According to our survey in February on mobile usage and media consumption, there is an increasing dependency on technology and a mobile first approach by youth consumers in Africa. This trend is being driven by African millennials with Africa having the highest youth population in the world. African millennials are increasingly using social media sites as tools for communication and as their first source for news and information.

Although extensive research on media and consumer trends in Africa shows a growing transition of consumers and audiences away from traditional media towards online media, television remains a highly significant contributor to consumer spending.

In a white paper presented at last year’s PAMRO conference for Media & Media Researchers in Africa, Waithera Kabiru the Digital Marketing Manager, Coca Cola Southern and East Africa posed the following questions to marketers; why is media investment not in line with the activity that is going on online? If African consumers are spending much more time online versus print or even TV, why is there still an under-investment in online channels?

In June 2017, GeoPoll sought to better understand how youth consumers are interacting with the advertising they encounter from the multiple sources of media consumed daily. We interviewed 3,710 youth aged between 15-35 years old in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa with the aim of determining the specific media platforms they consumed the ads from and how online advertising is fairing against above the line advertising media namely TV, radio and print,  in terms of reach and effectiveness.The insights from this survey, though not representative of the total population in these countries, provides valuable insight into the consumption of advertising by youth and the rise of digital advertising’s reach.

Media Consumption and Frequency
According to the survey, the top three most consumed forms of media on a daily basis are the internet (46%), TV (25%) and radio (24%) with the internet having the highest daily usage rating of 7.09 points.  

Today’s youth has become more outspoken about their buying experiences and interactions with brands before, during and after purchasing goods and services. The age of the second screen phenomenon in which these young consumers are more likely to be on their smartphone as they watch TV, encounter outdoor media or even as they listen to the radio. This is due to the increased growth in smartphone in usage as compared to other media forms. Digital ads are the most encountered advertising media consumed mostly through smartphones.

According to the poll, those who encountered advertisements reacted by either buying the product, going online to seek more information or going on social media to share their thoughts and opinion on the ads.

Unlike the pre-internet era, youth no longer have to wait until the next time they are out shopping to get more information about a new product or service. The information seeking phase of the consumer buying process is shorter thanks to the internet. This new channel has enabled consumers to easily search for, inquire about or discuss the product or service from whichever device is closest to them when encountering an advertisement.

Information search is crucial to consumers who encounter ads from various sources. 22% of respondents indicated that they went online to read up on the product/service they saw in an ad. Social media is increasingly becoming a popular platform for consumers to discuss and engage with brands.  In fact, 8% of respondents also indicated that they had used their social channels to speak about an ad with 15% reaching out and engaging the brands in the ads directly on their online channels.

Youth, Brands and Digital Advertising

As the internet continues to enjoy increased usage among the surveyed age group, there is a need for businesses to seek deeper insights on their marketing strategy around this demographic. Actions such as online information gathering on brands and social media interactions about and to brands continue to see a surge in growth as consumers who encounter brand advertisements seek to be better informed.

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*This GeoPoll rapid survey was conducted in June among 3,710 youth in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Tanzania using the GeoPoll Mobile application. 

The post The Rise of Digital Advertisement Consumption Among Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa appeared first on GeoPoll.

GeoPoll found that despite an active and engaged youth, youth question the accountability of their governments and the role in which they can take as political participants. They do, however, identify and value governance—whether it manifests in service delivery, free speech, or voting.

Critical to understanding youth participation in civic and political processes, GeoPoll wanted to know how well youth trust the systems designed to facilitate these very processes. When asked to identify the biggest failure of the current government, nearly half of all participants identified corruption. This was identified as the primary concern in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda; and the second biggest issue in Nigeria and South Africa, where respondents chose unemployment as a larger concern.

When further asked if the government represents the interest of one’s community, only one-third of respondents said “no” across all countries. Ghanaian respondents responded the most positively with 79 percent saying “yes.” Results were consistent across demographic groups with both men (64 percent) and women (62 percent) saying “yes” at high rates. Similar rates were found among subsets of age brackets among youth.

Despite these concerns, youth are civically active—exercising free speech and actively participating in democratic processes. Compared to other media sources, the top choice for the daily news source for youth respondents was social media (33 percent), aside from Kenya and Ghana where TV and Radio were more popular. Two-thirds of respondents noted that they post political opinions and viewpoints on social media.

Combining all 5 countries, 90 percent stated they were registered to vote and 71 percent noted that they voted in both the last national and local elections. Sixty percent noted they are affiliated with a specific political party, with 75 percent in South Africa.

Youth are optimistic about the role they can plan in their communities and in their government. More than 60 percent of youth polled are engaged in voluntary community service. The same proportion of respondents identified working with others in their community to help solve an issue. When asked about sentiments around the future of Africa depending on youth, 76 percent strongly agreed followed by another 14 percent who somewhat agreed.

They identify positive developments by their government: 27 percent of respondents reported that they consider infrastructure improvement among the top government achievements and another 20 percent reported improvements in education. Approximately 37 percent of respondents in Kenya and 32 percent

in Uganda reported that they considered infrastructure improvements an achievement, more than twice the other three countries.

Africa’s youth will play an increasing role in governance and civic participation. Identifying their perceptions and the best means to engage youth are critical steps to understanding the impact they can and will make in the future.

About GeoPoll Straw Polls

GeoPoll is the world’s largest real-time mobile survey platform, reaching a growing network of more than 320 million users in 30 countries worldwide on a deeply granular level and at unprecedented scale. Through partnerships with telecom providers—and a multimodal platform powered by text, voice and web-based communications—GeoPoll enables organizations to gather quick, accurate and in-depth insights on anything from consumer preferences to access to basic government services.

GeoPoll leverages its platform to engage mobile users through ad hoc “straw polls” that provide insights into real-time sentiments of current events. This GeoPoll rapid survey was conducted in March 2017 among 3,300 youth in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria using the GeoPoll mobile application.

Straw Poll Specs

• Countries surveyed: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda
• Language: English
• Mode: SMS, GeoPoll App
• Questionnaire length: 16 questions
• Median survey completion time: 20 minutes
• Sampling frame and approach: men and women, aged 15-34, drawn from GeoPoll’s user database based on web recruitment
• Total sample size: 3,300
• Fieldwork duration: 2 days

Photo credits: EPA/Nic Bothma

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