Women are more likely than men to use the internet on their smartphones, according to a new report released by UKOM, the body responsible for online audience measurement.
Half (49%) of all women’s internet time in the UK is spent on smartphones – rising to 59% among women aged 18-24. In comparison, just 39% of men’s online time is on smartphones.
For men, PCs and laptops remain the dominant device for going online, accounting for 48% of their internet time, compared to only 35% among women.
Understanding how consumers’ online behaviour differs by platform can help advertisers plan campaigns more effectively
The data is based on a combination of a panel of over 75,000 internet users and tagging the most popular websites.
It reveals that while women account for the majority (52%) of all UK smartphone internet time, they only make up 39% of PC/laptop internet time.
In addition, the data shows that women’s smartphone time most outweighs men’s on social media, retail and games website/apps.
4.8 billion more minutes on social media
In April 2016, women in the UK spent 4.8 billion more social media minutes than men on their smartphones, and 1.5 billion more retail minutes on phones than men, the data shows.
“Understanding how consumers’ online behaviour differs by platform can help agencies and advertisers plan campaigns more effectively, such as knowing men don’t dominate mobile time as they do on computers,” says UKOM’s director of insight, Julie Forey.
“This is exactly what BT did in the 1980s after identifying women were actually the heaviest users of its landline service, being more disposed to chat with friends and family.
“They used this insight to create their hugely successful ‘It’s good to talk’ campaign to encourage those who didn’t use the phone as much – namely men – to use it more to connect with people and improve relationships.”
