Basic research report on mobile social behavior of post-90s in second-tier cities

Post-90s, a word that is familiar yet unfamiliar to us. A random search on the Internet will yield a large number of research reports on post-90s. Independent, individualistic, rebellious, non-mainstream, the evaluations are mixed. So, is there anything special about post-90s when using social products?

Second-tier cities closely follow the footsteps of first-tier cities, but are also surrounded by third-tier cities. So which side’s users are the users of second-tier cities more like?

What are the similarities and differences between the post-90s users in second-tier cities and the post-80s users in first-tier cities that we are most familiar with?

With the above questions in mind, Tencent ISUX User Research Center conducted a basic study on the mobile social behavior of post-90s users in second-tier cities at the end of last year.

Misplaced second-tier cities

We visited five second-tier cities, including Kunming, Changsha, Qingdao, Xi'an and Harbin, conducted three home visits in each city, and intercepted a total of 64 passers-by, and made the following important findings.

The economic level is like that of first-tier cities, and the technological level is like that of third-tier cities:

All five cities are overhauling their subways, and the bustling nightlife also makes people feel the vitality of the city. The users we interviewed generally feel that their city is already a big city, and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have limited appeal to them.

But on the other hand, they don’t know much about technology, and when buying a phone, they mostly listen to the recommendations of the store clerk. In addition, their home WiFi is not widely used, and many users think that it needs to be installed independently, which is different from broadband. After buying an iPad, many people need to find a place with Internet access and download enough content to watch and play slowly.

Smartphones are not smart, social products are used to read news:

When using smartphones, they retain many habits from the era of feature phones, such as using browsers as network portals and rarely using clients; using SIM cards to transfer contacts instead of using apps to manage them, etc.

On the other hand, their understanding of social products also deviates from the positioning of our product managers. For example, they use WeChat just to read jokes instead of chatting with friends.

Delete the past, be satisfied with the present, and fantasize about the future:

After major changes in their lives, such as going to school, falling in love, breaking up, etc., they will completely delete all the content they have posted on social networks. A girl we interviewed in Kunming manually deleted more than 300 Weibo posts one by one before going to college, in order to prevent new friends from knowing her past naivety.

As for now, their life rhythm is very regular, the gatherings are very fixed, they always go to the old places, and don’t want to explore new places. They are very satisfied with their current life.

They all had big dreams for the future, such as immigrating to the United States, becoming a CEO, and having a big house by the sea. But when we asked them how to achieve their dreams, they all shook their heads and said they didn't know and had not made any efforts to achieve their dreams.

The real Apple Experience Store | Filming location: Xi'an East Street

Characteristics of the post -90s generation in second-tier cities

With these findings, we sent out an online survey questionnaire on attitudes and behaviors, and collected 5,730 valid samples. By analyzing the questionnaire results and combining them with the interview findings, we obtained a general portrait of post-90s users in second-tier cities.

However, we found that when examining the differences in social behavior between users of different ages in different cities, the post-90s generation in second-tier cities was not very special. On the other hand, looking back at the many users we interviewed, we cannot generalize and treat them as one user image.

Therefore, we re-analyzed the results and decided to use social behavior to classify users, which is more reasonable. We selected the 12 most important behavior and attitude questions from the factor analysis results for clustering, and finally obtained three types of users.

Three types of user portraits

Tang Xiaotao, male, 22 years old

• My phone is iPhone 4S, which I have used for more than a year

• Just graduated from college and looking for a job

• Born in Xianyang, went to university in Xi'an

• Have 1200 spare money per month

City:

• I like Xi'an very much, but I also want to go to Shenzhen to explore

• Very satisfied with my current life

cell phone:

• More knowledgeable about mobile phones and will discuss applications with friends

• I often use WiFi and my mobile data is quite high, about 180M per month

on-line:

• I use my phone to refresh my Sina Weibo and Space every day, and I also express my feelings every day, but I mostly forward interesting jokes

• I rarely delete past posts

• Occasionally I would chat with strangers on Momo, and also meet strangers in the same city

Offline:

• Like to introduce friends to each other and are willing to organize gatherings

• I have a lot of good friends and I really want to make new friends. I have made a lot of new friends in the past month.

• When encountering problems, they are more willing to ask friends rather than search Baidu

• I feel that I have just graduated and am looking for a job. A lot of changes have taken place in my life. I feel that the relationship between friends is as close as before.

Wei Xiaolin, female, 19 years old

• My phone is a Samsung Galaxy 2, which I bought recently.

• Undergraduate student, sophomore

• Born in Weifang, studying in Qingdao

• Have 800 spare money per month

City:

• I don’t like Qingdao very much, but I don’t want to go to first-tier cities either

• I feel that my current life is boring and not very satisfactory, but I don’t want to change it

cell phone:

• I don’t know much about mobile phones. When my phone has problems, I always ask the owner of the mobile phone store for help. I can only download some apps myself.

• I rarely use WiFi and my mobile data is not much, 80M per month, but it is enough

on-line:

• I check my Moments and Space on my phone every day, but I rarely post anything. I won’t forward jokes when I see them.

• I care a lot about my online image. I will delete some of my past posts that I made without any reason, and I will also use a second account to post some complaints that I cannot let my friends see.

• Don’t chat with strangers online, because there are many scammers online

Offline:

• Not very keen on introducing friends to each other or organizing gatherings

• I don’t have many good friends, but I don’t want to make new friends either. I think the old friends are enough.

• When encountering problems, they are more willing to check Baidu instead of asking friends

• I feel that my life has changed a lot recently, and my friends are more distant than before. Everyone lives on the Internet.

Li Xiaorong, male, 16 years old

• My phone is a Nokia 2220s, which was given to me when I installed broadband at home two years ago

• Currently studying in high school, Grade 1

• Born and raised in Kunming

• Have 300 spare cash per month

City:

• I like life in Kunming, and I am not interested in first-tier cities

• I am indifferent to my current life, neither happy nor sad

cell phone:

• I don’t know much about mobile phones. I use the phone that came with Tianyi.

• I rarely use WiFi and my mobile data is very low, only 30M per month

on-line:

• My phone is not very good, so I usually use my computer to check my space and rarely post anything. I only post a photo when I get a haircut and change my profile picture.

• I won’t delete past posts because there’s nothing to delete.

• Don’t chat with strangers online, mainly because they don’t understand

Offline:

• Not actively introducing friends to each other, nor actively organizing gatherings, just playing with others

• I don’t have many good friends and I really want to make new friends, but I don’t have many ways to do so

• When you encounter a problem, it doesn’t matter if you search Baidu or ask a friend

• I just entered high school and feel that some changes have taken place in my life recently, and my friends are more distant than before.

The value of three types of users

"General public" refers to a group of users who read and post on their mobile phones every day; "self-centered" refers to a group of users who read on their mobile phones but rarely post; and "tech novices" basically do not use their mobile phones to read or post.

Among the three types of users, the general public is actually the user that best meets the expectations of product managers. They are active, mature, and do not need to be worried about. What we need to do is to help the other two types of users overcome the barriers and become our ideal users.

appendix

All data in this article comes from Basic research on mobile social behavior of post -90s generation in second-tier cities Questionnaire n=5730