© 2008 CIC

Topic Two: Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics

“The Internet is THE Community”: IWOM white paper Series on Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) Development in China2008 Q3

2© 2008 CIC

Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics Editorial Summary

Community Passion

Community Creativity •Community

Interactivity

Measuring the Internet Community

The Chinese Internet Community is a new media, which is redefining the relationships between brands and consumers. However, not all communities are the same nor do communities for each brand category have the same impact and meaning.

In this white paper “Alternative Ways to Measure Internet Community Dynamics”, which is Topic 2 of our “The Internet is THE Community” series of reports, CIC proposes a sample set of community measurement indexes to help brands and community owners better understand the impact and importance of community and Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM).

3© 2008 CIC

Analyze buzz volume and content using customized tools

Distil insights behind IWOM dynamics by experienced analysts

Deliver buzz findings in flexible format

Expert construct product and driver categorization

Mine Data by powerful natural language mining tools

Perform QA to assure the quality of data mining results

Identify relevant source of online conversation

Use customized tools and industry term library to collect data

Filter out irrelevant and duplicate data and assess data quality

Data Analysis

Data Collection

Data Mining

ABOUT CIC PROPRIETARY IWOM ANALYSIS METHODOLOGYFor this paper, CIC utilized its patent pending Chinese text mining technology to analyze its store of hundreds of millions of BBS messages related to brands, products and services.

4© 2008 CIC

•

PR-Posting RatePR is one of the online Community passion indexes, measured by the average posting number per posters.

TCF-Topic Creation FactorTCF is one of the online Community creativity indexes, measured by the ratio of new topics.

CPR-Conversation Participation RateCPR is one of the online Community interaction indexes, measured by the average post number per conversation.

These are just some of the key indexes which can be used to measure the dynamics of online community.

… … …

COMMUNITY MEASUREMENT: If community is a “new media”, then what benchmarks can be used to measure it?

Community Passion

Community Creativity

Community Interactivity

5© 2008 CIC

0

5

10

15

20

25

2007Q1 2007Q2 2007Q3 2007Q4 2008Q1 2008Q2 2008Q30

4

8

12

16

Posting Rate CPR

*Posting Rate and Conversation Participation Rate Trend, 2007Q1 – 2008Q3

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2007Q1-2008Q3

A remarkable surge in Posting Rate and CPR in 2008

Posting Rate (monthly average)

CPR (monthly average)

*Note: PR (Posting Rate) is one of the online Community passion indexes, measured by the average posting number per posterCPR (Conversation Participation Rate) is one of the online Community interaction indexes, measured by the average post number per conversation.

PASSION & INTERACTIVITY INCREASING: PR and CPR rates increase in Q1-Q3, 2008 - IWOM conversation length increased to 14 posts/month; average number of posts/ posters jumped to around 20 IWOM posts per month

6© 2008 CIC

AUTOMOBILE LEADS THE PASSION INDEX - Auto posters PR lead other categories with 30 posts/poster every month

14.8

12.1

9.6

8.1

6.8

30Automobile

Sports

Baby care

Computer

Cosmetics

Mobile phone

Monthly average *Posting Rate for top 6 categories, 2007Q1 - 2008Q3

*PR (Posting Rate) is one of the online community passion indexes, measured by the average posting number per poster

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2007Q1-2008Q3

7© 2008 CIC

23.3%

11.2%

Product related buzz Attribute related buzz

Top discussed auto attributes, 2008 Q3

22%

16%

15%7%7%

7%

6%

5%

16%

Power system

Price

Appearance

ExternalaccessoriesCar category

InneraccessoriesTransmissionsystemDistributors

Other

Buzz Incidence of top 10 auto manufacturers, 2008 Q3

Manufacturer Buzz Incidence

上海大众 SVW 10.4%

一汽-大众 FAW-VW 10.3%

长安福特马自达

CA Ford Mazda8.2%

神龙汽车 Shenlong 7.7%

上海通用 SGM 7.5%

广州本田GZ Honda 6.9%

东风日产DF Nissan 4.9%

一汽丰田 FAW-Toyota 4.7%

华晨汽车 Huachen 3.4%

奇瑞 Chery 3.1%

Percentage of auto product and attribute related buzz, 2008 Q3

Data Base: Total attribute related posts= 2,210,775Data Base: Total automobile posts= 19,771,209

Note: Each manufacturer buzz Incidence is the percentage of manufacturer posts (incl. brand, series and model) among total product and brand posts.

