1. 15 things you didnt know about Student Spending Behaviour
Research Findings April 2010 Executive Research Team: Marc
Kornberger (Student Village) Ronen Aires (Student Village) Mike
Cant (UNISA) Neels Bothma (UNISA)
2. Question Areas Student Spend Money sources Spending &
saving Categories of spend Credit Influencers Online shopping
Mobile payment currencies What brands should know
3. UNISA is one of the largest distance education institutions
in the world with over 280 000 students and is classified as one of
ten mega-universities in the world by UNESCO The Department of
Marketing and Retail Management within the College of Economic and
Management Sciences recognises the importance of the student and
youth markets to the future well-being of the country The
partnership with Student Village brings together the academic and
research resources and expertise of UNISA with the leading role
that Student Village plays in the student community in South Africa
The Department of Marketing and Retail Management is in the process
of establishing a centre of excellence which focuses on the student
and youth markets. Additional research will be conducted on an
ongoing basis in order to explore the needs and roles of young
women in SA society as well as to establish the entrepreneurial
capacity of our youth in general These research projects will be
repeated in the future in order to gain deeper insight into these
topics and to see how they are changing from year to year
(longitudinal research)
4. About the Research Research conducted, Feb/March 2010 660
respondents across SA tertiary institutions 18-24 age group Males
and Female 80% research conducted in-the- field, 20% online
Demographic representative of SA population
5. 15 Things You Didn't Know About Student Spending
6. 1. There is no such thing as an AVERAGE STUDENT
7. Male >Female Average age 18-23 76% Black 10% Indian 9%
White 4.5% Coloured 35% First Year of Study 27% Second Year 20%
Third Year 37% Live with Family 29% Renting 24% at Campus Res
8. 2. Students are SPENDING more than you think
9. R2 968 p.m OR R35 616 p.a
10. Spending in SA Students 850,000 Student Individual R 28.5
Avg Spend per year: Billion p.a R35,616 R 1.5 SA Individual
Trillion p.a Avg Spend per year: SA R32,340 population 47 Mill R
28,500,000,000 R 1,500,000,000,000 Ref: Bureau of Market
Research
11. 87% from their parents 26% Part-time or full-time work 11%
bursaries
12. Where the Money Goes
13. . Where the Money Goes p.m Food, groceries & eating out
R652 Rent Clothing & R501 Footwear Entertain Toiletries &
R320 R199 Alcohol Cosmetics R197 R153 Airtime R152
14. 3. Guys are SPENDING 15% more than Girls
15. Food and Groceries 20% Alcoholic beverages 121% Telephone
Costs 15% Petrol 150% Gifts for friends 70% Toiletries &
Cosmetics 45% Contraception 238%
16. 4. Students from separate ethnic backgrounds spend very
differently
17. 1. Black students spend more on food & groceries, as
well as toiletries and cosmetics than any other group. They buy 47%
more fashion than white students every month. 2. Indian students
spend more on entertainment, gifts, snacking and eating out than
any other group. They buy 68% more on Lotto tickets than black
students. They also purchase more Bling and Jewelry than Black,
Coloured and White students combined 3. Coloured students spent the
most on fashion than any other group 4. White students buy more
petrol and alcohol than Black, Coloured and Indian students
combined. They spend 6X more on cigarettes than black students
18. 5. Students who RENT have more disposable income than
students living at home
19. Home (37%) Campus Res (24%) Renting (29%) R2502 pm R2008 pm
R4275 pm Food, snacks Food, snacks Rent and eating out and eating
out R498 R563 R1185 Food, Clothing & Clothing & snacks and
Footwear Footwear eating out R338 R319 R962 Clothing &
Entertain Rent Footwear R238 R275 R303 Toiletries & Entertain
Transport Cosmetics R173 R148 R241 Toiletries & Airtime
Entertain Cosmetics R162 R112 R201 Airtime Alcohol Airtime R155
R161 R111 Toiletries Alcohol & Alcohol Cosmetics R148 R155
R101
20. 6. Students are serious convenience junkies
21. 7. The Highest Value student purchase is
22. 72% of High Value Purchases last year included clothing,
shoes & accessories
23. High Value Purchases cont. in the last year 26% 22% 18%
12%
24. 8. Students save more than the average South African
Household Source: National Treasury
25. Half of students do manage to SAVE
26. 9. Students are a cash orientated community
27. 23% 36% 42% 9.5% 15% of students 2% have a credit card
29. 64% of Students Settle their own store account 34% get help
from parents and family
30. 10. Friends recommendations are not the biggest
INFLUENCER
31. Influencers 23% 18% 18% 12%
32. 11. More Students would shop online if they had the
resources
33. Shopping online A Quarter of all students have ever bought
something online. 16% Of those students that have not yet shopped
online, 84% would be willing to shop online if they had the
resources 14% 11% 10% 9%
34. 12. Mobile payment currencies have some way to go in
building students trust
35. Mobile currencies
36. 13. Discounts= Loyalty
37. What students want from you Discounts 48% 10% Lower prices
Rewards/ 9% vouchers/loyalty cards/prizes 5.3% Freebies 4.9%
Improved quality Lower interest 4.7% rates
38. Students relationship to money A psychographic
perspective
39. 14. Money is a low ranking Motivator
40. Does Money Motivate Students ? 43% 30% 14% 9%
41. 15. Students would spend their first pay cheque on
42. I will use my first paycheque to 25% 45% 9%
43. If I won R100,000
44. 15 things you didnt know about Student Spending Behaviour
1. There is no such thing as an AVERAGE STUDENT 2. Students are
SPENDING more than you think 3. Guys are SPENDING 15% more than
Girls 4. Students from separate ethnic backgrounds spend very
differently 5. Students who RENT have more disposable income than
students living at home 6. Students are serious convenience junkies
7. The Highest Value student purchase is clothing, shoes and
accessories 8. Students save more than the average South African
Household 9. Students are a cash orientated community 10. Friends
recommendations are not the biggest INFLUENCER 11. More Students
would shop online if they had the resources 12. Mobile payment
currencies have some way to go in building students trust 13.
Discounts = Loyalty 14. Money is a low ranking Motivator 15.
Students would rather pay off debt than splurge their first pay
cheque.