What men want online

Derived from Marketing Interactive

Men in Asia are more likely to prioritise their jobs over love and are extremely focused on their work, career and earning money. Brands need to provide a distraction, or assistance needed to make tough choices if they want to reach them, says a new study.

The new study by Microsoft Advertising and MEC showed that bachelors in Asia use an average of eleven email addresses, three smartphones, and various social channels to stay connected to their first loves: their jobs.

The study spanned six markets in Asia – China, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Indonesia and Australia and interviewed 4,200 young male bachelors between the ages of 21 to 39 to better understand their online behavior. The results show how men use many different devices daily to engage and support their digital activities online for work, socializing and entertainment. The study also revealed how pre-family men plan their time online and use digital content and technology to help them achieve their goals.

In addition to a strong purchasing power, the study proves that the pre-family man is influential and digitally savvy – almost one out of five is labeled as an innovator or early adopter of technology.

Importantly for marketers, this segment is also becoming increasingly larger as the marital age of men in Asia continues to get delayed. The median age for first marriages of men in Asia rose to 32 in 2011.

“The pre-family man study provides marketers with tremendous insights into the online behavior of this prized segment. Because the digital world is in a constant state of evolution, understanding how pre-family men access information can help marketers enhance their storytelling experience in creative and relevant ways,” said Heidi Lau, head of research, Microsoft Advertising Asia.

The study concluded that brands need to break through an information glut to reach these men and engage with them by providing a distraction or assistance needed to make tough choices, being wary of adding more information sources unless it is for a very specific need complementing the existing sources.

It also advised appealing to their competitive nature and select the right content, by device, by time of day, and by mindset to maximize accessibility and engagement.

Other findings in the study showed that while men in the EMEA regions prioritised love, men in Asia chose their jobs. The pre-family man in Asia puts his job or career ahead of his other priorities (29%). This is followed by money (17%), love (17%), family (12 %) and friends (8%). Surprisingly, pre-family men in Europe, the Middle East and Africa highlight love as their first priority (75%). Within Asia-Pacific, Australian men follow the Westernized trend, prioritizing love over their career (32 compared to 14%).

Pre-family men use technology to manage their daily online activity such as communication, entertainment and organizing finances, showing that their online behavior is often planned, even down to what they use the Internet for at different times of the day.

They also get competitive when it comes to games and social networking as social connectivity provides them with the platform to not only play games but communicate their competitiveness among peers.