New Zealand Females Spend Significantly More Time Social Networking than Males

Comscore today released a study on Internet usage in New Zealand from its comScore Media Metrix service. The study found that Social Networking ranks as the leading online activity in New Zealand, accounting for 1 of every 5 minutes spent online in May. The study also found that females spent more time on social networking sites (5.4 hours per month) than males (3.7 hours per month).

“As one of the more mature markets in the Asia Pacific region, New Zealand is home to a digitally savvy audience base,” said Amy Weinberger, comScore vice president for Australia and New Zealand. “New Zealanders have a strong propensity to connect online, whether it is to other people through social networking or to content and information through access points such as entertainment and news destinations. Finding ways to reach and engage these audiences presents significant marketing opportunities to both local and global brands.”

Top Web Properties in New Zealand

In May 2011, Microsoft Sites topped the list as the most-visited web property in New Zealand, reaching 97 percent of web users age 15 and older in the country. Google Sites ranked second reaching 93.5 percent of visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites at #3 reaching 86.4 percent of users. Facebook.com saw the strongest engagement of the top 10 properties with visitors averaging more than 5 hours on the site during the month. Web properties based in New Zealand or Australia captured the next three positions in the ranking with Fairfax Media, APN News & Media and Trade Me all reaching more than half of the online population in New Zealand.

Social Networking Accounts for Most Online Minutes in New Zealand

When looking at how New Zealanders spent their time online in May, Social Networking led as the most engaging online activity accounting for 21.1 percent of all online minutes in the country. Portals followed in second at 14.3 percent of total minutes, with Entertainment sites ranking third at 12.1 percent of minutes. Rounding out the top 5 were the News/Information (6.8 percent of time spent) and Auctions (6.7 percent) categories.

 

 

Females More Prolific Social Networkers than Males in New Zealand

Further analysis of the Social Networking category showed that although males and females account for nearly the same percentage of visitors to the category, females exhibit far stronger engagement with the category. Overall, females averaged nearly 50 percent more time on Social Networking sites than males (5.4 hours vs. 3.7 hours). Females age 15-24 averaged the most time social networking at 7.4 hours per visitor, while males age 15-24 averaged 6.4 hours during the month. When compared to an average Internet user, females were 15 percent more likely to view pages on social networking destinations (Index of 115), while males were 16 percent less likely to consume pages (Index of 84).