Data Base: Total product related posts=4,604,870

WHAT’S DRIVING THE PASSION IN AUTO BUZZ? - Text mining analysis suggests that in 2008 Q3, 23.3% of automobile buzz is about product IWOM, and 11.2% is about the attributes

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2008Q3

8© 2008 CIC

Power system

Appearance

External accessories

Buzz Volume

• 油耗好像挺厉害的，不知道真实的怎么样，看到网上有好多要开到

15、16个油。起步到20以前挺肉的。20以后速度就上的快了。 链接

It seems that this car doesn't get good gas mileage. I heard it uses 15-16liters/100km, and the acceleration is slow before reaching a speed of 20km/h. link

• 我20几岁的人，觉得YG8比较适合我，KMR比较适合40 岁这样的人，其实不和YG8对比看，KK的外观还是很大

气的！

链接

I am in my twenties and I think YG8 is suitable for me but KMR is more appropriate for people over 40. link

PriceBuzz Volume

Buzz Volume

Buzz Volume

• 10万元以内，还是买大众的POLO吧！法国人自己都认为，大众

的车都是好车！POLO在法国比307贵多了！1.3万欧！

链接

Polo is a good choice if you want to buy a car for under 100 thousand Yuan. Even French think Volkswagen is great! Polo is much more expensive than the 307 in France which costs 13 thousand euros. link

• 看中小7有一半的原因是因为独立大灯了。

链接

Half of my motivation to buy “Little 7” is because of its big independent headlights. link

TOP AUTO ATTRIBUTES DISCUSSED: Samples of consumer opinions

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2008Q3

9© 2008 CIC

15

12.7

12.4

8.9

8.3

15.7Sports

Automobile

Baby care

Cosmetics

Mobile phone

Computer

Monthly average *CPR for top 6 categories, 2007Q1 - 2008Q3

SPORTS COMMUNITIES ARE ESPECIALLY INTERACTIVE - CPR is highest, with 15.7 posts per conversation on average

*Note: CPR (Conversation Participation Rate) is one of the online Community interaction indexes, measured by the average post number per conversation.

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2007Q1-2008Q3

10© 2008 CIC

*Posting Rate Trend for Sports, 2007Q1 – 2008Q3

Beijing Olympics served as a catalyst by greatly igniting netizens’ passion to communicate online

Posting Rate (monthly average)

*PR (Posting Rate) is one of the online Community passion indexes, measured by the average posting number per poster

SPORTS COMMUNITIES PASSION INCREASED DURING OLYMPICS - Online sports communities, PR doubled in past year

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2007Q1-2008Q3

11© 2008 CIC

*Note: “BBS Olympics Keyword Association Mapping” uses the distance to visualize the relationship between the Olympics and official sponsors / key Olympics components, the nearer distance represents the closer association. Please find more details here (EN) and here (CN).

McDonald’s online Olympics campaign

generated buzz.

Samsung's mobile phone and Lenovo's flash disk for the

Olympics created buzz.

Official SponsorOlympics Component

WHICH TOPICS STIMULATED NETIZENS’ PASSION FOR OLYMPICS? - BBS OLYMPICS Keyword Association Mapping*

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2007Q4

12© 2008 CIC

0.81

0.8

0.77

0.77

0.7

0.61

Sports

Automobile

Baby care

Computer

Mobile phone

Cosmetics

Monthly average *TCF for top 6 categories 2007Q1 - 2008Q3

14.8

12.1

9.6

8.1

6.8

30.0Automobile

Sports

Baby care

Computer

Cosmetics

Mobile phone

Monthly average *Posting Rate for top 6 categories 2007Q1 - 2008Q3

*Note: PR (Posting Rate) is one of the online Community passion indexes, measured by the average posting number per poster

TCF (Topic Creation Factor) is one of the online Community creativity indexes, measured by the ratio of new topics.

