The consultancy Roland Berger and CIC have put together an interesting report on how Social Media affects Chinese consumers.

They looked at the impact on Chinese consumers of information gathered about brands and products through Social Media channels such as online message boards, blogs and video sites, etc.

As mentioned many times on this blog, their findings show that proportionally, Chinese consumers rely on the Internet in making purchase decisions much more than their counterparts in the West.

While 58 percent of Chinese Internet users have their purchase decisions influenced by consumer reviews, ratings sites, forums and discussion boards, the study found that just 19 percent US Internet users are influenced by these online channels. (I agree with the thrust of their argument, but that number seems quite low for the US)

Interestingly, as this chart below shows, the research also found that Chinese consumers are often made aware of a brand for the first time through Social Media platforms.

In other words, Chinese netizens are affected by Social Media for the initial part of brand awareness and the final stage before purchase.