KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 ― The average smartphone user in Malaysia spends about three hours a day on their devices, consuming data of about 323MB each time, according to findings of a study released by mobile marketing and commerce data platform Vserv.
Vserv’s Smartphone User Persona Report (SUPR) 2015, which was based on the study conducted by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights, also found that the majority of users spent this time on social media and on chats, while others used their phones for other purposes.
“Most usage focused on social and chat applications (40 per cent of users), entertainment in the form of gaming applications, video and media (36 per cent) and utility applications like voice call, keylock functions and memory manager (15 per cent),” Vserv said in a statement accompanying the findings of the study.
The survey, which studied mobile data use from 1,244 respondents over three months, said according to consumption patterns, there are six different categories of users.
Those in the “data guzzlers” category make up the majority 20 per cent, it said, with these users, who are mostly males between 18 and 24 years, spending about 182 minutes a day on surfing and gaming applications.
The study also categorised 16 per cent of users as “power users”, or those who spend a staggering 219 minutes daily using a variety of applications on their smartphones. The majority of these users are females aged between 18 and 24 years, it said.
“Dabblers”, on the other hand, or those who rarely use their phones to access online applications or surf the Internet, make up 19 per cent of users. Those in this category are also mostly male, aged between 25 and 30 years, and spend an estimated 171 minutes a day on their phones.
“App junkies” (17 per cent) are those who use their phones mostly for gaming and music applications. According to the study, those in this category are mostly male, aged between 31 and 35 years, spend about 189 minutes a day on their phones and use an average 11.1 applications a month.
The remaining categories are “utilitarians” (15 per cent) who are users who prioritise utility applications like voice calls, news and emails, and “social stars” (13 per cent), who are users who use their phones mostly for chats.
“Utilitarians” are mostly men aged 36 and above who spend 177 minutes a day on their phones.
“Social stars”, on the other hand, are mostly women between 25 and 30 years who spend 168 minutes a day on their phones.
“Marketers now need to prioritise the spread of a more relevant message which can enrich the experience of the user. They need a strategy that is focused on the persona and objective of the user.
“As the pioneer in the field of smart data, Vserv has consistently allowed marketers to benefit on targeting their audience based on smart data and not just user demographics,” Pranab Punj, Vserv's vice-president in charge of global marketing, said in the release.
