Chinese brands still big on CSR, less so on engagement: R3

The findings are the result of interviews with more than 1,500 consumers in the market. Additional Chinese brands to feature in the top 10 include Mengniu, Li Ning and Lenovo; the list is otherwise comprised of multinationals. In particular, brand preference for Apple jumped from 13 per cent to 17 per cent over the quarter. A total of 19 domestic brands ranked within the top 50 in terms of engagement.

Sunny Chen, a consultant at R3 involved in compiling the research, said the findings demonstrated “that international brands are more successful at connecting with the local consumer”.

However, Chen pointed out that local brands were still particularly strong in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) when compared to their foreign counterparts. Eight of the top 10 brands in the CSR perception rankings were Chinese, including China Mobile, Haier, Lenovo, Mengniu, Wanglaoji, Yili, Li Ning and Nongfu Spring. Coca-Cola and Nokia were the only two international contenders to feature in the ranking, in eighth and ninth place respectively.

“[Chinese brands] now need to make the bigger leap to brand preference and broader brand values,” Chen said.

The study follows a recent report by R3 into engagement levels on weibo (microblogging) sites, which was led by Nike and Apple.