Global ‘Digital Life’ study by TNS reveals major changes in online behaviour

The largest ever global research project into people’s online activities and behaviour – Digital Life – was launched yesterday by custom research agency TNS. Covering nearly 90 per cent of the world’s online population through 50,000 interviews with consumers in 46 countries, the study reveals major changes in the world’s online behaviour.

The study’s findings include:

• Online is now the media of choice globally.

• Mature markets are being left behind online as emerging markets become more active.

• Increase in mobile use as consumers seek greater access to social networking on the go.

Core data from the study is publicly available via an interactive website – http://discoverdigitallife.com/.

“This study covers more than twice as many markets as any other digitalresearch project conducted to date.” said TNS executive director ofdigital research, Jonathan Sinton. “It is the first truly globalresearch into online activities, including all the key emerging marketsof the BRICs and many of the ‘Next 11’.

“We have researchedbeyond basic behaviour to provide detailed data into attitudes andemotional drivers of that behaviour, to make this study the benchmarkfor information on digital consumer behaviour,” Sinton said.

Among the key findings of the study are:

•Globally, people who have online access have digital sources as theirnumber one media channel. 61% of online users use the internet dailyagainst 54% for TV, 36% for radio and 32% for newspapers.

InAustralia, 63% of online users use the internet daily against 68% forTV, 48% for radio and 22% for newspapers. Data available for allcountries and regions upon request.

• Online consumers inrapid growth markets have overtaken mature markets in terms of engagingwith digital activities. When looking at behaviour online, rapid growthmarkets such as Egypt (56%) and China (54%) have much higher levels ofdigital engagement than mature markets such as Japan (20%), Denmark(25%) or Finland (26%). This is despite mature markets usually having amore advanced internet infrastructure.

In Australia, digitalengagement is lower than the global average, but higher than most othermature markets (with 35% ‘highly engaged’* and 51% with lowengagement), apart from the US (43% highly engaged) and the UK (43%highly engaged).

• Activities such as blogging and socialnetworking are gaining momentum at huge speed in rapid growth markets.The research shows four out of five online users in China (88%) andover half of those in Brazil (51%) have written their own blog or forumentry, compared to only 32% in the US. The internet has also become thedefault option for photo sharing among online users in rapid growthmarkets, particularly in Asia. The number of online consumers who haveever uploaded photos to social networks or photo sharing sites is highin developing Asia, whilst developed markets are more conservative.

InAustralia, only 33% have ever written a blog and 12% are frequent (atlease several times a week) bloggers. Sixty-one per cent have uploadedphotos to social networking sites.

Growth in socialnetworking has been fuelled by the transition from PC to mobile. Mobileusers spend on average 3.1 hours per week on social networking sitescompared to just 2.2 hours emailing (via their mobile device). Thedrive to mobile is driven by the increased need for instantgratification and the ability of social networks to offer multiplemessaging formats, including the instant message or update function.When looking at how the digital landscape will change in the future,research shows that consumers expect their use of social networking onmobiles to increase more than use through PC. In the US, for example, aquarter (26%) of online consumers expect their use of social networkingon a PC to increase in the next 12 months compared to over a third(36%) who will be looking to their mobile to increase usage.

InAustralia, the figures are 26% and 44% respectively, indicating a highdesire to social network while on the go. Via a PC, Australians spend4.1 hours social networking and 4.5 hours on email per week, while viamobile we spend 2.6 hours social networking and 2.2 hours emailing perweek.

Goodbye email, hello social networking

Anotherfinding was that online consumers are, on average, spending more timeon social networking sites than, despite the former only becomingmainstream in many markets over the last few years. In rapid growthmarkets such as Latin America, the Middle East and China, the averagetime spent, per week, on social networking is 5.2 hours compared toonly 4 hours on email. Online consumers in mature markets remain morereliant on email, spending 5.1 hours checking their inboxes compared tojust 3.8 hours on social networking. The heaviest user of socialnetworking is Malaysia (9 hours per week).

Australians spend 6.7 hours a week social networking.

Who is the most gregarious online?

Whenit comes to who has more friends, online consumers in Malaysia top thelist with an average of 233 friends in their social network. The leastsocial are the Japanese with just 29 friends. Surprisingly, Chineseconsumers only have an average of 68 friends in their networks despitebeing heavy users of social networking sites, indicating a culture thatembraces fewer but closer friendships.

Most popular Number of friends online     Least popular Number of friends online

– Malaysia 233                                                 – Japan 29

– Brazil 231                                                       – Tanzania 38

– Norway 217                                                   – South Korea 50

Australians have an average of 144 friends on social networks.

What does it mean for Australians and digital marketing?

Accordingto Sinton: “The internet is a huge part of life in the 21st century buthow it affects our lives varies depending upon where in the world youlive. We’ve seen that in mature markets where people have been onlinefor years and where access is ubiquitous, the internet has alreadybecome a commoditised item that consumers take for granted. However, inrapid growth markets that have seen recent, sustained investment ininfrastructure, users are embracing these new channels in much moreactive ways. The digital world is transforming how they live, developand interact and online consumers in these markets are leaving those inthe developed world behind in terms of being active online and engagingin new forms of communications.

“Marketers looking to connectwith consumers online need to remember people are not just clicks orpage views; they have attitudes, needs and emotions that drive theironline behaviour. In order to build deeper connections with consumersand optimise digital strategies, marketers need to understand whatmotivates people online.

“Without this understanding and gooddigital strategy, organisations can do more harm than good whenexecuting digital marketing efforts. Many are launching sm
arterwebsites, experimenting with advertising, blogging, tweeting andFacebooking in an effort to tick their online strategy boxes, but mostdon’t know enough about how their consumers are using digital channels.The online audience is highly fragmented. To really connect withconsumers, you need to understand the digital landscape and build yourstrategy around that,” he said.