Digital device trends among international students - Study International

Digital device trends among international students

A collaborative study between Study International and the University of Salford Business School, Centre for Digital Business

2015

Contents 1.

Executive Summary

2. Background 3. Methodology 4.

Trends in Device Usage

5.

Trends in Traffic

6. 7.

Audit of UK University Websites and their International Pages

8.

How to Take Advantage of Increasing Mobile Device Usage

9.

About Study International

10.

About University of Salford Business School

Survey Trends and Findings 7.1 Device Usage 7.2 Age of Respondents 7.3 Device by Gender and by Country 7.4 Disciplines of Interest by Country

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1. Executive Summary The student decision journey has moved online. One in ten prospective students now search exclusively online for classes and programmes, a Google and Compete study found in 2013. Given that international students contribute £5 billion a year to the UK economy (UUK, Value of Universities to UK plc), online activity among international students could be worth more than £500 million annually. With mobile device internet usage rising rapidly in all of the major international student markets, mobile strategy is a big and growing business opportunity for universities. Universities display information on their websites in various formats and the online experience can be difficult for prospective students. When potential students are using a mobile device, there is further complexity. It was this challenge, faced by today’s international students, which prompted Study International to analyse mobile usage and the international student experience as they research education choices. The aim of the research is firstly to help students, and secondly to enable universities to improve the quality of mobile information they offer for prospective students. It is hoped that the report will generate discussion regarding the increasing importance of mobile communications in helping students find the right education pathway. Lastly the research introduces a new methodology in the area of international student research. A combination of university expertise, two years of internet data and survey information provided by trained student advisors. This report presents a global snapshot of the extensive data collected and main findings produced. It suggests clear opportunities to increase international student revenues for universities who are willing to adopt effective mobile web strategies.

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2. Background Global Student Mobility Facts • The movement of students between countries is now a mass movement. The global population of internationally mobile students more than doubled from 2.1 million in 2000 to nearly 4.5 million in 2011, reaching 5 million in 2014 (ICEF, 2014). • Global internet users will reach 3 billion in 2015, predicted to reach 5.3 billion by 2018 (eMarketer, 2014). • Smartphone users reached 1.75 billion in 2014, and is expected to exceed 2.1 billion in 2015 (eMarketer, 2014). • In the US 75% of high school students regularly use a smartphone and 42% of high school students regularly use a tablet at home or school (Harris Interactive & Pearson, 2014). • 334 million Africans will have a smartphone by 2017 (informa-Africa Telecoms Outlook, 2014).

Study International Student Data • 1.8 million prospective students accessed Study International’s network of sites during 2013, generating 25,496 enquiries. 11.9% of these enquiries were from mobile phones. • During 2014 Study International received 3.5 million visitors, generating 65,217 international student enquiries - 17,512 of which came from mobile devices, an increase to 27%. • Noticing this trend Study International conducted a deep dive census of 804 international student enquiries (from selected markets: Colombia, Nigeria, Jordan and Malaysia) asking them about their mobile usage. • 121 UK university sites (and international pages) were audited to grade them on mobile experience and compatibility.

Salford Business School: Centre for Digital Business Based in the University of Salford’s new campus at MediaCityUK, the Centre is made up of a multi-disciplinary team of academics that have earned an internationally respected reputation for high quality, relevant and accessible research. All members are active researchers, educators in technology and business and are involved in business engagement through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. Expertise at the Centre is focussed around the application of digital technologies and information systems within business settings.

Recommendation #1: Recognition that mobile should be a central part of any university’s marketing strategy.

