Digital Consumers
By Christine Luong
Consumers play a very central role in the success of an online campaign. This is why it is important to consider the characteristics of modern consumers. In order to understand how online advertising campaigns are effective, it is necessary to be aware of how consumers have changed the way they sharing information, as well as how they interact with each other, and with brands.
Consumers and technology
The worldwide population now have access to an increasing amount of technology and communication devices. As a result, Internet users are able to interact with anyone at any time, and consume media whenever and wherever they choose to. Being able to utilise the digital technology in such a way is the reason that they are categorised as ‘digital consumers.’
Nielsen’s The Digital Consumer Report (2014) shows a significant increase in American households owning smartphones, HDTV, and tablets, while many households are now a lot less likely to own DVD players. There has also been a small increase in the ownership of DVR players, HDTV, and PCs with Internet. This shows a rise in importance for households to be interconnected.
Nielsen (2014) also found that a vast majority (84%) of “smartphone and tablet owners say they use their devices as second-screens while watching TV at the same time.” Consumers are now using their smartphones and tablets as second screens while they’re watching TV. The engagement that consumers are having with TV is now heavily decreased. Nielsen (2014) found that the top four things that consumers do on their smart phones and tablets while watching TV are surfing the web, looking up information about people they see on TV or in movies, checking sports score, and online shopping.
Apart from the relationship between consumers and physical technology, it is also important to look into their relationship with online technology; that is, social media. A vast majority of consumers are still using Facebook and Twitter, but there is also a growing audience for other social media platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Google+. Nielsen (2014) found that there have been significant increases in consumers using their smart phones on apps and browsers, whereas there has been a decrease in consumers accessing their accounts through their computers.
Nielsen (2014) has also found that social media is increasingly taking over the lives of consumers. With up to half of the demographic surveyed would access social media in the car, at restaurants, in the office, and in the bathroom. It is pertinent to consider what consumers have access to because it allows advertisers and marketers to analyse the roles of active and passive consumers, and how this leads to their response to specific types of advertising.
Consumers as audiences
‘Consumers’ is a term that can include just about everybody: anyone who consumes media, and is then likely to purchase goods or services.
An ever-increasing amount of Internet users are ‘digital natives.’ There is no clear, exact definition for digital natives. Many people do consider themselves digital natives because they have a lot of experience within the online world, but the definition of digital natives does more accurately involve being born into the era of digitalisation. For the purposes of this report, digital natives will be considered “young and connected 15-24 year olds with 5 or more years of online experience” (Infodocket, 2013). This means that they are “‘native speakers’ of the digital language of… the Internet” (Prensky, 2001). This digital language includes anything from digital coding like HTML, to online slang and abbreviations, such as ‘LOL.’ Digital natives have been born into the digital era, and are a lot less aware of a non-digitalised world. Digital natives are instead more experienced with social norms and conventions within digital spaces. As a result, websites like BuzzFeed immensely popular among digital natives. This is because they drives online interaction between users, as well as heavily, but seamlessly incorporating language used and devised by digital natives.
Of the 7 billion people on earth, digital natives make up over 363 million (Infodocket, 2013). This may only be 5.2% of the world population, it is important to realise that from now on, every baby born will be a digital native, and that these characteristics will comprise that of the consumer. As digital natives are ageing and becoming more active consumers with more expendable income, it is important to consider who they consist of, how this affects online content.
According to Tim Windsor (2009), digital natives have eight main desires: freedom, the ability to customise and personalise, being able to scrutinise, corporate integrity and openness in their potential workplaces, entertainment amongst all areas of their lives, being able to collaborate, speedy Internet, and finally, to be innovators. These are all considered to be norms for digital natives, and are all facilitated or directly related to using the Internet. Being aware of norms as seen by digital natives gives advertisers and marketers an idea of how these norms will develop as priorities while the world is slowly overtaken by natives.
Outside of the digital native demographic is what Prensky (2001) has dubbed ‘digital immigrants’, who have had to “adapt to their environment” despite still retaining “to some degree, their ‘accent,’ that is, their foot of the past.” This includes, but is not limited to preferring written documentation, and printing emails. It is also important to note the characteristics of digital immigrants, because they do make up a large majority of the Internet population and more and more older people are embracing new media. The age range of digital consumers varies greatly. This is why it is important to see how each demographic responds to online material, and how the Internet has transformed consumer experience.
