Thais spend average 17hrs online per week
Thai digital consumers spend average 17 hours per week online, thanks to rapid high-speed internet access and WiFi as well as increasing ownership of mobile connected devices, according to the inaugural Nielsen Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report.
Time spent online surpasses time spent on traditional media such as television, radio or print.
Examining the digital media habits and attitudes, the report revealed that Thailand digital consumers spend almost three quarters (72 per cent), engage in multi-media usage, simultaneously watching TV and using the internet. It also showed that mobile ownership in Thailand is approaching saturation with only seven percent of local digital consumers not having a mobile phone.
An increasing number of Thai consumers are getting online via internet capable mobile devices with close to eight in ten Thai digital consumers (77 per cent) having used their mobile phone to access the internet. Ownership of internet-capable devices, particularly smartphones is expected to increase in the year ahead, and 22 per cent of the digital population who don't currently use a smartphone indicate they intend to acquire one in the next twelve months.
“The increasing availability and up-take of internet-capable devices is driving usage of digital media in Thailand and bringing about considerable changes in the way media is consumed, in particular fuelling media multi tasking behaviours in consumers,” notes Melanie Ingrey, Nielsen's APMEA Region Research Director.
Demand for Internet-accessible devices is expected to surge in the next 12 months, as 42 per cent of digital consumers in Thailand planning to purchase a 3DTV within the next year and 41 percent considering purchasing a tablet computer.
On the behavioural front, social media platforms are becoming increasingly popular amongst Thai digital consumers, with more than half of all digital consumers in Thailand (56 per cent) actively maintaining a Facebook profile.
Eighty five percent of all digital consumers in Thailand now connect with brands and organisations via social media whilst nine in ten digital (90 per cent) read other peoples' opinions about brands and products online and 78 per cent have posted their own comments or reviews.
“Social media platforms offer myriad opportunities for organisations to engage with consumers, and social media is becoming an increasingly critical means of influencing consumer decision making,” Ingrey emphasised. “As Thai digital consumers are becoming more familiar and comfortable usingsocial media, their level of participation is also increasing. A significant proportion of consumers visit online discussion forums at least monthly and many are now beginning to take an active role in these online discussions, voicing their opinions and sharing their experiences about brands,
products or services.”
