language strategy, representation beyond surface tokens, community activation and credible sources and post‑purchase relationship architectures that sustain trust. Theoretically, the work localises inclusive‑marketing scholarship to an African, super‑diverse context and advances a multi‑level pathway from norms to choice.