China Tech News reports:

In a study of how Chinese Internet users discuss notebook computers online, Shanghai-based Internet Word of Mouth research firm CIC says Lenovo and ThinkPad dominate manufacturer buzz.

Lenovo was the most discussed manufacturer (33.9% of total brand and product posts), but ThinkPad fans also present a challenge for Lenovo to maintain credibility while balancing innovation. Dell Inspiron 1420 launch and its color choice made it the most buzzed Dell model (11% of total Dell posts), and Dell used its Chinese blog to communicate with customers disappointed with shipment delays.

What’s remarkable about this is no so much the buzz over Lenovo (or Dell’s use of a blog), but the data on which these conclusions are based:

The systematic analysis used in this study was based on 1,204,117 Internet message board postings from mainland China related to notebook computers written by 160,926 unique usernames from July 1 to September 30, 2007 covering 739 notebook computer models, 71 series brands and 27 notebook manufacturers. The messages were mined using CIC’s data collection and Chinese text mining tools and methodology covering 395 sub-attributes from 10 categorized attributes.

The research is a product of CIC, apparently China’s only internet word of mouth (IWOM) research and consulting firm. They describe IWOM and their services:

What is IWOM: Content including text and multimedia related to companies, products or services shared by netizens, including brands and consumers, via online community platforms such as BBS (online message boards), blogs and video sites.

What We Do: CIC is the leading Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) research and consulting firm in China. To put it simply, we help our clients make sense of the buzz found on blogs, BBS and other IWOM platforms.

Very, very interesting. It’s useful from a brand protection perspective (you don’t want to be the last to know your brand is getting hammered on the internet) as well as providing some substantive insight into what’s “hot”.

The report, which requires registering on their site, has all sorts of interesting information. They look at keyword frequency linked to specific vendor products to identify and understand consumer response. The report looks at vendors, their notebooks, lessons learned, etc., etc. The report said that the most “buzzed attributes” for notebooks are configuration and price. That would seem pretty obvious, but it’s good see conclusions such as that based on data rather than revealed revelation.

What’s important about this for technology companies is that it provides a measure of insight into consumer reactions to products without the noise of a larger, general population, sample. It’s great for firms that focus on early adopters and the technologically savvy.

And it’s a cool little window into China’s online culture.

Further reading
They also have a blog.

ShareThis