With over 80% of women using a wireless device and 17% now using a smartphone such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or models from HTC, Samsung, LG or similar, the mobile phone may increasingly be displacing the PC for women, especially in the 12-24 age group according to our recent Women and Digital Life study, which is based on in-depth interviews with 2,000 women aged 12 and older in the U.S.
Young Women Use Mobile Phone More but PC Less
Among women with access to Internet and a mobile phone, teens and young women under 25 spend twice as much time (2.8 hours per day) on average with their cell phones compared to women 40+ (1.2 hours). In contrast, young women spend 2.9 hours per day with their PCs, significantly less than the 40+ average of 3.5 hours.
Younger women are also much more likely to use the full functionality of their wireless devices than older women. For example, 12-24s are twice as likely to have sent a text message in the past month compared to women 40+ (85% vs. 43%). Over half (53%) of women under 25 used the calendar on their wireless device to book an appointment or review their schedule vs. 22% of women 40+.
Take the Picture, Upload to Facebook—No Computer Required
Greater mobile usage and smartphone ownership is allowing women to bypass the PC to upload their pictures to social media sites. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of 12-24 year-olds indicate taking a photo with their cell phone in the past month. Young women are twice as likely to say they used the Internet browser on their cell phone in the past month. Likewise, they are about 4 times as likely to access social media such as a Facebook profile or MySpace page on their mobile phone – in the last month, 22% of 12-24s used their mobile device to access Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.
Mobile Phone: “Tech with Most Impact on My Life”
When asked “what technology had the most impact on your life in the last 2 years,” women overall picked the Internet, followed by PC/Computer, and cell/wireless in a distant third spot. Among young women, however, wireless devices took the #1 spot.
Smartphones on the Rise
Smartphone ownership is growing—17% of women with a wireless device have one. Among those 12-24, ownership is now 23%, aided by the popularity of the iPhone and cheaper access to consumer models such as the BlackBerry Pearl.
Another indication of the important role of mobile phones in women’s lives is multitasking with the cell phone. Seven-in-ten young women are watching TV with a wireless device, as they text, browse or play games. Half (49%) of young women say do this frequently, in contrast, just 24% of women 40+.
Technical: this post is a part of a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on over 2,000 in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media. This release contains information from the Wireless chapter of the study. Women & Digital Life is an independent syndicated study conducted by SRG (Solutions Research Group). The fieldwork for this study was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women consumers 12+. The sample captures all major population segments, e.g., parents with preschool kids, tweens or teens, young women, and empty nesters. Sample design included an oversample of African-American and English-speaking Hispanic women. Where applicable, the results are compared to a similar study undertaken by SRG in 2007 among 1,508 women, plus focus groups conducted over a 2-year period. For more on the reports, click here or keep up with Women & Digital Life on Twitter.
While fewer women overall are buying or renting DVDs, not all segments are abandoning the format says our recent research – moms with kids under 12, Hispanic and African American women in particular continue to be engaged with the DVD format and they are above-average consumers of online and mobile video as well.
57% of all women surveyed bought at least one DVD in the last six months prior to the study, down 4-points from 61% one year earlier. Moms with kids under 12 are the most loyal DVD buying segment, with 66% saying they bought a DVD. Hispanic American women also were above-average DVD buyers (64%), followed by African American women (61%). Women 40+ were the lightest buyers – only 42% of them bought one.
Comedies are the most popular type of DVDs women are buying or renting, followed by action & adventure, drama, children’s, TV shows and boxed sets.
Three sources account for most of DVD buying among women. Thirty-eight percent (38%) bought their last DVD at Walmart – Amazon was a distant second (13%) followed by Target (11%). Only 9% bought at Best Buy. On the rentals side, just over one-in-ten (12%) women reported having a Netflix membership for rentals.
Walmart was particularly strong among moms, with a 47% share (compared to 38% for all U.S. women). And it also had larger-than-average share among Hispanic women – 45% of Hispanic DVD buyers got their last DVD at Walmart, with Target and Best Buy coming in at 11% a piece.
Only 5% of women had access to Blu-Ray in the home and the same percentage said they bought Blu-ray DVDs although another 28% said a Blu-Ray DVD player was a likely purchase in the next six months. A majority (67%) said a Blu-ray DVD player upgrade was unlikely.
The research found that 20% now have a video-capable digital media player, such as a video iPod, up from 14% the year prior. And much of the mobile entertainment boom is driven by Hispanic and African American women who are 1.5 times more likely to own a digital video device than average. This correlates with age to some extent: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of Hispanic American women is 27 compared to 32 for African-American women and 37 for all U.S. women.
