Accounting Perspective on Subscribers’ Living Standards:Evaluating The Financial Implications of Data Consumption and Digital Access

Abstract

This study analyzed subscribers’ living standards from an accounting perspective by examining the ‎implications of digital access and data consumption on adults’ standard of living in Ekiti State, ‎Nigeria. As mobile data becomes more critical for communication, working, entertainment, and ‎information access, the study analyzed the extent socio-economic characteristics and usage patterns ‎affect daily value perceptions, and quality of life. Using the descriptive survey research design, the ‎study drew a random sample of 500 adults from the state, and data were obtained by a self-‎administered closed-ended structured questionnaire via Google Forms. For data evaluation, ‎descriptive statistics, means, standard deviations, and linear regression analyses, alongside ‎diagnostic styles, were applied. It was revealed that a significant portion of adults were mobile data ‎consumers, particularly 36.7% of respondents subscribed to MTN, 26.1% to GLO, 25.3% to ‎Airtel, and 12.0% to 9mobile, and 69.2% of respondents within 18-25 years reported frequent data ‎consumption. Socio-economic characteristics, including income, education, peer influence, ‎occupation, and the reliability of networks and the internet, were determinative of consumption ‎patterns. In general, mobile data positively impacted communication, news access, educational ‎transactions, entertainment, business opportunities, social participation, financial transactions, and ‎overall quality of life. Regression analysis showed that the effect of mobile data consumption on ‎the standard of living is positive yet not statistically significant (β = 0.684, p = 0.073>0.05), ‎possibly due to the data cost and other economic constraints. Therefore, the mobile data’s direct ‎contribution to the standard of living is low, even though the mobile data has the potential to ‎enhance connectivity, productivity, and overall well-being. The suggestions made to fix the ‎problem are to improve the reliability of the network, integrate mobile data consumption with income-earning activities, and digitally empower the economically active population to increase mobile ‎data affordability and financially improve the overall well-being of the users‎.