Urban residents of India are the most likely internet users in all of Asia-Pacific to follow a brand on social networks, according to March 2015 research from Waggener Edstrom Asia-Pacific conducted by YouGov. Nearly six in 10 said they were very likely to do so, with another 31% reporting they were somewhat likely.
YouGov polled internet users in several countries throughout the region about their social media relationships with brands. Respondents in India, China, the Philippines and Indonesia were limited to residents of urban areas only, which likely boosts stats on social media usage of all sorts compared with their rural counterparts.
In all countries where urban residents alone were surveyed, 89% or more of respondents said they were at least somewhat likely to follow brands on social media. In Hong Kong, more than eight in 10 respondents said the same.
On the other end of the spectrum, just 11% of internet users in Australia were very likely to follow a brand on social. Another 42% were somewhat likely to do so, adding up to just over half of internet users in the country probably following a brand.
The reason for doing so was almost always the same, though: discounts. The No. 1 reason to follow a brand in every country studied except India was to get money off and other promotions. In India, general news was slightly more important.
But promotions could also be a turnoff?at least, if users think there are too many of them. This was the No. 1 reason for not following a brand in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia. In most other countries, users said they just wanted to keep their social feeds personal.
eMarketer estimates that by the end of this year, 919.6 million people in Asia-Pacific will use social networks at least monthly. Despite China’s ban on Facebook and Twitter, nearly half of the total (404.6 million) will live in China. India will account for the second-largest social network user population in the region, with 143.7 million.
