Opera report shows gender differences in internet use in Kenya

A survey conducted by Opera shows gender differences in internet use in Kenya.

In its early days, the web was mainly dominated by men but this survey indicates shifting internet demographics since women are seen to have caught up with men.

In Kenya, mobile use has been soaring and this can be partly attributed to the increased penetration of smartphones as well as the increasing importance of data services to people.

There are several internet service providers in Kenya with Zuku, Safaricom, Airtel, and Faiba being the most popular.

Kenyan telcos offer different data bundle plans at different prices. No doubt, many Kenyans spend a lot of money on data bundles especially since various telcos offer data at various price points. This further means that they accommodate a wide range of subscriptions.

The best part yet?

The subject of gender differences in internet use is an eye opener.

In May this year, Opera conducted a survey in which 1,500 women and men aged between 14-44 years participated. The population sample was drawn from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

The objective of the survey was to investigate web browsing habits among men and women.

A breakdown of the Internet Use in Kenya

The study reveals that women in the three countries have caught up with men when it comes to web browsing on their phones. More women spend more money on data package per month and there is a distinct yet interesting gender difference in web browse patterns.

This is especially with regard to the frequency of internet browsing and the types of online content that each gender shows interest in.

The graph below gives a summary of money spent on mobile data by gender in Kenya:

The statistics show that more women spend between Ksh. 1,000 and over Ksh. 2,000 on data plans as compared to men. Yet, more women spend less than Ksh. 200 on data when compared to men. On the other hand, more men spend between Ksh. 200 and Ksh. 1,000 on data packages as compared to women.

Next, Opera sought to investigate mobile data purchase patterns by gender. While more men admitted to buying between 100MB and 1GB data plans, the number of women subscribing for between 1GB and 10GB is higher than that of men.

On the frequency of purchase, the report shows that more women buy their preferred data plans once, twice, and four times per month. More men buy three times and more than five times monthly.

The Opera report also revealed that more women browse the internet as compared to men.

The final part of the report showed the type of online content that each gender is interested in.