South Africans who use Facebook are deeply engaged with the service from the moment they wake up until they go to sleep at night, according to research carried out by Ipsos.
Among those surveyed, 40% check Facebook before getting out of bed and 36% check Facebook just before going to sleep.
The study also found that Facebook is widely used for “second screen” activity while watching television, with 80% of South Africans surveyed saying that they second screen while watching TV.
Meanwhile, 92% of South Africans who regularly use Facebook say they do so during TV prime time hours (5pm-9pm).
Facebook is six times more popular than Twitter for second screening in South Africa and 12 times more popular than YouTube.
The Ipsos findings, which were presented to the Facebook for Africa Business 2014 event in Johannesburg, demonstrate why Facebook is attractive to marketers, according to Diego Oliva, Facebook’s director for the CEEMEA region.
“Facebook has become a service that South Africans access throughout their day, wherever they are; from bed time to prime time. That is largely thanks to the growth of mobile which means people can stay constantly connected with everyone and everything that matters to them,” he says.
“In many ways, South Africa and other African countries are further ahead than Europe and the US when it comes to this shift to mobile. They have effectively skipped the era of desktop computing.”
While millions of people use their mobile devices to access Facebook when out and about, it is the phenomenon of at-home use while watching television that has interested many marketers.
“Browsing Facebook via mobile with the television on in the background is something new, but it has already proved valuable for marketers. The synergies between the two media mean that cross platform advertising campaigns are turning out to be much more effective than the sum of their parts,” Oliva says.
The Ipsos South Africa research was commissioned by Facebook and carried out between November and December 2013.
A summary of findings includes:
* 80% of viewers use other devices while watching TV (second screening) – 73% using mobile phones; 9% using tablets; and 6% using laptops;
* People said they were more likely to use Facebook while watching TV than other popular online services – 12 times more than YouTube and six times more than Twitter.
* TV prime time is also Facebook time – 92% of people in South Africa who use Facebook said they access it between 5pm and 9pm.
* Home and away. People access Facebook wherever they are – 55% of people who use Facebook on mobile do so when they are out and about; 95% of people who use Facebook on mobile do so when they are at home; 40% check Facebook in bed when they wake up; and 36% check Facebook in bed before they go to sleep.
* Brands play a big part in people’s Facebook activity – 62% of people who use Facebook said they had interacted with a brand; and 71% of 12-24-year-olds said they had interacted with a brand.
* 52% of people using Facebook said that they were influenced by things they saw there.
