Looking for the real Chinese consumer

We are always told journalism is about the search for truth.

With this in mind, I was interviewing a woman at The Place shopping complex in Beijing about why she had just bought a packet of Marks and Spencer's Deliciously Nutty Crunch, instead of a cheaper brand or, indeed, why a Western breakfast cereal at all since she was Chinese.

I pride myself on incisive questioning. I wasn't being unnecessarily prurient, however, since all this had a purpose. The behavior of Chinese consumers has again recently been in the spotlight.