1. Research Background and Significance

Water heater is one of the indispensable household appliances in family life, and its market demand is closely related to consumption level, living conditions, climate characteristics and other factors. With the rapid development of China's economy and society and the continuous improvement of people's living standards, consumers' demand for water heaters is also increasing. At the same time, higher requirements are put forward for the quality, function, safety and energy saving of water heaters.

In 2023, China's water heater market reached 249.3 billion billion yuan, up 8.6 percent year-on-year, of which the heat pump water heater market reached 60.8 billion billion yuan, up 18.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 24.4 percent. Heat pump water heater is a high-efficiency energy-saving equipment that uses low-grade thermal energy such as air, water or ground source. By inputting a small amount of electrical energy, it can realize the transfer of low-temperature thermal energy to high-temperature, so as to provide users with hot water. Heat pump water heater has the advantages of energy saving, environmental protection, safety and comfort. It is one of the mainstream products in the current water heater market and the development direction of the future water heater market.

The rapid development of the heat pump water heater market has attracted the participation of many enterprises, resulting in increasingly fierce market competition. In this case, how to enhance the brand competitiveness of heat pump water heaters and win the favor of consumers has become an important issue for heat pump water heater enterprises. Brand is the core asset of an enterprise, the embodiment of consumers' cognition, trust and loyalty to the enterprise and its products, and an important factor affecting consumers' purchasing behavior. Consumer brand preference refers to the relative preference of consumers for a brand or brand combination, which is a comprehensive reflection of consumer brand awareness, brand attitude, brand loyalty and so on. The formation of consumer brand preference is influenced by many factors, such as product attributes, price, promotion, service, brand image, brand reputation, consumer personal characteristics and so on. Understanding the consumer's brand preference and its influencing factors is helpful for heat pump water heater enterprises to grasp the needs and psychology of consumers, formulate effective brand strategies, and enhance brand influence and market share.

2. Research Methods and Data Sources

This paper uses the methods of literature analysis, questionnaire survey and factor analysis to analyze the brand preference of heat pump water heater consumers and their influencing factors. The literature analysis method is to comb and summarize the development status of the heat pump water heater market, the relevant theories of consumer brand preference, research methods and index system by consulting the relevant literature, which provides the theoretical basis and reference basis for the follow-up empirical research. The questionnaire survey method is to collect the basic information, brand awareness, brand attitude, brand loyalty and other data of heat pump water heater consumers by designing and issuing questionnaires, which provides the original data for the subsequent data analysis. The factor analysis method is to extract the main factors affecting consumer brand preference by statistical analysis of the questionnaire data, analyze the mechanism and interrelationship of each factor, and provide a basis for the heat pump water heater enterprises to formulate brand strategy.

The data in this paper is based on market research data from Shangpu Consulting, which is based on the 2021 China Heat Pump Water Heater Consumption Upgrade Trend Survey.

As a result, a total of 1000 valid questionnaires were collected, covering consumers of heat pump water heaters in all regions, age groups, and income levels across the country. The contents of the questionnaire include basic information of consumers (such as gender, age, region, income, etc.), usage of heat pump water heaters (such as brand, model, capacity, purchase channel, purchase time, service life, etc.), usage satisfaction of heat pump water heaters (such as heating speed, water temperature stability, noise level, safety, energy saving, appearance design, etc.), brand awareness of heat pump water heaters (such as brand awareness, brand image, brand reputation, etc.), brand attitude of heat pump water heaters (such as brand preference, brand trust, brand emotion, etc.), brand loyalty of heat pump water heaters (such as brand repeat purchase, brand recommend, brand resistance, etc.), etc. This paper collates and analyzes these data to explore the brand preference of heat pump water heater consumers and their influencing factors.

3. research results and analysis

Basic characteristics of consumers of 3.1 heat pump water heaters

According to the questionnaire data, this paper makes descriptive statistics on the basic characteristics of heat pump water heater consumers, the gender ratio of heat pump water heater consumers is more balanced, men slightly more than women, accounting for 51.2 per cent; the age distribution shows the characteristics of mainly young and middle-aged consumers, 58.6 per cent of consumers aged 26-45, 17.8 per cent of consumers aged 18-25 and 46-55, respectively, and 7.2 per cent of consumers over 56; the regional distribution shows the characteristics of dominated by East China, North China and South China. The consumers in these three regions account for 64.4, while the consumers in Central China, Northwest China, Southwest China and Northeast China account for 13.6, 8.6, 8.4 and 5.0 respectively. The income distribution shows the characteristics of dominated by middle income, with consumers of 5000-8000 yuan accounting for 31.4, consumers of 3000-5000 yuan and consumers of 8000-12000 yuan accounting for 24.8 and 19.6 respectively, consumers below 3000 yuan and above 12000 yuan accounted for 11.2 and 13.0 respectively.

