Mainland luxury Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly open to shopping for, and finding information about, luxury brands online with news portals.

Weibo is one of the most popular sources for information, according to the results of a survey released November 28 by PR group Ruder Finn Asia.

The survey was conducted among 1057 Mainland Chinese luxury shoppers by Ruder Finn Asia as part of its China Luxury Forecast.

The survey found that the internet is changing the way Chinese consumers search for product information and buy luxury goods.

This digital trend is characterized by an increased willingness among the post-1980 generation to shop for luxury products on the internet with 35 percent of respondents stating that they “currently shop for luxury products online.”

This increased willingness to shop online is also changing the way Chinese shoppers search for information about luxury products.

While brands’ official websites remain the most popular source of product information, other types of sites were growing in importance.

Respondents ranked vertical websites (websites that focus on a specific industry) as the second most preferred source of product information, followed by ‘news portals’.

Microblogging site Weibo is also growing in importance as a source of luxury product information being ranked the fourth most ‘preferred source of product information.’

A 2010 Euromonitor report on trends among Chinese consumers through 2020 also predicts that the Chinese luxury market, which is already bigger than that of the USA, will continue to grow as the number of Chinese with a disposable income above US$10,000 quadruples to reach an estimated 222 million households by 2020.