North Americans are less than half as likely as the global average to watch online video via mobile device, according to a new study from The Nielsen Company.
North America, Europe Do Not Mobilize
Data from “How We Watch” indicates that as a region, North America only scores 45 on the Index of Mobile Video Usage (Past 30 Days). With a score of 100 representing the global average, this means North Americans are 55% less likely to watch mobile video than international online consumers as a whole.
Europe also significantly lags the global average with an Index score of 55. As a region, Asia-Pacific consumes the most online video with an Index score of 145, followed by Middle East/Africa/Pakistan (MEAP) with a score of 136 and Latin America with a score of 118.
While often the lag of mobile media adoption in North America and Europe is attributed to the advanced mobile cultures in comparative markets, Nielsen says that with regard to video especially, the proliferation of other screen choices also impacts relative mobile video consumption.
That is, slower mobile video adoption in North America and Europe may as much be attributed to the technological advancement and ubiquity of other screens in these markets as it is to the proliferation of mobile technology in more advanced mobile media markets.
In addition, mobile video adoption varies widely by gender (men over-index by 18% while women under-index by 9%) and age (adults 25-29 over index by 73% while adults 60-64 are 73% less likely to use it).
Top 14 Mobile Video-using Countries Outside North America, Europe
It is not especially surprising that when mobile video usage is tracked by individual nation, the top 14 countries are all located in the Asia-Pacific, Latin America or MEAP regions. The top four nations are all Asia-Pacific countries, led by the Philippines with an Index score of 182.
Asia-Pacific nation Singapore in locked in a three-way tie in fifth place with African nation Egypt and Latin American nation Brazil (Index score of 155). The highest-ranked European nation, Ukraine, comes in 15th with a score of 109.
Among North American nations, the US is ranked 32nd with a score of 55 and Canada is ranked 47th in a five-way tie with an Index score of 27. European nation Germany comes in last with an Index score of 9, meaning German online consumers are 91% less likely to use mobile video than the global average.
North America, Europe Lag in Online Video
North America and Europe also lag other global regions in online video viewing, according to other results from “How We Watch.”
Broken down by region, online video viewing is highest in the Middle East/Africa/Pakistan (MEAP) and Latin America regions, which each scored 114 on the Index of Online Video Usage (Past 30 Days). Asia-Pacific slightly trails these regions with an Index score of 111. North America comes in below average with a score of 89, while Europe lags well behind the average with a score of only 77.
About the Data: Nielsen conducted a global online survey of 27,665 online consumers ages 15 and up in March 2010.