Consumer needs
O’Toole (2010) notes that it is the responsibility of each individual consumer to deal with their own potential of being gluttonous of the information that is available to them. Paul (2001) describes the sense of choice as empowering, where it “gives consumers a sense of control over their world in that they can choose to reject an alternative that they are not happy with.” This relates to a concept known as the ‘Uses and Gratification Theory.’
The Uses and Gratification Theory is based on the idea that audiences are active. It was brought to light during an era when broadcast media was dominant, and audiences were considered to be thoughtless and passive towards the ideas that were portrayed by the media. In the current digital era, audiences have never been more active (Sundar & Limperos, 2013). As such, this theory represents the idea that consumers, or in this case, users, choose what media they want to consume, as well as how and when they want to consume it. “The tools offered by modern media have expanded the range and scope of our interactions with media content” (Sundar & Limperos, 2013) which gives consumers more freedom to decide how they use the media, and to decide what information is valuable to them.
Consumers as a whole can be considered as smarter or at least more aware. Consumers have access to an overabundance of online information, as well as being able to share and have content shared with them. This makes consumers more wary of how media can be used against them. As a result, they tend to be less trustworthy of how companies use their information. However, Accenture’s Digital Consumer Tech Survey (2014) found that consumers are willing to provide personal information if they are given a payoff. While they are aware that there is a strong lack of security on the Internet, more than half of the consumers surveyed said they would share their data with companies if they were rewarded for it. This creates precedence for what consumers need, that as long as they get what they need, they are willing to trade in something important like privacy.
Consumer behaviour
“Consumers are increasingly active participants in interactive processes comprising multiple feedback loops, and highly immediate communication” (Brodie et al, 2013). From online forums to chat rooms, consumers are now able to interact with each other and with businesses in a direct sense. This enables consumers express opinions about brand and products, which can be both beneficial and detrimental to a company’s image.
As a result of this drastic increase in daily use of technology, O’Toole (2010) found that new media is able to create active viewers who can “control and understand what we choose to digest as part of our own media diets.”
Consumers are all inundated with enormous waves of information daily, both valuable and not. This information is not only of our own consumption, but it is available to consumers at all times of the day, provided they have access to the Internet. O’Toole (2010) contends a hope that in this world of hyper-consumerism, rather than blindly consuming media, consumers “consume only the things they need to live a simple and content life.”
O’Toole’s view may be considered somewhat idealised. Paul (2001) states “choice puts the responsibility on the individual to gather information, evaluate alternatives and make an optimal selection.” As such, it cannot be assumed that consumers will have the time, or make the effort to sort through the masses of information that they have access to. Consumers are able to decide how and what they want to consume online, but they don’t tend to make sure that it is the best option for them. There is simply too much available.
Considering the environment of new media, Paul (2001) notes that in order to successfully disseminate information without limits to human processing being detrimental to the dissemination, “an information deliverer must develop an approach that reconciles these conflicting pressures that consumers are faced with.” That is, the information needs to be relevant and relatable to consumers. New media has created a many online communities, and by taking this mentality into consideration, it is also possible to appeal the specific wants and needs of these groups of consumers. Sundar & Limperos (2013) contend that “gratifications obtained from media are largely based on a given user’s pre-existing needs, rather than on specific technological features.” This means that advertisements need to appeal to specific needs to consumers, which will work better than attempting to create a need.
Conclusion
Consumers have a far greater access to information than ever before, especially young people. This is due to the drastic increase in communication technologies that are available. As a result, there are a growing number of consumers who will have been born into the digital age, and be practiced and experienced in digital language and digital conventions.
Consumers are smarter. They expect more from the media they consume. There are now so many streams of information, that it is tougher for advertisers to get their attention. Consumers are also pickier, because they use the media for their own gratification, and they expect to be entertained.
Overall, advertisers and marketers need to make an effort to understand the demographic and the needs of the people they are trying to sell their products to. These advertising campaigns need to offer consumers something that they will fulfil their needs, because in order to veer their attention away from what they currently consider important.