As the pandemic fundamentally reshaped global lifestyles, Vietnam's media consumption patterns underwent dramatic changes. The latest "Vietnam Media Landscape" report from YouGov, based on in-depth surveys of 2,369 respondents nationwide, reveals the accelerated growth of digital media consumption in Vietnam and identifies significant future potential.
Vietnam's Digital Acceleration: Pandemic-Driven Growth
While the pandemic brought negative impacts including reduced dining out and international travel opportunities along with psychological effects, it simultaneously fueled Vietnam's digital media boom. The report shows a 69% increase in social media engagement compared to pre-pandemic levels, with website and app browsing growing by 66%. Usage of music streaming services (Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music), magazine reading (both print and digital), and video streaming (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+) all grew by over 40%.
YouGov predicts Vietnam's media consumption will maintain this growth trajectory through 2022, with video-on-demand and podcast/radio sectors showing particular promise as new growth engines. These projections offer valuable market insights for relevant industries.
The report highlights generational differences in digital consumption: Gen Z dominates music streaming, millennials prefer video streaming, while baby boomers, Gen X and millennials show strongest preference for video-on-demand. These distinctions provide guidance for content and marketing strategies.
Emerging Digital Formats: Radio, Podcasts, and Streaming Services
Approximately 40% of Vietnamese audiences now listen to radio via mobile devices, signaling a potential radio revival in 2022 and beyond. Podcasts have entered a golden development period, with 70% of respondents reporting podcast consumption in 2021.
Popular podcast categories include lifestyle, comedy, news/politics, education, and entertainment. Gen Z represents Vietnam's primary podcast audience, showing high engagement levels.
Vietnam's music streaming market continues strong growth into 2022, with subscription numbers expected to rise. Gen Z prefers rap/hip-hop while older generations favor folk and classical music, creating opportunities for differentiated platform strategies.
Streaming video and non-live TV services showed continuous two-year growth during the pandemic. Baby boomers and Gen Z are most likely to use video-on-demand services in 2022. While YouTube dominates free streaming, paid platforms like Netflix are gaining market share, indicating growing willingness to pay for premium content.
Digital News and Publications: Transformation Challenges
Vietnam's news audience continues growing in 2022 with strong digitalization trends. However, traditional news sites face retention challenges due to limited reader time, while non-news platforms like Facebook increasingly attract attention, signaling fundamental changes in news distribution channels.
Market Analysis: Opportunities and Challenges
The report's findings provide valuable insights for cross-border e-commerce and related businesses:
- Opportunities: Vietnam's young population structure with Gen Z and millennials as primary digital consumers; high mobile internet penetration enabling mobile commerce; diverse social media ecosystem including global and local platforms; rapid growth of live-stream commerce.
- Challenges: Significant variations in user preferences across generations and regions; intense competition from local platforms; misinformation proliferation on social media; increasing data privacy awareness among users.
The "Vietnam Media Landscape" report depicts a dynamic digital media market with substantial opportunities. Businesses should closely monitor consumption trends, understand generational preferences, select appropriate platforms, and develop targeted strategies to succeed in Vietnam's competitive digital marketplace while addressing challenges around brand reputation and data security.