Mainland internet users are more than twice as engaged with brands on social media than their Western counterparts, businesses services firm PwC has found.
Colin Light, China consulting digital leader at PwC, said 88% of mainland internet users polled by the firm had interacted with a favourite brand on social media, more than double the global average of 37%. 93% of respondents said they followed brands or retailers on social media, compared with 49% in the US, while 86% said they had bought products directly through social media, compared with a global average of 48%.
Light put the high level of engagement down to mainlanders’ widespread use of mobile internet. According to the official China Internet Network Information Centre, the number of internet users accessing the web from a mobile device surpassed that of personal computer users for the first time in June, with 527 million people accessing the internet through a smartphone.
~ SCMP, August 16, 2014 ~