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3. Methodology To understand how universities can benefit from this dual force of mass student movement and the surge in smartphone ownership, Google Analytics and in-house survey data were used to produce a two part evidencebased report. 1. Study International student enquiry analytics between 2013 and 2014 including over 5.3 million web visits and over 90,713 enquires in this period. 2. Study International conducted a comprehensive survey of 804 prospective students from four key international student markets - Colombia, Jordan, Malaysia and Nigeria. The student enquiry and traffic analytics have been compiled through working with over 50 universities and colleges in the UK, Canada, Australia and the US on lead generation (student enquiry) campaigns during 20132014. Data and enquiries are for pre-degree, undergraduate and postgraduate students. The enquiry data comes from over 90 countries and includes all of the major international student markets. For the survey, students were asked what type of courses were they applying for and, importantly, what device they were using to access available course information. Six student advisors from Study International spoke with 804 students to obtain the information on their mobile usage. Fully trained in guiding the students through to the application and enrolment process, the team reached out via phone, email and social media to all enquiries generated for campaigns globally. The Centre for Digital Business at Salford Business School then analysed and interpreted the results of the survey and additional demographical data was also gathered to provide contextual background and enable greater indepth analysis. A longitudinal study (2013-2014) of usage of Study International’s websites using a combination of data from sources such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and Study International’s own CRM system also supplement these findings.

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4. Trends in Device Usage In 2013 Study International dealt with 25,496 student enquiries, 11.9% were submitted by mobile device. In 2014 enquiries reached 65,217 with 27% attributed to mobile users. Study International decided to ask its students their preferences when searching for programmes of study. 3 years What What we'vewe’ve seenseen overover the the pastpast 3 years 100.00%

desktop

% of traffic from devices

mobile tablet

75.00%

50.00%

25.00%

0.00%

Q1 2013

Q2 2013

Q3 2013

Q4 2013

Q1 2014

Q2 2014

Q3 2014

Q4 2014

Time

After noticing this trend Study International Student Advisors asked the students: ‘Which device do you use when searching for courses online?’ The findings show that the desktop was the device of choice for 65.6% students, 24.65% used their mobiles and 9.75% used a tablet. To a certain degree these figures were anticipated given the growth of smartphones, and the historical data, previously mentioned, that indicates a steady decrease in desktop usage. This student feedback supports the wider, longitudinal data on device trends and given the current levels of investment in mobile infrastructure in key emerging markets in south Asia and Africa this trend is likely to accelerate further.

Recommendation #2: With nearly 1 in 3 online enquiries from the main international recruitment markets happening through mobile and tablet devices, it is critical that all university websites are cross-compatible for mobile, tablet and desktop devices.

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5.

Trends in Traffic

1.8 million prospective students accessed Study International sites in 2013 and 3.5 million in 2014. A key finding from this analysis is the significant increase of mobile phones used to access the websites - rising from 11.9% to 27% from Q1 2013 to Q4 2014 - demonstrating an emerging trend in the student population. At the same time, tablet usage doubled - from a low base - with a corresponding drop in access through more traditional desktop or laptop devices.

Study International 2014 Study InternationalTraffic TrafficBreakdown Breakdown in in 2013 2013 -- 2014 4,000,000

desktop

mobile

tablet

Pageviews

3,000,000

2,000,000

1,000,000

2013

2014

As Study International has been purposely targeting mobile device users, this trend can be partly explained. With a doubling of its viewing market, there is clearly increased engagement. Subsequent enrolments have occurred through cross-device digital usage. This also raises a supplementary question: the effect of one user employing multiple devices to access the same website. The existing data cannot confirm the ways in which users are initially pursuing a site using mobile devices and then moving to a desktop or laptop for the more interactive elements of enquiry making such as form filling and downloading documents. Further research is needed to recognise the combination of conversion paths that involve multi-device sessions, but being multi-device enabled may have an impact on encouraging engagement/action/application.

