A recent survey done by Touchmedia, China’s largest in-taxi media company, finds about 80 percent of people in five major Chinese cities plan to watch London Olympics this summer.
The survey asked 366,329 people on Touchmedia screens in taxis in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou, how they thought the Olympics would affect them.
A remarkable 78.6 percent are planning to watch the Olympics on TV. More than a fifth of people (21 percent) are planning to watch the whole Olympics. Given the seven hour time delay and the number of night finals, that means many a sleepless night and subsequent sick day from work.
Another 53 percent will watch part of the highlights and 14 percent actually see all the noise, advertising and fun around the Olympics as being just as entertaining as the main event. Only 21.4 percent plan to watch none at all.
Despite the soft economic situation, this could be a great Game for the advertisers and for business in general. A very high 59 percent of people expect to spend more this summer because of the Olympics. And 14.4 percent expect it to be a lot more. The most popular choices include souvenirs and special editions, Olympics watching with friends at bars and restaurants, even just buying and consuming more newspapers, magazines and the like.
One in eight (12 percent) would also like to think there is at least a chance that they will fly to the Olympics.