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Johannesburg - Students in South Africa spend 15% more per year than the average citizen, with a disposable spend on average of nearly R3 510 per month or R42 120 per annum.
According to the annual Student Village SA Student Spending Report 2013, they rate non-traditional advertising as one of their biggest influencers when making purchasing decisions.
Ronen Aires, CEO at Student Village, said: "There's no doubt that engaging with SA students is a challenge to marketers, and knowing if this market contains real financial value is something we felt was worth looking into.
"Our findings show that while students see money as an essential part of life, they feel that it does not define who they are or who they will become."
The report covered a sample of 681 male and female students (between the ages of 18 and 24) from tertiary institutions nationally through focus groups an online component and field research - looking at a strong demographic representation of South Africa.
In total, South African students are potentially spending on average R39.5bn a year - money that predominantly comes from their parents or other family members (78%).
Education
Aires said: "Part-time work (24%) and bursaries (18%) are other important sources of income for students. Interesting to note is that we found that bursaries as a source of money has increased from last year.
“This shows us that students have greater access to bursaries as companies and government is getting more involved in education and development.
"Further to this, we have noticed a steady increase in student spending over the past three years – up by R552 per month from 2010.”
So what are South African students spending their money on?
The top five categories include: rent, food, clothing, petrol and extra tuition,
This is followed by a long list of items such as gadgets, entertainment, alcohol, transport costs, toiletries, cosmetics and hairdressers/beauty – to name but a few.
Fashion
"What is very interesting is that students from different ethnic backgrounds spend money differently.
"Black students for example spend more on cosmetics, take-aways, extra tuition and gadgets, while white students spend more on entertainment, groceries, alcohol and travel. Coloured students on the other hand spend more on fashion, magazines and cigarettes” said Aires.
Despite the difference in ethnic spending behaviour, the highest value purchase among all students is cellphones, with BlackBerry still being the most appealing brand for these young consumers.
The report showed that SA student purchasing decisions are influenced heavily by celebrity endorsements and product placements, as opposed to traditional advertising channels.
Aires said: "In a surprising reveal, we learnt that the females spent more than the males, spending an average of 9% more on contraceptives and 10% more on music, with men spending 19% more on jewellery and 32% more on laundry.
"While 70% of the respondents felt that they save for emergencies, we need to be cognisant of their definition of ‘emergencies’.
"Most students define this as sales at retail outlets and magazines.
"Another interesting point that came out of the research is that when it comes to ‘saving’, students are saving to spend, as opposed to saving for their future."
Credit cards
Respondents indicated that almost a third of students have purchased something online, with more of them keen to do so if they had a credit card.
“A key aspect of this year's research revolves around credit, where students are becoming ever more ‘credit savvy’ as they are more aware of the risk of debt and see it as a negative thing - 20% of respondents indicated that they have credit cards (down from 43% last year) and 24% have retail accounts,” said Aires.
The question, however, said the report, is how easily will these students settle this debt?
The report highlighted that 78% of the respondents are comfortable that they will be able to settle their debt themselves, but just under half of them (45%) said they would need to rely on parents and family to assist them.
"What should be of importance to cellular networks is that through research and focus groups, we discovered that students are spending twice the amount on cellular data as they are on airtime (voice).
“The results of this report show that with the access they have to disposable income, South African students are definitely a market to be noticed and watched,” said Aires.
According to the annual Student Village SA Student Spending Report 2013, they rate non-traditional advertising as one of their biggest influencers when making purchasing decisions.
Ronen Aires, CEO at Student Village, said: "There's no doubt that engaging with SA students is a challenge to marketers, and knowing if this market contains real financial value is something we felt was worth looking into.
"Our findings show that while students see money as an essential part of life, they feel that it does not define who they are or who they will become."
The report covered a sample of 681 male and female students (between the ages of 18 and 24) from tertiary institutions nationally through focus groups an online component and field research - looking at a strong demographic representation of South Africa.
In total, South African students are potentially spending on average R39.5bn a year - money that predominantly comes from their parents or other family members (78%).
Education
Aires said: "Part-time work (24%) and bursaries (18%) are other important sources of income for students. Interesting to note is that we found that bursaries as a source of money has increased from last year.
“This shows us that students have greater access to bursaries as companies and government is getting more involved in education and development.
"Further to this, we have noticed a steady increase in student spending over the past three years – up by R552 per month from 2010.”
So what are South African students spending their money on?
The top five categories include: rent, food, clothing, petrol and extra tuition,
This is followed by a long list of items such as gadgets, entertainment, alcohol, transport costs, toiletries, cosmetics and hairdressers/beauty – to name but a few.
Fashion
"What is very interesting is that students from different ethnic backgrounds spend money differently.
"Black students for example spend more on cosmetics, take-aways, extra tuition and gadgets, while white students spend more on entertainment, groceries, alcohol and travel. Coloured students on the other hand spend more on fashion, magazines and cigarettes” said Aires.
Despite the difference in ethnic spending behaviour, the highest value purchase among all students is cellphones, with BlackBerry still being the most appealing brand for these young consumers.
The report showed that SA student purchasing decisions are influenced heavily by celebrity endorsements and product placements, as opposed to traditional advertising channels.
Aires said: "In a surprising reveal, we learnt that the females spent more than the males, spending an average of 9% more on contraceptives and 10% more on music, with men spending 19% more on jewellery and 32% more on laundry.
"While 70% of the respondents felt that they save for emergencies, we need to be cognisant of their definition of ‘emergencies’.
"Most students define this as sales at retail outlets and magazines.
"Another interesting point that came out of the research is that when it comes to ‘saving’, students are saving to spend, as opposed to saving for their future."
Credit cards
Respondents indicated that almost a third of students have purchased something online, with more of them keen to do so if they had a credit card.
“A key aspect of this year's research revolves around credit, where students are becoming ever more ‘credit savvy’ as they are more aware of the risk of debt and see it as a negative thing - 20% of respondents indicated that they have credit cards (down from 43% last year) and 24% have retail accounts,” said Aires.
The question, however, said the report, is how easily will these students settle this debt?
The report highlighted that 78% of the respondents are comfortable that they will be able to settle their debt themselves, but just under half of them (45%) said they would need to rely on parents and family to assist them.
"What should be of importance to cellular networks is that through research and focus groups, we discovered that students are spending twice the amount on cellular data as they are on airtime (voice).
“The results of this report show that with the access they have to disposable income, South African students are definitely a market to be noticed and watched,” said Aires.
