MXit has almost doubled the usage of Facebook, driven by the low penetration of computers and the high penetration of cellphones in the market, BMI-TechKnowledge found through its latest research study, The Digital Lifestyle Predictor.
The Digital Lifestyle Predictor looked into the digital lifestyles of South African consumers, with respondents from Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban.
Participants were from households with at least R8 000 household income, says BMI-T analyst Ryan Smit.
They were interviewed about their Internet activities, cellular activities, digital goods, and brand attitudes, to name a few, providing new depths of insight into consumer digital trends, he says.
The study has introduced a new classification method, the Digital Lifestyle Measure (DLM), which classifies consumer households into groups based on the extent of their digital lifestyles, he says.
"More than half of Instant Messaging (IM) users, in the 16-24 age bracket, use IM every day," says Smit.
Additionally, mobile IM has more than doubled in usage in the past 12 months, the majority of which is believed to be on the MXit platform, he says.
Results from the study have also shown that the percentage of registered Facebook users decreases with age, except for the oldest age group (45 and over), who have also taken to the application, he says.
"However, younger users are almost three times more likely to access the site daily," adds Smit.
According to Smit, consumers are two to three times more likely to use Facebook if they have Internet at home. However, around 40% of Facebook users access social networking sites like Facebook on their cellphones, he says.
The study also revealed that the higher the consumer's DLM, the earlier they adopted Facebook. BMI-T also found that, in many instances, the digital lifestyle of consumers has no relationship to household income, but a very strong relationship with DLM.
Other factors, such as age and household income, did not have the same impact on early adoption, says Smit.
"Facebook has become a mass adopted application and not just for the high-tech consumers. Twelve percent of low-tech DLM 1 consumers have registered on Facebook, which can be contrasted to the 2% of DLM 1 consumers that have Internet access at home," he says.
The Digital Lifestyle Predictor Study is an ongoing study, with multiple waves of research being conducted each year.
Related Stories:
BMI-T predicts broadband revolution
Share