Consumer Brand Preference of 3.2 Heat Pump Water Heater

According to the data of the questionnaire, this paper makes descriptive statistics on the brand preference of consumers of heat pump water heater. It can be seen that the brand preference of consumers of heat pump water heater shows the characteristics of Midea, Haier, Ox and Gree. The consumers of these four brands account for 69.6 percent, among which the consumers of Midea brand are the most, accounting for 21.2 percent, and the consumers of Haier brand are the second, accounting for 18.4 percent, oaks and Gree brands account for 16.2 and 13.8 percent of consumers, respectively; Chigo brands account for 9.6 percent of consumers and other brands account for 20.8 percent. This shows that the brand concentration of the heat pump water heater market is relatively high. Brands such as Midea, Haier, Oaks and Gree have strong market influence and consumer recognition, while brands such as Chigo need to strengthen brand building and promotion to enhance brand awareness And reputation.

Influencing Factors of Consumer Brand Preference of 3.3 Heat Pump Water Heater

In order to explore the main factors affecting the consumer brand preference of heat pump water heater, this paper makes a factor analysis of the questionnaire data, and extracts five public factors that affect the consumer brand preference, named product factor, price factor, promotion factor, service factor and brand image factor.

Product factor is the most important factor affecting the consumer brand preference of heat pump water heater, and its contribution rate is 0.1, indicating that consumers have higher requirements for the quality, function and performance of heat pump water heater. Heating speed, water temperature stability, noise size, safety, energy saving and appearance design are the main basis for consumers to choose the brand of heat pump water heater. Price factor is the second most important factor affecting the consumer brand preference of heat pump water heater, its contribution rate is 0.18, indicating that consumers are highly sensitive to the price of heat pump water heaters. Product prices, operating costs and cost-effectiveness are important considerations for consumers to choose the brand of heat pump water heaters; promotion factor is the third important factor that affects consumers' brand preference of heat pump water heaters, and its contribution rate is 0.1, indicating that consumers have a certain degree of attention to the purchase channels and promotion activities of heat pump water heaters, purchase channels, promotional activities and gifts or coupons are the auxiliary factors for consumers to choose the brand of heat pump water heater; service factor is the fourth important factor affecting the brand preference of heat pump water heater consumers, and its contribution rate is 0.2, indicating that consumers have certain expectations for the after-sales service and maintenance of heat pump water heater, and after-sales service, maintenance and installation and commissioning are the guarantee factors for consumers to choose the brand of heat pump water heater; brand image factor is the fifth important factor affecting the consumer brand preference of heat pump water heater, and its contribution rate is 0.10, which shows that consumers have a certain sense of identity with the brand awareness and brand image of heat pump water heater. Brand awareness, brand image and brand reputation are the trust factors for consumers to choose the brand of heat pump water heater.

4. research conclusions and recommendations

Based on the market research data of Shangpu Consulting Company, this paper analyzes the brand preference of heat pump water heater consumers and its influencing factors, and draws the following.Conclusion：

The gender ratio of heat pump water heater consumers is relatively balanced, mainly young and middle-aged, mainly in East China, North China and South China, and mainly in middle income.

The brand preference of heat pump water heater consumers shows the characteristics of Midea, Haier, Oaks and Gree. These four brands have strong market influence and consumer recognition.

The main factors that affect the consumer brand preference of heat pump water heater are product factor, price factor, promotion factor, service factor and brand image factor. Among them, product factor is the most important factor, price factor is the second important factor, promotion factor is the third important factor, service factor is the fourth important factor, and brand image factor is the fifth important factor.

According to the aboveConclusionThis paper puts forward the following suggestions for heat pump water heater enterprises:

Heat pump water heater companies should develop targeted market positioning and brand positioning based on the basic characteristics of consumers to meet the needs and preferences of different consumers.

Heat pump water heater enterprises should pay attention to the improvement of product quality, function and performance, enhance the core competitiveness of products, and meet the high requirements of consumers for heat pump water heaters.

Heat pump water heater enterprises should reasonably formulate the price strategy of the product, consider the cost of the product, market demand, competitors and other factors, improve the cost performance of the product, and attract consumers' willingness to buy.

Heat pump water heater enterprises should strengthen product promotion activities, the use of a variety of channels and ways to improve product awareness and purchase rate, increase product market share.

Heat pump water heater enterprises should improve the after-sales service and maintenance of products, improve the quality and efficiency of service, increase consumer satisfaction and loyalty, and form a good reputation.

Heat pump water heater enterprises should shape the brand image of the product, transfer the value and concept of the product, establish the brand awareness and brand trust of the product, and enhance the brand influence of the product.