According to a study by market research firm TNS on the preferences and behavior of 1000 online users in the urban areas of the Philippines called TNS Digital Life 2012, Filipino netizens have an average of 440 friends on Facebook.
The rate has significantly increased compared to last year’s result, which is a smaller total of 171 friends. The study shows that teens (ages 16-20) are at the forefront of social networking sites, being the age group with the most number of Facebook friends. On average, Filipinos in this age group have more or less 613 friends on Facebook.
TNS claims that the average number of hours that Filipinos spend online is 11 hours, with 3.8 hours spent accessing social networking sites. Approximately four hours are spent accessing social networking sites through the mobile phone.
The study also showed significant findings on how Filipinos perceive and interact with brands online. TNS Managing Director Gary de Ocampo reports that on Facebook, 2.5 million of the respondents have “brand friends”, referring to the Facebook pages of brands which users “Like”. Four fifths (2 million) of these Filipino users claim that they actively talk about these brands online.
TNS Digital Life 2012 also revealed that Filipino social networkers believe that their voices are heard online. 70% of the respondents feel that posting comments online is an effective way to influence companies. 33% of the respondents are even scared of the thought that companies will be able to track what are being said about them online. 52% expect companies to contact them when they write something about these entities.
Results pertaining to brand criticism were also presented. 51% of Filipino social networkers believe that a single negative review could possibly impact consumers’ purchasing decisions. 68% of them praise brands, while 28% criticize them. Meanwhile, 48% of them merely share opinions on brands on social networking sites.