Half of Romanian smartphone owners use WhatsApp – study

Cristina Blanaru Digital & Media, Marketing, Mobile, Social Media, Studies

Almost half of the Romanian smartphone users are accessing WhatsApp at least once a week, while 27% use it on daily basis, a study made by iSense Solutions shows. The app is the most popular in Bucharest, where it is used every day by 40% of the smartphone owners.

According to the study, the main reason Romanians are using WhatsApp is because the app is free and 43% appreciate the fact they can send free messages. The gratuity is the most appreciated mainly by young people aged 18 – 24 y.o. (64%). Other advantages preferred by Romanians are the posibility to send photos easy and fast (42%), easy to use (41%), and the possibility to communicate and distribute fast texts and photos towards groups of people (31%).

Traian Nastase, Managing Partner iSense.Solutions

We believe that WhatsApp popularity will continue to raise among Romanians, as long as the app continues to be free. Still, even so, it will be hard for it to reach the level of success posted by Facebook, which is used on daily basis by 69% smartphone owners and weekly by 84% of them. On the other hand, Instagram isn’t accessed at all by 72% of Romanians owning smartphones

Traian Nastase,

Managing Partner iSense Solutions

When it comes WhatsApp usage for marketing purposes, 40% users don’t want at all to be approached with offers for products or services by a company via this app.

Andrei Canda, Managing Partner iSense.Solutions

The main services users agree to be approached via WhatsApp by a company are the ones of assistance in their information process when it comes of products and services of interest to them (40%). Also, 46% users agree to provide their phone number so they can be approached by companies via Whatsapp. Even if the app is used frequently by more women than men (31% vs 22% on daily basis), the study shows that men (54%) are more open than women (39%) to offer their phone number for marketing purposes

Andrei Canda,

Managing Partner iSense Solutions.

The results of the study come from an online research made by iSense Solutions on a sample of 1.069 respondents, and are representative for people aged 18+, living in urban areas in Romania