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6. Audit of UK University Websites and their International Pages A Study International audit of 121 UK university website home pages found that 35% were not Mobile-Friendly. That is, they did not display in an easily read format with an iOS, Android, Blackberry OS or Windows mobile operating system. These systems account for 95% of the mobile devices being used worldwide (IDC, 2014). For the universities that do have mobile compatible home pages, Study International graded the User Experience on a mobile device out of 10 on a number of design and usability factors. The average score across the university home pages was 6/10. In a further review of the sites’ practical use globally, Google’s PageSpeed Insights service was used, which resulted in an average score of 56/100. This outlines a number of common fundamental issues that would slow page loading of the website for international students. Further auditing was conducted on university international pages. The international page(s) is often the main contact and information point online for many students abroad in order to communicate with the university’s recruitment team. 40% of university international pages in the UK are not Mobile-Friendly.

UK Universities with a Mobile-Friendly UK Universities with a MobileInternational Friendly Page International Page

UK Universities with a Mobile-Friendly UK Universities with a Mobile- Home Page Friendly Home Page

35%

40% 60%

Yes

65%

No

Yes

No

Recommendation #3: Central digital and marketing teams should ensure the international page is Mobile-Friendly in line with the rest of their web services.

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7. Survey Trends and Findings 7.1. Device Usage The data shows that within the case study countries Nigeria has the highest proportion of mobile access at 34.83%, with Colombia second (25.93%) followed by Malaysia (23.88%) and then Jordan (13.98%). This results in significant variations in the use of traditional desktops / laptops from 77.42% in Jordan to 55.72% in Nigeria. It may be that this variation is reflective of the infrastructure of the region - for example, the average 3G mobile internet speed in Jordan is 1Mb/s compared with Nigeria’s 2.1Mb/s (OpenSignal, 2014) whereas the UK has a current average speed of 6.1Mb/s (Ofcom, 2014). Improved 3G and mobile broadband plays an important role in international students accessing course information via mobile devices. This raises the important requirement that university websites need to offset lack of internet bandwidth by optimising their websites.

Nigeria

55.72%

34.83%

9.45%

Colombia

61.57%

25.93%

12.50%

Malaysia

67.66%

23.88%

8.46%

Jordan

77.42%

13.98%

8.60%

Average

65.59%

24.65%

9.75%

Recommendation #4: Construction of university websites, and the international page in particular should employ caching, leverage and compression technologies to ensure the size in MB of the webpage is as small as possible.

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7.2. Age of Respondents With the exception of Nigeria, the age of the students enquiring is generally consistent across countries. There is a predominance of interest from under 21s, who are likely to be directly continuing from lower levels of study. A smaller number are enquiring between 22-25, the age at which many people will be utilising their existing qualifications and entering the workforce. The rise at 26-30 is consistent with the demographics of students in postgraduate study, who are generally returning to higher education in order to hone their skill sets and assist their climb up the career ladder. This also fits with the type of programme accessed in each country, with students from Colombia being more interested in higher levels of study, and the Malaysian students accessing entry level qualifications at a younger age. Nigerians may be applying at a later age due to systemic problems in graduating on time and accessing official transcripts. Students over the age of 35 may be parents, which is possibly likely in Malaysia.

Recommendation #5: There is no “typical” student - contextual branding and website imagery needs to appeal and be accessible to prospective students ranging from school leavers to mature adults with families.

Age of Respondents 40.00%

35

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%

Colombia

Jordan

Malaysia

Nigeria

Countries

7.3. Device by Gender and by Country Consistently there is a greater use of mobile technology in general by women. However, there is not enough other data about access to devices in each country to draw conclusions about specific cultural preferences or restrictions. In this survey, men in Malaysia used the computer almost exclusively. In comparison, Malaysian women showed a significant use of mobile and tablet introducing an interesting dichotomy.

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Colombian women showed the greatest mobile use and lowest tablet use, and an interesting contrast is with that of Jordanian women who are the greatest users of tablets but the lowest mobile users. The findings have little consistency in device use by gender or by country.

Recommendation #6: Specific categories of students (judged by country or gender) should not be assumed to hold a specific device preference.

