Emily Tan
Oct 24, 2012

Asia tops first global social engagement index, China, Indonesia and India lead

GLOBAL - China's high income (top 25 per cent) group in China lead the world in social engagement, followed by Indonesia and India, while the least socially active are 55 to 64- year-olds in Japan, according to GlobalWebIndex's Social Engagement Benchmark report.

Emerging nations lead in social engagement
Emerging nations lead in social engagement

GlobalWebIndex is an ongoing global study into the internet consumer's attitudes. Launched in July 2009, it has since delivered seven waves of research covering more than 152,000 internet users in 31 countries.

The league table has been calculated using GlobalWebIndex data from 31 countries detailing how much consumers participate in social media, whether they create or upload content and whether they engage with brands via these platforms either to review products, like a brand or upload content to brand sites.

To count towards the Social Engagement Benchmark rankings, consumers have to have carried out each task in the last month. Each key area—participation, creation and brand involvement—is scored out of 400 and the marks are added together and then converted to a percentage of the maximum 1200 score, which is then weighted to 100 point measure. The Benchmark is platform neutral and measures total active use of social media rather than usage of specific global, regional or local platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or weibo. 

The report found that consumers in fast-growing economies are more likely to use a social network or a microblog, upload a photo or video or review a product or brand than consumers in more mature markets.

In emerging markets where millions of people are coming online every year, social media is a natural part of the internet experience. Despite significantly lower internet penetration in markets like India, Brazil and Russia all have larger numbers of socially engaged consumers than Germany, the UK or Japan.
 
Other countries lagging behind Asian social powerhouses are the US, Sweden, France and the UK which are viewed as mature markets that are technologically advanced. The report reasoned that this is because online activity in these markets was developed before social became mainstream and is therefore less integrated into everyday use. 
 
While specific demographic groups may exhibit a higher or lower engagement rates than the market as a whole, market differences are consistent regardless of age, said the report. 
 
“What this report reveals is that we need to rethink how we classify countries when it comes to social media," commented Tom Smith, founder of GlobalWebIndex. "Thanks to this high engagement, social media reaches more of the total population [in emerging markets]. There is a huge opportunity for brands to connect via these channels but it’s not always in the markets where they think it is." 
 
Updated to include top 10 lists:
 
Top 10 most engaged markets:
  1. China
  2. Indonesia
  3. India
  4. Vietnam
  5. The Philippines
  6. Turkey
  7. Malaysia 
  8. Brazil
  9. Thailand
  10. Argentina
Top 10 least engaged markets
  1. Japan
  2. Sweden
  3. France
  4. USA
  5. UK
  6. Germany
  7. Netherlands
  8. Australia
  9. Canada
  10. Italy

Click for full view
 
Source:
Campaign Asia

Follow us

Top news, insights and analysis every weekday

Sign up for Campaign Bulletins

Related Articles

Just Published

2 hours ago

40 Under 40 2024: Tim Lindley, VaynerMedia

Lindley’s work at VaynerMedia, balancing strategic vision and growth with empathetic leadership, makes him a standout figure in the APAC marketing landscape.

4 hours ago

How indies are closing the gap between holding ...

In a true David vs. Goliath battle, nimble independent agencies are defying the "bigger is better" narrative, winning top clients and industry awards with smart investments, speed, and agility.

4 hours ago

Marubeni banks on J-Pop singer Ado's mystique in ...

In her first-ever advert appearance, J-Pop superstar Ado teams up with Marubeni to deliver a metaphor for collaboration and overcoming challenges.

4 hours ago

Moves and wins roundup: Week of February 17, 2025

Netflix, Pageone Group, Golin, Mars United Commerce, the Parramatta Eels and more in our weekly collection of people moves and account news.