The latest Young Asians survey by global market research firm Synovate shows the lives of Asia's youth revolve around their mobile phones from sunrise to sunset and on into the night. Personal ownership of mobiles has increased from 60 per cent in 2008 to 64 per cent 2010 among the young population surveyed.
Thailand youngsters are the top chatterboxes across Asia. They spend 1.7 hours a day talking on their mobiles, above the regional average of 49 minutes. They are also the top group across Asia in utilising their mobiles for all they offer. Among mobile phone owners, 67 per cent listen to music on it (regional average 51 per cent), 65 per cent take pictures with the mobile-cam (regional average 47 per cent), 47 per cent listen to the radio (regionally 23 per cent) and one in three (32 per cent record video with it (regionally 21 per cent).
This 5 th Synovate Young Asians study provides an in-depth look at the lifestyles, habits, product ownership and media consumption of youth across Asia. Respondents ranged from 8 to 24 years old across 11 markets in Asia: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. A total of 12,302 youth were surveyed via face-to-face interviews and online during the second quarter of this year.
"We are excited about the trends we're seeing in young Asians," said Rattaya Kulpradith, director of Synovate in Thailand. "This year, we see that the mobile phone is simply inseparable from its owner. It is the primary form of communication among Thai teens, though it is not only a device for talking anymore. The mobile phone is also an entertainment unit."
"New to this year's Young Asians survey, we found that young people ranked family as most important in their lives (83 per cent regionally, 93 per cent in Thailand), followed by friends and health (45 per cent and 44 per cent respectively). Thai youth choose to use mobile phone calls as a key channel to stay in touch with family closest to them, particularly their parents (70 per cent), showing the importance of the mobile," Rattaya added.
Social networking is another channel playing an increasingly important role in the lives of Thai youngsters. Thai youth have many more friends on their social networks - 211 - than all Asian youth, who average 140 contacts. The mobile phone is the main communication tool with family and a close circle of friends, while social networking is used for reaching a broader group of contacts.
The top online activities that Thai youth participated in over the previous seven days were listening to music (56 per cent), searching for information (51 per cent) and playing online games (49 per cent). They also own more gadgets compared to the regional average, such as personal mobile phones (72 per of youth in Thailand own one with a regional average of 64 per cent), desk-top computers (42 per cent in Thailand and 32 per cent in the region) and laptop computers 18 per cent for both groups.
Steve Britton, managing director of Synovate in Thailand, said "Before, 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 literally in the palms 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 mobiles. It's on the go and so convenient."
Britton said: "One in four (23 per cent) of Thai youngsters indicated they could not live without their mobiles, and 26 per cent said they couldn't live without their televisions. In addition, with 27 per cent of Thai youth saying they would love to receive or respond to ads on their mobile phones in return for getting paid, or "incentivised". A further 31 per cent said they would like to receive more ads on their mobiles even with no incentives involved.
This truly shows the great opportunities available for mobile marketing. Youth in Asia are looking to receive the latest information to wow their peers. Reaching them through their mobiles is the most immediate way to gain their attention."