Mobile phones are the driving force that influence Asian youth says a massive new survey conducted in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
Personal ownership of mobiles has increased from 60% in 2008 to 64% in 2010 among this young population surveyed, said the global market research firm Synovate.
A total sample of 12,302 youth was surveyed by face to face interviews and online. Respondents ranged from eight to 24 years old.
Susanna Lam, Research Director of Synovate in Hong Kong said she is excited about the trends among young Asians.
“We are uncovering the driving forces that influence Asia’s youth,” she said.
“This year, we see that the mobile phone is simply inseparable from its owner. More youth across a number of Asia markets now own a mobile compared to 2008. With one in five (18%) young Asian planning to use their mobile even more often, these findings show the great potential of this medium.”
The study showed that 64 percent of young Asians surveyed own a mobile phone. Hong Kong is leading the pack with 87% of youth possessing this multifunctional extension of themselves, followed by 85% of Singaporean and Korean youth.
When looking at the results by age segments, 93% of youth between age 12 to 14 in Hong Kong and Singapore own a mobile phone, above the regional average of 47%.
Explains Lam: “Age 12 to 14 is when most youth enter secondary schools. They are gaining independence, widening their peer group, and likely needing to travel further from home to attend school so there is a need to still keep in touch with family and friends throughout the day, or their family wants a way to keep track of them. There are so many reasons for needing a mobile phone.
“Family members for this age group living in affluent markets like Hong Kong and Singapore can afford a second, third, or more mobiles for the family. Coupled with cheaper mobile phone plans available in these markets, there is every reason for youth to have a mobile. Interestingly, it also seems that, for youth in these markets, the giving of a mobile phone is a signature of growing up in the world.”
Among youth surveyed who own a mobile in Asia, the average number of contacts on their mobile is 77 people, which is more than the number of their instant messaging buddies (74 people) and email contacts (55 people).
Topping the chart with the most contacts on their mobile phones are Indonesians (131 contacts), Singaporeans (108 contacts) and Filipinos (102 contacts).
“Talking is still a very important aspect for this group of digitally savvy online youth. For example, second to in-person contact, youth in Hong Kong use mobile phone calls to stay in touch with those most important to them.
“New to this year’s Young Asians survey, we found that youth ranked family as most important in their lives (83% regionally, 79% in Hong Kong), followed by health (52% regionally, 57% in Hong Kong) then friends (39% regionally, 53% in Hong Kong). The method that Hong Kong youth chose to stay in touch with family and friends locally is by mobile phone call, more so than SMS, instant messaging, and social networking. Mobiles keep them connected to life and everyone around them,” says Lam.
Listening to music, playing games and taking photos are just some of the activities that youth turn to their mobile phone to offer. Among Asian youth who own a mobile phone, about half perform the above activities on their mobile. One in five (21%) also uses this device to record video.
In Hong Kong, the most popular mobile phone activities over the past 7 days are listening to music (59%), SMS (58%), taking pictures (51%), and playing games (46%).
“The spontaneity and active lifestyles of youth means that mobiles are always helping them to live life to the fullest,” said Lam.
Among mobile phone owners, twenty percent of youth surveyed across Asia use their mobile to surf the Internet, 17% engage in instant messaging, and 15% visit and update their profiles on social networking sites.
Top groups regionally which show exceptional online activities through mobile are youth in China and Singapore. They are the top two markets where youth use their mobile to surf the Internet (44% China, 24% Singapore), send/ receive instant messages (34% China, 23% Singapore), and email (19% China, 16% Singapore).
Youth surveyed in Hong Kong show lower levels of mobile online activities compared to these top groups but they do go online with it: Fifteen percent surveyed surf the Internet and 12% visit and update their profiles on social networking sites using their mobile.
Steve Garton, Executive Director of Media Research for Synovate said: “Once, when we considered the impact of the Internet and the hot topic of social media, we thought of access through the computer. Now we have friends and social networks in the palm of our hands.
“With increasing ownership of smart phones and availability of infrastructure for mobile Internet connectivity, we foresee more and more youth accessing all that the Internet offers through their mobile. It’s on the go and so convenient.”
While 22% of Hong Kong youth age 15 to 24 indicated they would rather pay a higher price to avoid getting ads on pay TV (compared to 36% regionally), one in three (30%) Hong Kong youth (regionally 29%) doesn’t mind receiving or responding to ads on their mobile phones in return for getting paid/ incentivised.
A further 24% indicated they would like to receive more ads on their mobile even with no incentives involved, which is similar to the regional average, showing their willingness to receive more information through this medium.
“This shows the opportunities here and now for mobile marketing. Youth in Asia are looking to receive the latest information to wow their peers, so reaching them through mobile is the most immediate way to gain their attention,” said Garton.