BABY CARE COMMUNITIES PASSION AND CREATIVITY CONSISTENTLY HIGH - PR and TCF rates among the highest of all categories

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2007Q1-2008Q3

13© 2008 CIC

0.65

0.70

0.75

0.80

0.85

2007Q1 2007Q2 2007Q3 2007Q4 2008Q1 2008Q2 2008Q3

TCF Trend for Baby Care 2007Q1 – 2008Q3

Hot topics in Baby Care IWOM

主题：预产期08年9月的姐妹进来分享幸福！

(PV: 232,698 reply: 6,015)Topic: if you are going to be a mum in Sept, join the discussion and share your happiness. link主题： 全职妈妈的一天及宝宝食谱（不断更新中）！

(PV: 87,855 reply: 874)Topic: A day of a full-time mother and the recipe for baby (updating continually)! link

主题: 悲剧啊，液态奶也有问题了 (PV: 90,844 reply: 1,336)

Topic: Unfortunately, liquid milk also has problems. link主题: 您如何对待国产奶粉？请选择 (PV: 33,849 reply: 1,277)Topic: What’s your attitude toward local powdered milk? Please vote. link

主题：秀宝贝:赢大奖得银币，开始投票! (PV: 15,572 reply: 537)Topic: Show your baby and win the prize. link主题：整箱的蒙牛牛奶，快来抢啊！(PV: 72,657 reply: 5,117)Topic: Answer and grab the floor to get a box of milk. link

Sharing

Influential events

Campaign & Promotion

TCF (monthly average)

*TCF (Topic Creation Factor) is one of the online Community creativity indexes, measured by the ratio of new topics.

WHAT’S DRIVING TOPIC CREATION AMONG PARENTS? - Sharing, influential events, online campaigns and promotional activities are the popular topics discussed by parents

Data source: CIC Cross Industry Study, 2007Q1-2008Q3

14© 2008 CIC

ABOUT CICCIC is the leading Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) research and consulting firm in China. Since 2004, CIC has pioneered the concept of Internet Word of Mouth (IWOM) that is redefining the relationship between brands and consumers. CIC coined the term Internet Word of Mouth and is the thought leader in utilizing it for strategy planning and application in marketing communications. CIC is committed to both providing objective third party strategic advice to clients and promoting the healthy development of the Internet Community in China. CIC’s research and discussion of IWOM’s impact and best practices can be found on company blogs, IWOM white papers and IWOM watch reports and through its IWOM roundtable events such as IWOM summit and IWOM classroom.

CIC offers customized research and consulting service to its stable of retainer clients through its expert IWOM analysts supported by proprietary Chinese language based text mining technology (patent pending), data processing technology and data visualization technology. CIC’s retainer relationships stretch over multiple years with multinational clients from Fortune 500 companies.

CIC’s continual development and evolution is driven by a unique, powerful and open mindset and learning culture which at its foundation continually seeks to understand how the Internet, and Internet Word of mouth, is redefining the relationships between brands and consumers.

For more information, please visit www.cicdata.com (CIC website), www.seeisee.com (CIC Company blog in Chinese) and www.seeisee.com/sam (CEO's company blog in English).

15© 2008 CIC

DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

• All collected messages were categorized and mined according to a library of terms (including Internet slang) representing companies, brands, products, and attributes customized for the unique linguistic environment of mainland China.

• The unit of buzz volume is based on single post (a message posted in online forum)

• All obviously “Irrelevant Messages” such as 灌水 (guan shui) were filtered out. Also, messages containing the characters that refer to something other than the intended object were filtered out. For example, “大众” the Chinese name of Volkswagen, when referring to “people,” and not the brand, was not counted.

• All the sample quotes in this white paper are selected from top BBS in China

Thank You

OUR BLOGS:www.seeisee.com (Chinese)www.seeisee.com/sam (English)

OUR WEBSITE:www.cicdata.com

CONTACT US:info@cicdata.com

This report is copyrighted material owned by CIC. Any improper use of this document or its content will be considered a violation of CIC IP copyright and CIC has the right to take legal action.

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的不当使用都将被视为对CIC知识产权的侵犯，CIC有权诉诸于法律。