News – Accessing SA’s Afrikaans market

Recent research conducted by Media24 on SA’s Afrikaans audience’s consumer habits have revealed valuable insights into this affluent and influential market. The company reaches 5.8 million Afrikaans-speaking adults with its publications – 71% of the entire Afrikaans market. Key insights drawn from the survey, which offer agencies, brands and retailers an in-depth understanding of this market’s expectations, have been packaged in an accessible story format on Praat saam, an online information hub.

An important finding is that Afrikaans consumers are passionate about news and current affairs, and that they consult newspapers and online news sites to inform their shopping decisions. They are proudly South African, loyal to local products, have expendable income and want to be informed about products in their language. Newspaper readers are more frequent shoppers than the population at large and they regard advertisements as a source of reliable information when buying food and groceries, furniture and home appliances. Virtually all readers are decision-makers who influence choices in their households.

Afrikaans consumers embrace modern technology and use mobile apps, social media and the internet every single day. Listening to music and reading books are also favourite pastimes. Being well-educated, they prefer their news in text format, studying newspaper and magazine advertisements meticulously when deciding what to shop where.

Dalene Muller, Head of Media Intelligence at Adspace24, says, ‘It was important for us to engage directly with our Afrikaans audience using our online platform, Forum24. The insights from the research have yet again shown us how significant our brands are to this audience and how highly engaged this powerful consumer market is to the South African economy. One of the most important findings that we can share with brands is how important it is for this audience to receive advertisements in Afrikaans.’