A third of adults around the world spent more time on social media in 2021 and almost three quarters (71%) will either maintain or increase that level of use in the year ahead, according to a media whitepaper by YouGov.
The insight comes from YouGov’s Global Media Outlook Report 2022, which reveals media consumption habits across 17 international markets (with a focus on the US and Great Britain) to help media planners and brand marketers find the best opportunities for growth.
YouGov’s survey of more than 19,000 respondents showed that amid the Covid-19 pandemic, media consumption surged, but finds that viewing, watching, reading and listening habits are now beginning to ‘level out’.
Despite this overall plateau, some media are still likely to increase their share and reach in 2022. Mostly these are digital formats. For instance, 29% of global consumers told YouGov they were likely to increase their consumption of websites and apps in the year ahead, while 27% said the same about streaming video and 24% said the same about social media.
Predictably, younger generations are driving a lot of the increases in digital media consumption, especially within music streaming, where 38% of 18- to 24-year-olds plan to increase their consumption over the next year, and podcasts, to which 23% of 18- to 24-year-olds say they will give more attention in 12 months ahead.
But despite the momentum behind digital media, YouGov data shows live TV penetration remains high, and almost nine out of 10 people in Great Britain still watch live television every week – a figure that has stood firm for the past four years.
YouGov also created Stickiness and Growth Driver consumer metrics for its just-released whitepaper, to help industry professionals assess the strongest opportunities for growth in media in 2022.
Again, video streaming shows the most promise and is likely to register the biggest rise in consumption in the year ahead, with YouGov giving it a growth driver score of 36%.
But also in the next 12 months, YouGov’s data indicates that music streaming will overtake live TV in consumption growth. Almost a fifth (17%) of YouGov’s survey respondents around the world said that they do not pay for a music subscription service at present but may consider getting one in the future – indicating a strong market for growth. In particular, YouGov data highlights Indonesia, Italy and Poland as the three strongest candidates for increases in the number of music service subscribers.
YouGov’s data showed that the picture was more mixed when it came to people’s reading habits. Although 21% of respondents around the world said that they had increased their consumption of newspapers and magazines (both online and offline) in 2021, 18% also said that their consumption decreased. It was the second-largest media consumption decline behind radio, which was hit hard by the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, and specifically by the number of people who were forced to abandon their daily commute to work.
YouGov’s Global Media Outlook Report 2022 was created out of insights obtained from a custom survey conducted between 18 October and 8 November 2021, with methodology that ensures a spread of respondents that is naturally accurate and representative of populations. The survey results were further augmented by combining the responses with YouGov’s proprietary syndicated data tool, Profiles, which provides demographic, psychographic, attitudinal and behavioural data on audiences.
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