The study addresses a current knowledge gap and would help brands unravel advertising opportunities to reach and engage online target audiences, they said.

Vietnamese Internet users are likely to be younger, with nearly 80 percent of those accessing the Net in the past week aged between 15 and 19.

The average daily time spent on the Internet has nearly doubled from 22 minutes in 2006 to 43 minutes last year.

Meanwhile, the daily time spent watching TV declined by 21 percent to 233 minutes last year.

Home access is becoming more prevalent than Internet café access, with about 66 percent accessing it from home in the past three months.

In the past month, 82 percent have used search engines and nearly 90 percent have read news on Internet portals and other news sites.

More than 95 percent of Internet users use Yahoo! instant messenger and email in Vietnam.

Yahoo Vietnam’s General Director Vu Minh Tri said: “It reveals the opportunity for marketers and media planners in Vietnam to re-examine advertising strategies and utilize the Internet as an effective way to reach target consumers.”

According to Nielsen Online & Yahoo’s Online Industry Review released last December, of the nearly US$500-million revenue, the online advertising only accounted for 0.5 percent or $2.81 million.

It is expected to triple to around $7.8 million by 2010, the review said.

Tri said: “This is a common situation not only in Vietnam, but also the Southeast Asian region. The online ad revenue in Singapore was only around 4 percent last year.”

For the survey last December, Yahoo and TNS Media polled more than 1,200 people aged 15 and above in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Can Tho who use the Internet.

Reported by Vinh Bao