Misco’s Director of Marketing and Opinion Rebecca Gera has claimed survey results are indicating ‘a return to behaviours seen pre-COVID’ within advertising trends in Malta.

This statement comes after misco, in association with the Ornate Group, published the results of the fourth edition of the Social Media Usage Trends survey, enabling readers to understand respondents’ behaviours and attitudes when it comes to social media.

The results of the survey suggest that trends are starting to consolidate themselves.

Ms Gera said “The results of this year’s survey, which is the fourth wave of such a survey, could have been influenced by the coronavirus.”

“However, one also notes a return to behaviours seen pre-COVID,” she added.

Data published by the National Statistics Office states that internet usage in Malta continues to increase, reaching 87.5 per cent.

Out of those that have access to the internet, 95 per cent browse the internet, while 85 per cent access social networks at least once a day.

Ms Gera concluded by saying “One needs to see what future waves indicate, that is whether usage of social media will evolve into a new normal or whether it will return to pre-COVID days.”

The survey also reaffirmed previous waves’ views, particularly that the Maltese are passive consumers of social media, with only 11 per cent of users creating new material and content, compared to the 61 per cent that only look at other users’ content and comments, and the 45 per cent that share others’ content and comments.

Additionally, the results also indicated that 66 per cent claimed they are exposed to offline advertising, a 20 per cent drop from 2018’s 86 per cent.

On the other hand, 91 per cent stated they are exposed to online advertising, a steady rise from 2018’s 80 per cent.

This wave of survey results also show that social media have overtaken television as the preferred medium in Malta, with 38 per cent also preferring to watch, hear or read advertisements on social media, compared to television’s 34 per cent.

The trend towards a rise in online media continued, with 54 per cent of respondents stating that they prefer to watch, hear or read advertisements on online media, nine per cent higher than 2018’s 45 per cent.

Conversely, offline media decline persisted, with 63 per cent preferring advertisements on offline media, a steady decrease from 73 per cent in 2018.

“Online marketing has now become mainstream marketing alongside with offline marketing, and these results confirm this trend,” Ornate Group Founder Andrew Zammit-Manduca claimed.

He added “Businesses therefore need to devote the appropriate resources to ensure a good return on investment from their marketing expenditure.”

The survey also found that 76 per cent of respondents shop online, a slight increase over 2021 yet is still lower than the level reached throughout 2020.

Through long-term trends, the 2022 data indicates an increase in online shoppers for clothing, footwear and accessories, grocery products, make-up, beauty care products, healthcare products, personal care products, as well as car insurance and home appliances.

However, the purchasing of airline tickets and hotel stays is yet to recover due to COVID-19 restrictions.