New data shows peer reviews are more important to Chinese than Western consumers.
According to a study from management consultancy AT Kearny, more than 95% of Chinese consumers aged between 16 and 45 base their purchasing decisions on information shared across social media platforms. By comparison, only 35% of consumers in the US, UK and Germany said they occasionally or frequently used social media to inform a purchase.
Social media is also particularly important for retailers in China as internet because consumers spent just 12% of their time online shopping, compared to 18% in the US or 24% in the UK. However, Chinese internet users spent 47% of their online time on social networks, while US and UK users spent 39% and 41% respectively.
China's netizens were also remarkably active across multiple platforms, claimed the survey. Qzone was one of the most active with 68% of people with accounts logging in every day. Weibo also 62% of users engage with the platform on a daily basis.