Social Media in Asia

The geographic sweep of Asia is enormous – stretching from eastern Turkey to the western rim of the Pacific. In this wide region, experiments with social media are more diverse than in the western world. In addition to popular western social media such as Facebook and Twitter, there are many other platforms and methods of connecting and collaborating. Linguistic and cultural factors sometimes make the western media less attractive and regional-national media more in tune with local conditions. Political constraints often shape the nature of these media and the ways in which people use them. Also, social media that support niche interests often flourish in Asian contexts. Using insights of researchers who have personal ethnic connections to specific Asian national and cultural contexts, as well as views of western and Asian researchers who specialize in consumer and market research in Asia, this roundtable would provide windows into the evolving nature of social media in Asia. In particular, the presenters and discussants would focus on these: (a) National and linguistic factors shaping the nature of social media in Asia, (b) Factors influencing the use of social media by consumers in various Asian contexts, (c) Novel and innovative (in western terms) ways that (business and non-business) organizations in Asia are employing social media to reach their consumers and other stakeholders.

Citation:

Nikhilesh Dholakia (2011) ,"Social Media in Asia", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 9, eds. Zhihong Yi, Jing Jian Xiao, and June Cotte and Linda Price, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 298-299.