Testing the Waters: Applying Marketing Channels Research in Chinese Elevator Industry

Abstract

This paper sets off on the intersection of two fronts. First, there is a long-established literature on
marketing channels literature. Second, the Chinese elevator industry has been booming in light of
China's rapid developments in the past three decades. Yet, rarely has there been discussion
regarding how marketing channels literature can be applied to the elevator industry especially in
the Chinese context. We argue that elevator industry in China has remained very conventional in
terms of marketing efforts which may impose significant barriers to its further expansion, and
accordingly tests the waters by trying to apply marketing channels research in Chinese elevator
industry. We provide overviews of the Chinese elevator industry and the literature development of
marketing channels in both Western and Chinese contexts, finishing with a preliminary discussion
of how the literature could apply in the context of the elevator industry in China.