After earning the title of “Facebook Capital of the World,” the Philippines can now boast one other web accolade: probably the most lively online country in Southeast Asia.
This assessment is predicated on key findings from the newest report by Limelight Networks Inc., a worldwide digital content delivery company, titled The State of the User Experience – South East Asia.
The 2017 study, conducted by an independent firm, was a part of the corporate’s annual research series that explores consumer perceptions and behaviors regarding online activities. It surveyed 1,600 consumers randomly chosen from 4 Southeast Asian countries: Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines.
The study found that Filipinos ranked first when it got here to the variety of hours spent online outside of labor: 47 percent of those surveyed within the Philippines said they spent at the least 16 hours per week online. Malaysia got here in second at 42 percent.
This is despite the Philippines having certainly one of the slowest web connections on this planet, which is as a result of plenty of aspects, says Jaheer Abbas, regional director for Southeast Asia and ANZ at Limelight Networks. “The high literacy rate among the population and a higher percentage of the population that is tech-savvy compared to other regions, [which results in] “good reception to newer forms of content and platforms on the internet,” he says.
Abbas adds: “Given the global dispersion of the Filipino population, there is likely a great need for social contact.”
Across the region, nevertheless, the gadget of selection is similar: the smartphone. That means just one thing for brands looking to achieve more of their online consumers, says Abbas: “Companies can plan their marketing strategy by building apps for mobile devices and providing a great user experience on those devices.”
Social media platforms comparable to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram also remain the region’s favorite sites, especially amongst millennials, the report said. Watching online videos ranked second as the favourite web activity in Southeast Asia, followed by reading news, trying to find products, shopping, watching live streams and gaming.
The study found that social media and shopping appear to go hand in hand for most individuals within the region, with consumers researching what they consider certain products through family, friends and other contacts. (Singapore is an exception, with nearly all of the population using social media more to search out online coupons than shopping suggestions.)
Given the highly connected nature of many of the region, Southeast Asian consumers also expect only one of the best from the sites they visit. “Consumers in the region expect site performance to be consistent across all devices they use to access the internet,” the report says. “However, more consumers expect access to be faster on a mobile device than on a desktop or laptop. This is consistent with the dominance of smartphones for accessing the internet in the region.”
In this regard, the study also found that almost all within the region will abandon a site if it takes too long to load. The Philippines is an exception, nevertheless: “Filipinos are more tolerant and patient if a site loads a little slower. On average, users in the Philippines are willing to wait four to five seconds longer than users in other Southeast Asian countries,” Abbas says.
However, the study also found that the region as an entire is forgiving and can give a poorly performing website one other probability.
A more personalized experience is one other expectation that Southeast Asian online consumers have from their favorite sites. “With consumers’ preference for ‘fresh and updated’ content… consumers want a personalized online experience,” says the report, which finds 67% of the population saying they need an internet site to recollect they’ve been there before and subsequently recommend content based on their previous visits.
Ultimately, with the report’s findings on the dominance of social media platforms amongst Southeast Asian online consumers, “brands and businesses can leverage this information to spend their marketing budgets appropriately and increase customer acquisition rates,” Abbas says.
“The study’s findings could also help content owners create services — videos, news, games — that online users can access while remaining on the social media platforms they are so accustomed to,” he added.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Published in Dawn, June 21, 2017
