Malaysians' purchasing behaviour revealed in Google's latest tool

Or that 42% of Malaysians had used their smartphones when making their last purchase?

These data, and much more, are now made available to the public through Google’s latest Consumer Barometer 2014, a dedicated site offering data, graphs and charts of online behaviour and consumer purchasing habits in 46 countries.

The data, which can be downloaded free of charge, are based on surveys conducted by market research company TNS Infratest throughout 2014.

Among the key findings on Malaysia presented on the site, 51% out of the population uses smartphone, compared to 39% computer and 13% tablet users.

Malaysians also use an average of 1.2 devices each. This has risen in the last three years, according to the site's data.

On what Malaysians use their devices for mostly, 65% of the surveyed smartphone and internet users said they take photos, 60% said their device serves as an alarm clock while 51% use their phones to play games and listen to music.

In regards to the role of Internet in the purchase journey -- the steps between product awareness and acquisition -- Google pointed out that 86% of the respondents in Malaysia made their last leisure flight purchase online, followed by hotels (75%) and apparels (42%).

The survey also asked about a recent purchase across 10 categories: car insurance, cinema tickets, clothing and footwear, groceries, large home appliances, leisure flights, leisure hotels, make-up, mobile phones and TV sets.

Among the Asia Pacific countries surveyed, Malaysia came in third in using smartphones in their purchasing decision at 42%, behind South Korea (44%) and Vietnam (45%).

Meanwhile, 70% of respondents -- one of the highest rates in the region -- revealed that they conduct online research first before purchasing something offline.

On the global scale, Google pointed out that the country with the highest rate of smartphone usage is Singapore (85%), followed by China (70%) and the United Kingdom (68%).

Social media usage is highest in Turkey, where 92% of those surveyed reported using these services.

Google said this new and free tool was to allow anyone interested to explore how consumers behave online, particularly with regards to specific product categories.