Only 1 in 3 Americans Claim That Social Media is Important to Them

October 14, 2013

This article is included in these additional categories:

Boomers & Older | Digital | Global & Regional | Household Income | Men | Social Media | Women | Youth & Gen X

Ipsos-Importance-of-Social-Media-to-Americans-Oct2013Asked how important social media is to them, only 32% of Americans aged 18-64 rated social’s importance a top-2 box score on a 5-point scale, according to recent survey results from Ipsos OTX. That makes Americans about 20% less likely than the average respondent across 24 markets to consider social media important to them. Social media scores higher among women (37%) and those under-35 (45%) in the US, but those figures also lag the corresponding global averages (46% and 50%, respectively).

Looking further at some of the demographic breakdowns within the US, the study shows that:

  • American women are 32% more likely than their male counterparts to consider social media important to them (37% vs. 28%);
  • Men are in fact more likely to rate social media as “not at all important” (a value of 1 on the 5-point scale; 29%) than important (top-2 box score);
  • There is a clear downward trend in perceived importance as the age of the respondent increases, from 45% of 18-34-year-olds down to 34% of 35-49-year-olds and 17% of 50-64-year-olds;
  • Respondents from high-income households are 29% more likely than those from low-income households to consider social media to be important to them (36% vs. 28%);
  • Respondents with high levels of education are 24% more likely than those with low levels of attainment to find social media important (36% vs. 29%);
  • Business owners are 57% more likely than those who don’t own businesses to consider social media important to them (47% vs. 30%); and
  • Senior executives and decision-makers are also 57% more likely than respondents not in those positions to find social media important (47% vs. 30%).

On a global scale, social media is rated important (top-2 box) by the highest proportion of respondents in Turkey (64%), Brazil (63%), Indonesia (62%), China (61%) and Saudi Arabia (59%). By comparison, social is important to the smallest proportion of respondents in France (17%) and Japan (24%).

About the Data: The research was conducted on Ipsos’ “G@47”³ wave between July 2 and July 16th, 2013. The monthly Global @dvisor data output is derived from a balanced online sample in 24 countries around the world via the Ipsos Online Panel system. For the results of the survey, an international sample of 18,002 adults aged 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed.

Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Hungary, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately 500+. The precision of Ipsos online polls are calculated using a credibility interval. In this case, a poll of 1,000 is accurate to +/- 3.5 percentage points and one of 500 is accurate to +/- 5.0 percentage points in their respective general populations.

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