China Social Branding Agency

The power of word of mouth in China.

The Harvard Business Review wrote an excellent article recently on the power of word of mouth in China’s digital space. Citing examples such as McDonald’s recent McSpicy Chicken Wings campaign, leveraging the woes of competitor KFC’s botched social media efforts.

Interesting stats include: 60% of Chinese seek friend referrals when purchasing products, vs their Western counterparts 38%. The Chinese follow the crowd; the more social proof received, the more likely uninitiated Chinese will follow suit.

China’s unique word-of-mouth infrastructure was also referred to; with Chinese living in close quarters physically, and tied closely to family culturally, word-of-mouth tends to become extremely prevalent in concentrated local environments; for instance, while C’estbon, a bottled water brand, has small nationwide share, it dominates local southern markets with up to 50% of the market.

Great insights; check the full article here.

Related articles from around the web.

• The Power of Word-of-Mouth in China (blogs.hbr.org)
• Hold Off Being Bullish on China’s Luxury Market (online.wsj.com)
• Chines online population passes 400 million (teabreak.pk)
• Yum! Brands Promotes Sam Su to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Yum! China Division and Mark Chu to President and Chief Operating Officer, Reporting to Su (eon.businesswire.com)
• Social Media Bubble: Roundup in the Cloud (cloudave.com)