China's Youth and the Internet

Even the savviest marketers are amazed at how deeply China's new generation is engaged with the internet. Americans tend to have a relatively "functional" relationship with the web -- finding cheap flights, researching medical conditions, day trading and so on. On the other hand, Chinese netizens, particularly logged-on youth, are emotionally dependent on -- just stopping short of addiction -- virtual buzz. Consider the following findings uncovered in a recent IAC/JWT survey on American vs. mainland young digital "mavens":