January 17th, 2023, Rishad Dsouza
For marketers looking to pitch their products to a very involved group of potential customers, Reddit might be among the best options. Across various fields of interest, we find that Reddit users are more likely than the average population to have core interests and consumer behaviour patterns.
And this observation, derived from YouGov Profiles, is consistent across several sectors and diverse markets – we focus on the US, Britain, UAE, Australia and India in this article. Reddit users in this piece are defined as those who spend at least one hour each week on the platform.
Let’s take a closer look at Reddit users and certain core behaviours within various sectors.
Redditors and finance
Our data shows that Reddit users are more likely than the overall population to look for profitable ways to invest their money. The biggest gap between the two groups is noticed in Australia, where Redditors are 17-percentage points likelier to agree with the statement (67% vs 50% of overall population).
In India, Redditors are nearly twice as likely as the overall population to own stocks (43% vs 24%). In the UAE, the gap is even wider (23% vs 8%). A substantial gap is also noticed in the US, with a quarter of Redditors owning common stock (25%) compared to less than a fifth of the total population (25% vs 18%). The gap is less substantial but still exists in Britain (12% vs 9%) and Australia (13% vs 10%).
Redditors and gaming
Redditors across markets are about twice as likely to play console or PC video games for an hour or more each week.
In Australia and the UAE, nearly seven-tenths of Redditors play video games on a PC and/or console for at least an hour in a typical week, compared to just 37% and 45% of the overall population, respectively.
In Britain, Reddit users are well over twice as likely to spend that much time playing PC/console video games (65% vs 27%).
Reddit users also show a strong preference for action or adventure titles. In each of India (65% vs 32%), Britain (50% vs 20%) and the US (47% vs 22%), action/adventure titles are more than twice as popular among Redditors than among the overall population.
Redditors and the cinema
Reddit users are also more regular attendees of the cinema theater globally. Four-fifths of Indian Reddit users go to the movies at least once a quarter (81%) compared to three-fifths of the overall population (63%).
Australian Redditors are 20 percentage points likelier than the national population to visit the cinema at least once every three months.
Perhaps due to their increased propensity to go to the cinema, these Reddit users also double up as micro-influencers. They are more likely than the overall population to get asked suggestions for movies (as well as music and TV shows). Three-fifths of UAE Redditors say “people often come to me for suggestions for new music/movies/TV shows (61%) compared to just 44% of the overall population. In Britain, Reddit users are nearly twice as likely to get asked for suggestions (40% vs 23%). So, appealing to this audience might help movies generate crucial word of mouth brownie points.
Redditors and tech
Perhaps least surprising of all the findings, Reddit users have the bug for fresh technology products. In all five of our markets, they are markedly likelier to be early tech adopters.
Early tech adoption refers to those who are either “actively on the lookout to buy new technology devices and services” or “are always keen to use new technology products as soon as they enter the market”.
Britain’s Reddit cohort is more than twice as likely than the overall population to be tech enthusiasts (25% vs 11%). Significant variances between the two groups were also found in India (67% vs 48%), UAE (64% vs 45%) and USA (37% vs 22%).
We’ve already looked at why it might be beneficial for marketers of tech products such as cell phones to target early adopters, with a separate look at consumers in Britain and the US. Reddit may be a great medium for marketers to reach this important audience.
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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data in the US, Britain, UAE, and Australia is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Profiles data in India is representative of an urban sample. Learn more about Profiles.
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