A third of Indonesians are early adopters of technology, predominantly young, well-off married men

• New YouGov white paper examines the demographics, behaviours and preferences of technology early adopters
• Asia has more technology early adopters than Europe and North America
• Three quarters of Indonesians aged 18 to 34 are technology early adopters

• Price is the key factor for Indonesians when purchasing a smartphone

The whitepaper titled “First in Line: Early technology adopters around the globe” looks at technology adoption across 25 markets worldwide, based on more than 370,000 interviews with consumers about their tech habits and attitudes.

Early tech adopters are a lucrative group of consumers for tech companies and retailers to target; they tend to be younger and have higher disposable income than the average consumer. New YouGov data reveals that almost a fifth (18%) of consumers across 25 markets are early adopters of technology. Asia accounts for highest number of early adopters (27%), followed by North America (17%) and Europe (14%).

Early tech adopters refer to those who are either “actively on the lookout to buy new tech devices and services” or “always keen to use new tech products as soon as they enter the market”. They are followed by ‘Second Wave Customers’ who prefer to buy tech products after they’ve been out for a while, ‘Discerning Customers’ who only buy tech products when they really like them and ‘Latecomers’ who only replace tech products when they are faulty or broken.

In Indonesia, a third (32%) of the population are early adopters. They have the second highest number of early adopters across six nations in ASEAN. Vietnam leads where two in five (42%) are early adopters, followed by Indonesia, Philippines (30%), Thailand (28%), Singapore (23%) and Malaysia (21%). On the flipside, Malaysia has the highest number of ‘latecomers’ (40%), followed by Philippines (36%), Singapore (31%), Indonesia (30%), Thailand (23%) and Vietnam (22%).

As one of the most mobile-first countries in the world, YouGov takes a deeper-dive into Indonesia – an emerging economy home to over 265 million people. In Indonesia, early adopters tend to fit a certain profile. They are overwhelmingly likely to be young (between the ages of 25 to 34) -- three quarters (74%) of those aged 25 to 34 are early adopters. Early adopters also tend to be male, while slightly over half (54%) of the Indonesian population are men, two-thirds (65%) of early adopters are male. They also tend to married (49% vs. 44% nat. rep) and of SES A (26% vs. 21% nat. rep).

The profile of an Indonesian early adopter is not only identifiable by demographics, it is also apparent in their purchasing habits of tech devices. While price (73%) is the key factor for the general population when buying a smartphone, processor power (76%) comes in first for early adopters.

Russell Feldman, Director of Digital, Media and Technology research at YouGov: “There is a specific type of tech consumer – one that crosses international borders and a range of product categories. We wanted to understand who these technology early adopters are that actively seek out new devices, so brands can better understand how to target them in an increasingly competitive tech market.”

Download the full whitepaper here