Device by Gender and by Country 200

Male

Device by Gender and by Country

Female

%

150

100

50

0

Desktop

Smartphone Colombia

Tablet

Desktop

Smartphone Jordan

Tablet

Desktop

Smartphone Nigeria

Tablet

Desktop

Smartphone Malaysia

Tablet

Devices and Countries

7.4. Disciplines of Interest by Country This survey was conducted while qualifying students for particular programmes. Despite this there is still notable findings in the levels of interest. Overall Health subjects had an average interest of only 9.5% while Arts & Humanities lead the way with 34.6%. Disciplines Disciplines of Interestof byInterest Country by Country Colombia Jordan

Science

Malaysia

Subject Disciplines

Although each country places a different emphasis on a discipline of interest based on and reflecting their culture, there is still evidence of common trends in international students desire to study certain disciplines over others.

Nigeria

Arts and Huma…

Business

Health 0

60

120

180

240

Number of enquiries

Recommendation #7: The differences in popularity of some disciplines over others should be factored in when planning international student recruitment.

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8. How to Take Advantage of Increasing Mobile Device Usage Key Point Summary If at least one in ten international students are searching exclusively online for their higher education choices, then our research suggests 30% of these students are searching with a mobile device. When considered as a proportion of international student revenue to the UK economy, then up to £500 million could be directly generated through online recruitment with over £150 million attributed to mobile devices. We believe that this number will rise rapidly in the next three years.

Strategy The first step for any university that would like to take advantage of this change in the market is to decide that a mobile strategy is important and worth investing in.

Technology Ensure that your international page is optimised for mobile phones and tablets. This is a rapidly increasing communication medium between prospective international students and university recruitment teams. Our evidence suggests that 40% of UK university international pages are not Mobile-Friendly.

Content Content and overall size of web pages needs to be brief and succinct to avoid restricting international users due to bandwidth limitations. Review your current websites and implement improvements.

Focus Course preferences are consistent between mobile and desktop searches. We are not seeing any major trends at this point regarding age or gender demographics that are critical to student recruitment / marketing planning. Focus on access to information over mobile devices and less on gender, age or country messaging.

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About Study International Study International offers process-led solutions for universities around the world that want to grow their international student numbers in an innovative and cost-effective manner. We market your university digitally through a network of search and social media. We generate enquiries, qualify them, respond quickly and manage them carefully. These enquiries convert into applications and applications into successful enrolments. We believe that people plus digital equals access to education. Powered by StudyInternational.com and hundreds of specialist micro-sites, we have a global, digital reach. We also run an experienced team of Student Advisors and maintain direct partnerships with International Schools around the world. The Study International main office is in Bristol, United Kingdom with a branch office in Sydney, Australia. Our data allows us to conduct market research with students to try and understand how they interact with university websites, how they search for courses, and what devices they use. For further enquiries please contact our Business Development Director, Graham Wood on +44 (0) 117 244 3750 or [email protected]

About University of Salford Business School The Centre for Digital Business aims to produce academically rigorous research that builds our reputation as advisors to local businesses. Our members have a broad range of expertise that can be grouped into the following three areas: • Strategic use of digital technologies • Application of digital technologies • Analysis of digital technologies The Centre for Digital Business has an internationally-recognised profile of research in digital technologies and, given the University of Salford’s new campus at MediaCityUK, it is well positioned to be a facilitator and enabler for local and global businesses by providing a hub for commercially centred workshops, hosting key guest speakers, consultancy, postgraduate supervision, funding collaboration and providing bespoke training courses to equip staff with necessary critical digital business and analytical skills. To contact the co-authors and for PhD/consultancy enquiries, please contact: Centre Director, Dr. Marie Griffiths on +44 (0)161 295 4237 or at [email protected] Head of Academic Unit, Dr. Gordon Fletcher on +44 (0)161 295 5851 or at [email protected] Senior Lecturer in Information Systems, Dr. Maria Kutar on +44 (0)161 295 3056 or at [email protected]

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Digital device trends among international students

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