SINGAPORE: A new survey has found that two-third Asian women use the Internet to shop for themselves and their children and an even bigger number going online to research purchases and talk about them.
The study showed that mothers ultimately hold the purse-strings in the region, influencing purchasing decisions ranging from household staples to big-ticket items such as cars. And their resource of choice to make these purchases is the Internet, with 58 per cent saying they used online networks and online customer reviews before actually buying.
"Moms have become the one-stop-shop for family purchases, and brands need to be aware of this influence," Kenneth Andrew, managing director of Microsoft Advertising Greater Asia Pacific which conducted the study, told reporters.
"Mothers are becoming increasingly digitally savvy, and conversely, much more cynical of advertising".
The survey was based on interviews with about 3,000 mothers in eight markets -- China, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. The respondents ranged from pregnant women to mothers with teenage children.
On an average, the survey found that Asian mothers spend 17 hours a week online, and the sites they visited ranged from those offering media, such as music and video download sites, to social networks, to sites specifically catered to children.
But largely, the online activities of mothers depended on the age of their children, with expectant women relying on sites that allow them to interact with other mothers, while those with older children rely on the web for email and searches.
The research was intended to help advertisers focus on a demographic that had been so far neglected in Asia, Andrew said.
"There is an opportunity for mothers to become an unofficial brand ambassador, as they love to share their views and are very influential," he said.
Comments
0 comment