Intergenerational Breakthrough of Time-Honored Enterprises: A Case Study of Kweichow Moutai Group’s Practices in Adapting to Diverse Consumer Groups

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-992-6_47How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Time-Honored Enterprises; Intergenerational Consumption Differences; Kweichow Moutai

Abstract

Against the backdrop of evolving intergenerational consumer demands, time-honored enterprises, as custodians of national commercial culture and traditional craftsmanship, face the pivotal challenge of intergenerational adaptation. This study adopts a mixed-methods single-case analysis, focusing on Kweichow Moutai Group, a leading representative of China’s time-honored liquor enterprises. Grounded in Intergenerational Consumption Difference Theory, it integrates qualitative exploration with quantitative validation to systematically examine Moutai’s core contradictions amid intergenerational consumption shifts and corresponding breakthrough strategies. Quantitative results show that Moutai’s three-dimensional strategy (product innovation, marketing reform, cultural transformation) achieved a 27.3% increase in the post-1995 consumer ratio (from 13% to 16.5%) within two years, a 42.8% growth in cross-border product sales, and a 67 million-user base on its digital platform with a 38.5% user engagement rate among young consumers. The findings reveal that Moutai mitigated intergenerational demand conflicts through a diversified product matrix, integrated online-offline marketing channels (narrowing intergenerational cognitive gaps with a 29.7% improvement in young consumers’ brand recognition), and a cultural shift from “selling liquor” to “selling a lifestyle”. This study enriches the application of Intergenerational Consumption Difference Theory in the liquor industry by introducing a quantitative evaluation framework, fills gaps in research on intergenerational adaptation strategies for time-honored enterprises, and provides practical pathways for similar enterprises to balance inheritance and innovation, fostering sustainable development of China’s time-honored brands.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yilei Wang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/20
TI  - Intergenerational Breakthrough of Time-Honored Enterprises: A Case Study of Kweichow Moutai Group’s Practices in Adapting to Diverse Consumer Groups
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 4th International Conference on Mathematical Statistics and Economic Analysis (MSEA 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 506
EP  - 516
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-992-6_47
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-992-6_47
ID  - Wang2026
ER  -