It’s May, and that means it’s time for Moms and Media. In the 2015 edition of the report, which is drawn from the Infinite Dial series, we see strong reinforcement of mobile behavior and social networking. While mom continues to power on with her smartphone and tablet, she is consuming media in ways she hasn’t before, thus creating new media patterns and ramping up her already high usage of the Internet.
The data shows that moms are now averaging more than three hours per day online, with 30% logging in four hours or more. Rewind back to 2000 and moms were not even spending thirty minutes with the Internet.
The draw of moms to the Internet is clear when we asked about which medium is the most essential. Moms spoke and they spoke loudly, with 59% stating the Internet. Television is a very distant runner up, being said by 30% of moms. Tracked to 2010, the Internet shows a clear upward trend, the only medium to show an increase. In 2015 the Internet has become the one place for a busy mom to go, she can get TV shows, music and news so she doesn’t need these other media as much anymore. She now has the Internet as her one stop media shop.
Internet usage will trend up and maintain its hold as long as mobile continues its march forward into the mom market, and that doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Moms and Media 2015 shows us that 94% of moms own a cell phone, with 84% owning a smartphone. As they have been in the past, moms are out ahead of the total respondents 12+ from The Infinite Dial who came in with 71% smartphone ownership this year.
Tablets are another device that moms are finding fancy with. In our report, 64% of moms own some kind of tablet. This is a significant increase from the 47% that we saw last year. Tablets continue to find favor with mom for their portability and functionality. Bigger than a smartphone but not a burden to tote, tablets offer the same mobile friendly experience while on the go and even more so while at home.
One of the biggest spin offs from moms being mobile is the ability to use more media simultaneously or while doing other activities. Online radio is one example of how moms are taking traditional media and transferring it to their mobile lifestyle. In this year’s study, 78% of moms have ever listened to online radio and almost half, 48% have cited listening in the last week. Compared to the total respondents 12+, moms are again showing more affection for new media.
While moms have a pretty full schedule, they manage to find new time to listen to online radio. Almost a third, 32% of moms said the time spent with online radio is new time, and not taken from other audio sources. This is a clear indicator that moms are listening in new patterns, while doing other things. The Internet and mobile devices are making it possible to consume media at any time and in any place.
