Louis Vuitton and Chanel dominate China’s luxury social space

LV was followed by Chanel and Gucci in terms of online message board buzz. On weibo, Chanel received close to 600,000 mentions between January and May. However, Burberry was found to be the more engaging luxury brand, generating 43,000 re-tweets and 5,320 comments over the same timeframe.

The report showed that product introductions, offline fashion events and commentary from designers or celebrities attracted the most attention from online consumers in the luxury space. In addition, it indicated that 20 per cent of online consumers contributed to 80 per cent of category-related topics online.

A statement from GroupM cited a ‘shai’ culture, fuelled by the desire to show off, as a driver of luxury-related discussions online. The word ‘shai’ refers to a display of ‘good taste’ and purchasing power.

The statement indicated that Chinese luxury consumers have a well-developed sense of showmanship with regard to their purchases, but still lack understanding as to how to align the brands with a “stylish and sophisticated” lifestyle.

Sam Flemming, founder and chairman of CIC, said it was important for luxury brands to monitor the content of online discussions in order to develop a more meaningful and culturally relevant communications strategy.

China's is expected to account for 20 per cent of global luxury goods consumption by 2015.