Women with children at home are more likely to use Facebook (60.3%), MySpace (42.4%), and Twitter (16.5%) than average adults (50.2%, 34.4%, 15.0%, respectively), according to a newly released survey conducted by BIGresearch in collaboration with the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA). Additionally, 15.3% maintain their own blog.
The survey looked at moms’ shopping patterns, media usage, and responses to different types of promotions and advertising. Of the 4,206 mothers polled, 62.2% work outside the home, 17.7% are homemakers and the remainder are either retired (1.9%), disabled (1.3%), unemployed (4.1%), or in school (5.7%).
Social Media
One of the most important findings of the study is that mothers, compared with adults 18 and older, are more likely to regularly or occasionally use social networking sites like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook:
“Twitter, Facebook, and blogs are becoming increasingly popular with moms as they search for coupons or deals and keep in touch with loved ones. The web provides efficient, convenient ways for brands to stay in front of their most loyal shoppers and attract new ones,” said Mike Gatti, executive director for RAMA.
Advertising and Promotions
When asked to rank on a scale from 0 to 5 what types of promotions most influence their purchases, moms gave product samples in the store the highest marks (3.8), followed by product samples delivered to home (3.6), loyalty cards (3.5), and special displays in stores (3.4):
A key finding of the survey is that a majority of mothers feel it’s an invasion of their privacy to have retailers text them (66.5%) or leave voicemails on their cell phone (58.1%).
Word-of-Mouth
Nine out of ten (93.6%) mothers regularly or occasionally seek the advice of others before buying a service or product, according to the survey, and nearly all (97.2%) said they give advice to others about the products or services they purchased:
Media and Multitasking
Moms are big on text-messaging and otherwise using cell phones:
When asked what activities they enjoy doing while simultaneously talking on their cell phone, most mothers said they prefer listening to the radio, watching television, and using the internet:
Blogs
Half (51.3%) of surveyed moms reported that they regularly or occasionally read blogs, and 15.3% maintain their own blogs:
Where Moms Shop
Some 32.9% of moms prefer department stores for buying their own clothes. But for children’s clothes, 30.7% percent said they head to discount stores. Moms also most prefer discounters for toys (45.0%) and personal health and beauty products (45.5%).
What Moms Do During Downtime
Asked which media they prefer to use, the majority of mothers surveyed ranked TV as their top choice (91.2%), but checking email (90.3%), surfing the internet (86.2%), and listening to the radio (80.3%) were also high on their lists:
The Food Network, The Discovery Channel, Disney Channel, and TLC ranked among mothers' favorite TV channels. Other forms of entertainment they turn to during downtime include magazines (specifically People, Cosmopolitan, and Woman’s Day) and daily newspapers:
Other findings:
- Nearly three-quarters (73.1%) of the moms surveyed said they enjoy dining out, compared with 67.7% of average American adults who said the same.
- At the same time, moms like to cook (50.3%) more than other adults (42.1%).
- Moms enjoy working on home improvement projects slightly more than most adults (27.8% vs. 26.9%).
About the data: BIGresearch's Simultaneous Media Usage Survey (SIMM 14) was compiled for the Retail Advertising & Marketing Association, a division of the National Retail Federation. The survey polled 4,206 moms and 22,624 adults 18+ and was conducted April 29–June 18, 2009. “Moms” are defined as woman with children at home who are under 18 years of age.
