UK Ethnic Minority Groups Lead the Way on Digital Device Take-up and Use

Ethnic minority groups are at the forefront of digital communications in the UK, with high levels of mobile phone, internet and multichannel television take-up, according to UK’s Office of Communications (Ofcom). Ofcom’s media literacy audit of UK adults from ethnic minority groups draws on quantitative research from the four largest ethnic minority groups in the UK : Indians, Pakistanis, Black Caribbeans and Black Africans.

The age profile of the ethnic minority groups is significantly younger than the UK population overall which is a key factor contributing to higher take-up among them. However, take-up of services by ethnic minority groups in this age group is also significantly different to that of the under 45s across the UK as a whole. Ethnic minorities in the under-45 age group are more likely to own a mobile phone and access digital TV and the internet (ranging from 64-73 per cent across the groups) than the average person under 45 in the UK (67 per cent).

But, despite almost all adults from ethnic minority groups showing interest in internet functions, they are less confident about general use of the internet. For example, they are less likely to say they are confident finding information online (69 – 83 per cent compared to 91 per cent of the UK population as a whole) and creating content (59 – 62 per cent compared with 66 per cent of the UK population as a whole).

All four ethnic minority groups are also less likely than the UK population as a whole to shop or bank online (19-29 per cent compared to 41 per cent).

Despite the lack of confidence in some areas, ethnic minority groups are more likely to have downloaded music, video clips and longer content such as films and television programmes than the UK population as a whole. For example, between 65 and 79 per cent of ethnic minority groups say that they use the internet to listen to or download music online compared to 57 per cent of the UK population.

Other key findings

• Among Indian and Pakistani adults, males are more likely to have access to the internet at home (83 per cent and 76 per cent compared to 66 per cent of Black Caribbeans and 70 per cent of Black Africans) and use a mobile phone than females (96 per cent and 95 per cent compared to 84 per cent of Black Caribbeans and 88 per cent of Black Africans);
• Pakistani adults are more likely to have digital television (89 per cent) than any other adults in the UK (82 per cent);
• Indians and Pakistanis spend more time online than any other adults in the UK (13.5 hours per week compared to the UK average of 12.1 hours per week);
• Black Africans are the group most attached to their mobiles 37 per cent saying that mobiles would be the most missed media activity (compared to 13 per cent of the UK population as a whole);
• A large majority of ethnic minority groups say they use another digital device while using the internet – significantly higher than in the UK overall (94 – 96 per cent compared to 84 per cent of the UK population as a whole);
• All four ethnic minority groups show greater levels of interest in learning about digital technology (38 – 54 per cent) than the UK average (31 per cent).

The full research can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/advice/media_literacy/ml_audit/emg/.

Source: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2008/09/nr_20080915

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