Kids’ Digital And Mobile Behaviour In ASEAN

A new research report on digital media activities in of 6-14 kids in Southeast Asia from SuperAwesome Insights gives a comprehensive picture of kids’ media consumption habits across the main ASEAN markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam (The research involved 1,800 kids aged 6-14 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).

Infograph Asean 3Children aged six to 14 in Southeast Asia are much more active in mobile usage than US kids, according to the report. Southeast Asian kids’ smartphone use is being driven by the popularity of mobile gaming, with about 70 percent of them playing mobile games in their spare time, compared to 56 percent in the US. Eight out of 10 of the most-used apps for Southeast Asian kids are games, while US kids favor social content apps, according to the report.

Infograph Asean 2For Southeast Asian kids, the mobile device is the core way to consume media. Smartphone usage is rapidly catching up to TV viewing in the market, and mobile gaming is the third most-popular activity for kids in their spare time, only slightly behind TV viewing. Of kids who watch TV regularly, a quarter use a smartphone at the same time.

The smartphone is the most popular device on which Southeast Asian kids access the internet, with 87 per cent of kids aged 6-14 in Thailand and Singapore saying they’ve used one before. After smartphones, tablets are the next most commonly used device among children, well ahead of laptops and desktop computers in all markets.

Only 43 per cent of 6-14 year old Indonesians have used a desktop computer before, compared to 70 per cent who’ve used a smartphone, according to the study.
A large proportion of this age group owns their own phone, with around 40 per cent of Southeast Asian kids saying the smartphone they use is their own rather than their parent’s. A smaller percentage owns a tablet.

Infograph Asean 1Using different screened devices at the same time – multi-screening – is common among Southeast Asian kids. Around two thirds of children aged 6-14 in Indonesia and Thailand say they use at least two devices at the same time.

Two thirds of Southeast Asian children aged 6-14 would rather only use the internet than watch any television, according to a study by SuperAwesome, a ‘kids safe’ marketing platform. YouTube is by far the most popular website among Southeast Asian kids.

Asked whether they would rather only use the internet or only watch TV, 66 per cent of kids in six Asean markets said the former, with a preference for the internet highest in Thailand and TV highest in Indonesia. Three quarters of 12-14 year olds choose the internet over TV, but only 42 per cent of 6-8 year olds would only use the web if given the choice.

Source: SuperAwesome, Mumbrella,