14 to 24 year old Aussies go online for entertainment

About 31% of Australians see the internet as an entertainment channel than an information superhighway. But that rises to 52% in the 14-24 age group (up from 46% in 2011), according to new research from Roy Morgan.

In other demographics, clicking on for entertainment were 37% of the 25—34 group, 29% of the 35—49 group, 27% of the 50—64 group and 1% of the 65+ group.

Tim Martin, General Manager – Media at Roy Morgan Research, said: “Roy Morgan’s latest data shows that more than three quarters of 14-24 year-olds now engage in one or more entertainment activities online in an average month. More than half of 14-24 year olds have streamed video from services like YouTube, over a third have downloaded or streamed music from services like Pandora and Spotify, and over a quarter have downloaded games from services like Google Play.

“Clearly, internet attitudes relate closely to what we most use the internet for. Our data shows that the older generations use the internet more for things like searching for jobs, real estate, comparing banking and finance products, and as a source for travel and health information.

“That said, this research also shows that an increasing proportion of people aged 35-64 think of the internet less as a ‘superhighway’ to get information and more as a channel for entertainment.”

A Roy Morgan study from last month further found that 82% of Australians aged 14 to 17 considered the internet very important in their lives, with about half going on to say the net was extremely important.

While they’re not cashed up enough to be important in the growth of digital sales, it is understood that they are poised to do so when they start to earn.

According to Roy Morgan, 89% have a mobile phone, 69% of mobile phone users have a smartphone, 56% use their mobile phone to go online and 72% go online more than once a day.