Typical owner of a video iPod has 5 videos or movies on the device, with TV shows at the top in terms of popularity (33% have one), followed by full-length movies (24%) and music videos (20%). User-generated content such as clips from YouTube and similar only made up a small proportion of content on these devices (11%).
More than half the moms said they share their digital media player with their kids. And 77% of moms have at least some content like movies or TV shows for their kids on their device.
Despite increasing popularity of mobile devices and more frequent use of online video, movies online is a hard sell: 9% of American women online downloaded a movie in the past month, and only one-third of those (3%) actually paid for it. This contrasts with 61% who streamed free short videos in the past month or 22% who watched longer-form video for free on a TV network website or a destination such as Hulu.com
Technical: this post is a part of a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on over 2,000 in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media. This release contains information from the DVD chapter of the study. Women & Digital Life is an independent syndicated study conducted by SRG (Solutions Research Group). The fieldwork for this study was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women consumers 12+. The sample captures all major population segments, e.g., parents with preschool kids, tweens or teens, young women, and empty nesters. Sample design included an oversample of African-American and English-speaking Hispanic women. Where applicable, the results are compared to a similar study undertaken by SRG in 2007 among 1,508 women, plus focus groups conducted over a 2-year period. For more on the reports, click here or keep up with Women & Digital Life on Twitter.
OVER HALF OF American women say they are game-players, in one form or another. And their favorite console game is Guitar Hero.
While their participation in console gaming (Wii, PS2, XBox and handhelds) remained steady at just over one-third (35%), as compared to a year ago, 54% now report playing PC/web games.
The information comes from SRG’s Women and Digital Life study, which is based on in-depth interviews with 2,000 women aged 12 and older.
“Gaming is one of the most dynamic forms of entertainment, perhaps its no wonder that in our current economic climate, women are looking to escape digitally,” said Donna Hall, co-author of the study.
One-in-three Women into Console Games
Gaming with consoles and handhelds shows considerable popularity with younger women (62% play vs. 35% average) and moms with kids under 12 (45%). But even among women 40+, one-in-five plays console or handheld games.
While the Sony PlayStation 2 maintains the lead in terms of console most women play with at least occasionally (49%), Nintendo’s Wii is gaining among American women. And actually, console gamers identified the Wii as their favourite (26%) followed by the PS2 (23%), the Nintendo DS handheld (11%) and then Xbox 360 (9%). Interestingly, iPod Touch and iPhone are now in the top 8 for women as a gaming platform.
Among the games themselves, Guitar Hero was the most popular, followed by the Mario series and Wii Fit.
“Another reason for the increasing popularity of gaming among moms is an opportunity to spend time with the kids. Guitar Hero provides a nostalgic music experience for moms while actively engaging a child on their own turf. No wonder it is the most popular game,” said Donna Hall.
87% of moms play video games with their kids at least some of the time and 57% play at least once weekly.
The research also found that Hispanic women are big gamers with both consoles and handhelds (46% play, vs. 35% average). African American women were also above-average (41%). Interestingly, both of these demographic groups are also younger than average—according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of Hispanic women is 27 compared to 37 for all U.S. women. And the median age of African-American women is 32.
Over Half Play Casual PC/Web Games
54% of women play web-based or PC games regularly—among those 12-24, 62% play and among moms, 61%. Card games are very popular, as are puzzles and various version of Solitaire.
For web-based games, POGO was the top web game destination, the portals Yahoo! and MSN ranked in 2nd and 3rd positions. And when moms surf with kids to play, their top destinations are Disney, Webkinz, Pogo, PBS Kids or Nick Jr.
And Still More Games on the Wireless Device…
27% of women played a game on their cellular phone in the past month. Moms were a little more active (30%). Interestingly over half of moms (55%) share their wireless device with their kids for texting or game
Technical: this is the third in a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on over 2,000 in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media. This release contains information from the Gaming chapter of the study. Women & Digital Life is an independent syndicated study conducted by SRG (Solutions Research Group). The fieldwork for this study was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women consumers 12+. The sample captures all major population segments, e.g., parents with preschool kids, tweens or teens, young women, and empty nesters. Sample design included an oversample of African-American and English-speaking Hispanic women. Where applicable, the results are compared to a similar study undertaken by SRG in 2007 among 1,508 women, plus focus groups conducted over a 2-year period.
To maintain an unbiased perspective, Solutions Research Group funds its own syndicated research. You can find out more on the reports here or keep up with Women & Digital Life on Twitter.