Internet represents an increasingly relevant marketing channel for reaching foreign countries (Sinkovics, Sinkovics, & Jean, 2013). The aim of this paper is to understand how Western firms can exploit digital platforms to enter and sell their products in the contradictory market of China: more advanced than the Western one but also with many restrictions. Drawing from a literature about Internet as communications (Bilby, Reid, & Brennan, 2016) and sales channel (Bai, McColl, & Moore, 2017; Deng & Wang, 2016; Petersen, Welch, & Liesch, 2002), we develop three propositions to be tested in China. We carry out a qualitative research based on interviews with seven key informants operating in the Chinese market. Findings discuss the peculiarities of the Chinese digital environment. We confirm that dealing with Internet in China is different from other countries, therefore even if companies already have competences related to web marketing, they need to (re)learn how to use it and adapt their marketing strategies. Moreover, despite the growing role of the Internet as retailing channel in the Chinese market, we find that digital platforms do not substitute local distributors because of their primary in guanxi established. Internet has not substituted existing channel intermediaries but it has been rather added to them in a omnichannel strategy

In the current digital word, social media represent a relevant tool for marketing and communications strategies, which create new opportunities for firms to engage with their customers (Leeflang, Verhoef, Dahlström, & Freundt, 2013; Lemon & Verhoef, 2016; Libai et al., 2010). Among the sectors that leverage on social media in their communications, the luxury industry represents a main one. As previous research has mainly analyzed the consumer-side (Godey et al., 2016; Jin, 2012; Kim & Ko, 2012) overlooking the firm-side, the aim of this study is to investigate the cross-cultural issues faced by foreign luxury brands in implementing their social media strategies in China by carrying out a qualitative inquiry. China is the setting of analysis as it represents an increasingly relevant luxury market, characterized by the role of digital media as main communications and sales channel. Data collected consist of semistructured interviews with managers from foreign luxury brands operating in China in order to understand the issues faced and the strategies implemented. Moreover, an analysis of their social media presence on Chinese platforms such as WeChat and Weibo is conducted by considering the type of response activated among users. As pointed out by Belk (2017), qualitative advertising research can provide a better understanding of consumer response to advertising also in the rapidly growing field of social media, which have been mainly unexplored by qualitative approaches (Hadija, Barnes, & Hair, 2012). Moreover, an analysis on the firm-side will fill a gap in the existing literature and provide relevant managerial implications for international firms that operate in China.

Exporting represents an entry mode into international markets that is less risky than more direct strategies, therefore, it particularly fits SMEs (small-medium enterprises) that generally have a few resources to invest. In the case of emerging markets because of the high psychic distance, SMEs tend to rely on their distributors for the business operations in the new market. However, even if this type of intermediary allows the access to the foreign distribution channel that is particularly complex in countries such as China, it can limit the control of the market and in some cases, the product expansion. Based on a qualitative research consisting of interviews and secondary data, we will present two original case studies of Italian firms operating in the Chinese market. It will be shown that in emerging markets, since distributors do not really analyze and know consumer expectations and behaviors, they may represent a barrier in the knowledge accumulation of foreign products in the new market. Managerial implications will be discussed on the extent to which SMEs are not able to replicate marketing strategies used in other countries, but they should define a clear strategy that involves their distributors in the process of knowledge accumulation and brand value creation in the foreign market.