Singapore is the nation most motivated to go online by entertainment; The Portuguese the most motivated by information and the Chinese by self-expression and transaction, according to new research by global media agency network Mindshare. These are just some of the findings published this week in a report entitled, Are you Digitally Normal? The 2013 […]
Singapore is the nation most motivated to go online by entertainment; The Portuguese the most motivated by information and the Chinese by self-expression and transaction, according to new research by global media agency network Mindshare.
These are just some of the findings published this week in a report entitled, Are you Digitally Normal? The 2013 Mindshare Digital Normalness Index (MDNI) challenges some of the world’s widest held preconceptions about the motivations for the use of digital media by 33 nations across the globe, from Australia to the US – helping to reveal what really drives us to go online and in which ‘mode’ we are in when we are there.
Looking at the motivation (self –expression / entertainment / information gathering / transacting) behind online behaviour, matched against a ‘normal’ benchmark created by looking at the quality of digital infrastructure (mobile and broadband) available in the country, Mindshare has revealed:
• The US is among the least motivated (31st) for using digital media for self-expression, being beaten by neighbour Canada at 17th. Instead, things traditionally associated with self-expression (e.g. blogging) are driven by a desire to be entertained.
• South Korea, one of the most advanced digital nations in the world, lays only 23rd globally when it comes to being motivated to search for information, whilst scoring highly on all other motivations.
• The UK is below ‘normal’ in its motivation to use digital communications across the four areas (17th) when compared to the quality of its infrastructure, as are the USA (20th) and Japan (28th)
• The BRIC countries are all above ‘normal’ in their use of digital communications across the four motivational areas when compared to the quality of their infrastructure (Brazil 14th, Russia 12th, India 5th, China 1st)
• Chile is the most advanced (ahead of ‘normal’) Latin American country (11th) beating Brazil (14th), Venezuela (18th), Colombia (19th), Mexico (21st), Peru (26th) and Argentina (29th)
• Portugal is the most advanced European country (2nd), beating Sweden (6th), Spain (9th), Poland (10th), Germany (13th) and the UK (17th)
Of the 33 countries, only 14 were above ‘normal’ in their use of digital communications across the four motivation areas when compared to the quality of their infrastructure – leaving the rest, which includes the UK, US, Australia and Japan lagging behind ‘normal’.
Norm Johnston, Global Digital Leader at Mindshare said: ‘This new research is a fresh way of looking at online national audiences and shows the importance of understanding that every group is motivated by different reasons when they go online – and when in these different ‘modes’ they need to be communicated with in bespoke ways, making the use of Adaptive Marketing techniques vital. The research also challenges our pre-conceptions; for example the USA is the world’s richest nation, but with people who are less motivated to go online for transaction (26th) than almost every other nation on the planet!”
Methodology:
1. The research focuses on the motivation of online consumers falling into four areas (self –expression / entertainment / information gathering / transacting). A sample of 33,000 respondents were questioned about whether, and how often, they undertook a range of online behaviours, from blogging to online banking. Statistical analysis was then used to group these behaviours by country and by motivation.
2. In parallel an ‘infrastructure score’ was created for each country by looking at internet availability and the average speed of connection.
3. The two ‘scores’ were then cross-referenced, producing a trendline to map the relationship between the two. This line demonstrated what was typical at any given level of infrastructure, and showed whether a country’s motivation score was above or below ‘normal’ based on the available infrastructure.
Source: www.mindshare.com
