More women use Facebook than men, but it’s the latter that marketers prefer pitching to. Why? Apparently they’re cheap and easy. No kidding. A recent study titled “Men are Cheap” revealed that men respond better to brands or marketing initiatives and are easier to reach on social media platforms compared with female users.
The study analysed 65 billion Facebook ad impressions and 20 million ad clicks over 12 months, and irrespective of the majority of the target audience being female (the fairer sex makes up 58% of users), researchers found that overall male users are actually more click-happy, with dudes accounting for 60% of interaction with Facebook advertising.
Adweek‘s Noreen O’Leary simplified the results down to being a signifier that women are more cautious in their online behaviour, and men more easily distracted and persuaded by advertising… Her words, not mine!
Viji Davis from Resolution Media, the company that conducted the study, said: “Females use Facebook for maintaining existing relationships, academic usage and following an agenda more than males do. Men use Facebook for making new relationships more than females.”
We do feel a responsibility to note that when starting new online friendships you should always proceed with caution.
Words by Jacquie Lennon
