Big chunk of social media users are unemployed or junior workers
Published:Friday | July 21, 2017 | 10:09 AMAvia Collinder
A new survey conducted on behalf of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) shows that a large proportion of social media users -34 per cent - are unemployed and only one per cent work at managerial level.
Over 50 per cent are junior workers, secretarial and administrative staff.
Meanwhile, the average number of phones in a household is 3.89, with almost all users on prepaid mobile services and only six per cent using post paid.
Fifty-seven per cent have at least one tablet and 54 per cent have at least a personal computer or laptop in the household, while 73 per cent uses their phone for Internet access at least on once per month.
The survey, commissioned by the PSOJ, gives insights into what the body describes as how millennial consumer behaviours are shaped by the widespread adoption of smartphones and the mobile Internet.
Titled the Mobile Consumer Survey for Jamaica, it was conducted via SMS and mobile web by Trend Media in partnership with Silverstone Solutions.
It received more than 3,750 responses within five days during June 2017, 75 per cent of respondents from the millennial demographic aged 18-34 years. Survey participants were 66 per cent female and 34 per cent male.
The majority of participants earn a monthly income of under US$200 monthly (J$25,664) and 15 per cent earn more than US$1,000 a month (J$128,320).
The survey indicates that 42 per cent of respondents fall in the under US$200 monthly income bracket, 27 per cent earns between US$201 and US$500, nine percent earn between US$501 and US$750, seven per cent between US$701 and US$1000, and five per cent earn over US$5,000 monthly.
The survey said the next most popular activities for mobile phone use is the camera, with 60 per cent of respondents saying they did so.
Top application types are related to entertainment. Social networking and messaging apps score highest at 61 per cent and 58 per cent respectively
Whatsapp was found to be the most popular application, with 76 per cent of respondents saying they use it, while 63 per cent use YouTube and Facebook. The survey report notes that “all these apps are free, which may be a factor in their popularity.”
Forty-four per cent of respondents have at most a high school certificate, 28 per cent have some sort of tertiary qualification, while three per cent have no formal education.
The majority, 67 per cent, have never been married, and only 14 per cent currently married.
The survey indicates that 38 per cent of respondents are employed full time, and 34 per cent unemployed. Of those employed, 36 per cent are junior workers, 25 per cent have administrative and secretarial jobs, and one per cent works at the executive level.
The study found that 25 per cent of respondents do not read magazines, eight per cent prefer Pepsi to Coke, and 60 per cent do not have a motor vehicle.