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© Emanuel Corso | Dreamstime.comAlmost half (45%) of the youngergeneration in tier 1, 2 and 3 cities useWeibo, while one in three youngsters inlower tier cities are already there. About20% in tier 1, 2, and 3 cities and 10% inlower tiers go online using their smartphones,which is double that of the totalpopulation.In terms of overall online social networkingactivities, one in three consumers(30%) from tier 1 cities has visiteda social networking site (SNS) in thepast month, while 18% and 10% havedone so in tier 5 cities and rural areas ofChina.Tier 1 figures might be above thoseof tier 5, but when looking at the overallnumbers of users participating in socialnetworking sites, 48% of those are infact from tier 5 cities, 12% from tier 4,17% from tier 3, 15% from tier 2, and8% from tier 1. There are 494 tier 5 cities,representing 56% of mainland China’surban population.“As these cities continue to develop,the opportunities for marketers are tremendous,”said Garton.Having on the go accessibility toWeibo and other online social networkingsites (SNS) further advances thepopularity of these platforms. Closeto one in three (28%) respondents intier 5 cities accessed the Internet withtheir mobiles in the past month, whichis even higher than those in tier 1 cities(24%). The highest is in tier 3 with 38%having gone online using their mobilephones.Window shopping and buying –Online styleOverall, one in seven (14%) Chineseurbanites had shopped online in the pastmonth, while 11% in tier 5 cities havedone so. Given the vast number of tier 5cities and their population, this translatedto a 49% market share of online shoppingby consumers in tier 5 cities alone.“Our latest findings show the Internetis in fact the overall number one mediain calling people to action. After seeingsomething on the Internet, 37% wouldsearch for more information throughsearch engines, 25% would visit the websiteand 8% would write an email to theaddress provided, all prompt to actionswere above other media,” CommentedLiu.The Bulletin 工 商 月 刊 January 2012 27