Contrary to popular assumption, the older generation of internet users in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, are more active than the younger generation, according to a new research survey by Twinpine Networks, Africa’s first premium mobile advertising network. Nigeria has the largest online population in Africa with 45 million internet users. The study carried out by Twinpine Neworks was a comparative study taken from about twenty two thousand respondents which showed that internet users between the ages of 53 to 33 years (Generation X) were more active on the internet when matched against their counterparts aged 32 to 19 years of age (Generation Y). This figures however paints a different picture from the generally accepted idea that the internet is the medium of the younger generation.
Speaking about the reasearch findings, Eniola Moronfolu Research Lead at Twinpine said, “This knowledge is an eye opener and shows how trends in internet usage are taking shape among consumers”. This, she further added also means that marketing efforts can be more effectively targeted to reach the right demographics. Of the activities which topped the list in terms of frequency of use for Generation X, were the use of search engines such as Google for research; News on current affairs, lifestyle, entertainment and sports; and online shopping. According to the new research assessed by BusinessDay at the weekend, 50 percent more people between the ages of 53-33, regularly purchased goods and services online and 6 percent more of this demographic were more likely to share information on social media or lodge a complaint about a product/service via social media.
Probable factors for the increased usage by this age bracket include higher spending power not only in purchasing advanced mobile devices, but also to purchase bigger data bundles as well as goods and services online. Moronfolu noted that though the gap was still not very wide, the figures predict a trend of growth which would affect the way both advertisers and digital marketers approach targeting and segmentation of consumers based on the type of media they consume. Twinpine Networks runs a major mobile advertising network across Africa and carries out periodic research on internet usage across multiple platforms through the support of partners within and outside Nigeria.The survey covering various demographics across Nigeria.
