Filipinos becoming net savvy — survey

MANILA, Philippines — Lives of Filipinos revolve around many forms of media and entertainment with television still remains at the top of the list although Internet has been continuously increasing, survey results showed.

According to the Media Atlas Philippines study conducted by global research company Synovate, television still remains at the top of the list in terms of reach regardless of age, gender, location and social class.

Internet access, however, has been continuously increasing, from 32% in 2007 to 46% of urban Filipinos reporting to have accessed the Internet from any location within the past 7 days. This increase has been consistent across different regions, social classes and age groups, with a marked increase among the 15 to 24 years old from 57% last year to 71% this year, the survey said.

“Based on these figures and on the resulting psycho-graphic analysis done on the data, Internet may be considered a real challenge to print and radio as an advertising medium, with 25% of the respondents finding it an effective medium for advertisements compared to the leading medium ‘TV’ with 37%,” says Carole Sarthou, Managing Director of Synovate in the Philippines.

Concurrently, ownership of mobile phones with Internet has tripled since 2007, from 12% to 42%. Next to TV, 27% and 21% of the respondents consider the mobile phone as the medium they plan to use more often and cannot live without, respectively.

There has also been an uptrend for Internet access in-home. This is supported by the fact that ownership of computers has been on the rise over the past years.

Newspapers remain a firm favorite, with 30% of the population reading one or more local language or English titles. Close to one quarter (22%) read magazines.

“Print readers tend to be more upscale, offering good targeting opportunities to advertisers,” comments Steve Garton, Executive Director – Media, Synovate. “English dailies and magazines offer their highest reach into the important Greater Manila Area where higher socio-targets are at their most concentrated.” This is not to discount, however, the importance of print, particularly vernacular titles, to the broader and lower income segments.

In terms of other lifestyle characteristics, visiting a sari-sari store remains the first choice for 88% of Filipinos in the past month, followed by seven in ten going to pharmacies / drug stores and wet markets.

“Though going shopping and eating out appear to be an established lifestyle with six out of ten Filipinos visiting convenience stores, department stores and malls, supermarkets and fast food outlets in the past month,” said Sarthou, “notable downward trends on incidence of visits to some of these places can be reflective of the current economic conditions.”

However, there is plenty of scope ahead for some marketers, notably in the financial services. Overall, the current figure for having life insurance is 15%, whilst 11% have a credit card rising to 55% and 47% for the upper class, respectively.

“With 73% of Filipinos saying that they are taking steps to secure their retirement, financial institutions can play a key role in helping people make this happen,” said Garton. –BERNIE CAHILES-MAGKILAT, Manila Bulletin