Toronto, ON, Wednesday, February 9th, 2022 – Vividata, (vividata.ca) Canada’s leading media and consumer research firm, today released their latest study results. In field October 2020 - September 2021, Vividata’s Winter 2022 Study of the Canadian Consumer (SCC) is the most comprehensive single source cross-media, product, attitudinal and brand research study in Canada.
The Winter 2022 Study provides new coverage on several evolving consumer trends, such as: advertising awareness and effectiveness, diversity and inclusion in advertising, the use of grocery delivery services and more. In the coming weeks, Vividata will release a series of newsletters and reports highlighting the depth of consumer and audience data from this study.
“It’s great to see how with every release, Vividata's Study of the Canadian Consumer continues to adapt to ever-evolving consumer habits. This year, for example, Vividata added several questions on the relationship between consumers and advertising. The new questions complement the study’s important core of existing questions, helping us track established trends while also seeing new ones emerge. A subject that has become unavoidable, COVID, even entered the study at the time of its emergence. This flexibility in research is appreciated in an ever-changing environment,” says Jean-François Bourdeau, Marketing Science Director at Omnicom MediaGroup (OMG).
A sample of highlights from Vividata’s Winter 2022 Study of the Canadian Consumer include:
NEWS MEDIA:
• Just over 20 million adults (66%) read/looked through newspaper content in the past week (print/digital). At 73%, Québec achieves the highest weekly reach for newspaper brands.
• Of the weekly newspaper audience, 59% now access newspaper content via a mobile device (smartphone or tablet), up from 49% in Winter 2019.
• At 50%, Québec adults are also the most likely to access digital newspaper content via a mobile device, compared to 39% of all Canadian adults that do so. And compared to 13% of all adults, 23% of Québec adults most often access digital newspaper content on a tablet.
• In the past 3 years, the mobile audience for digital magazine content has risen as well. Of those who read any Vividata-measured magazine title, 31% accessed digital magazine content on a mobile device in Winter 2019, increasing to 42% in Winter 2022.
• Digital subscriptions to magazines are also on the rise. In Winter 2022, an estimated 4.6 million Canadians subscribed to at least one digital magazine, compared to 3.2 million in Winter 2019.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
• Canadian adults’ use of social media held steady from Fall 2021 to Winter 2022, with just over 23 million (75%) reporting that they visit social platforms daily.
• While Facebook is still the social media platform Canadian adults visit most, it did lose ground over the past year with an estimated 19.3 million daily users in Winter 2022 reporting they visit Facebook compared to over 20.4 million which said the same in Winter 2021.
TV/VIDEO VIEWING:
• In an average week, 9 out of 10 Canadian adults watch TV/video on any screen or device, spending approximately 21 hours per week on any screen, with 11 hours spent streaming. The proportion of streaming hours to total TV/video viewing hours in a week varies by age. Among adults 18-34, streaming makes up nearly 70% of their average 16 hours of TV/video viewing in a week; while for adults over 50, streaming makes up 45% of their average 22 hours a week.
• Along with increased TV/video streaming, ownership of connected TVs/smart TVs has reached nearly half of the adult Canadian population (46%), a leap from 28% in Winter 2019.
RADIO/AUDIO:
• While not to the same extent as video streaming, audio streaming has also continued to make gains. The use of paid audio streaming services (at any time) has risen from 10% in Winter 2019 to 22% in Winter 2022; and free audio streaming services have gone up from 27% to 36% for the same period. While dipping to 72% from 79%, conventional radio remains the most popular format to listen to audio content.
• YouTube (at 31%) remains the top source to stream audio among all adults, followed by Spotify (26%). However, Spotify takes the lead among adults under 35 at 41% reach in an average week, with YouTube a close second at 38%. Both platforms have made gains with listeners over the past 3 years.
OUT OF HOME:
• The COVID-19 pandemic continues to influence the number of drivers on our roads, with Canadian adults travelling approximately 81 km in-town in an average week, compared to 114 km just one year ago. However, those earning a household income over $150,000 continue to travel in-town the most, averaging 23 kms more per week than the typical Canadian (at 104 kms).
• 8 million adults noticed out-of-home advertising in the past week in any format, and 12.5 million noticed digital out-of-home ads specifically.
• 35% of adults agree that out-of-home ads “often catch my attention”. Agreement to this statement was particularly strong among newcomers to Canada with 40% agreeing, while the same group was also more likely than the average Canadian to agree that OOH advertising “is a good way to learn about a new business in the area”.
