Moms are probably the single most important demographic group online because their purchasing power and decision-making clout. Various data sources have pegged the “mom market” in the US at nearly $2 trillion annually in household spending. Yet moms haven’t been associated with mobile to any great degree.
That’s all about to change according to research released today by BabyCenter that underscores the growing importance of “mobile moms.” The study was based on “the opinions and behaviors of more than 5,000 moms and members of the general population as well as an ethnography study of 23 moms that included over 1,000 text logs, 200 video entries, and 32 hours of in-home interviews.”
It found that 59% of the mom-respondents had smartphones. General smartphone penetration is just above 30% in the US.
According to the report moms’ adoption of smartphones has grown dramatically over the past 24 months. Just over 50% of mom-respondents said that they bought a smartphone because they had a child. And their mobile behavior is quite different than it was before they had kids.
Here’s the mom smartphone-features usage hierarchy:
- Camera
- Video camera
- Apps (roughly 52% of the moms said that they had 10 or more apps downloaded with “nearly 25%” of those tied to their kids in some way)
Smartphone mom use cases:
- Health: 33% of moms have used their smartphone for family related health and wellness in the past month (much more than average)
- Social networking: moms are also 40% more likely than average to use their smartphone for social networking: reading newsfeeds (56%), status updates (54%), and reading answers to questions (48%).
- Shopping: 68% of moms use their smartphone while shopping (checking reviews and prices)
Mobile moms spend more time with mobile than other media — much more time it turns out:
The graphic above has got to be sobering for agencies and publishers: more than 2X time spent with mobile vs. TV and 1.5X time spent vs. PC. And recall that the sample here isn’t 200 – 300 respondents, it’s 5,000.
In terms of mobile ads, almost half (46%) of respondents indicated they took some type of action in response to an ad on their phones, with a remarkable 31% saying they purchased the product in the store later:
One final interesting observation: most data on mobile web activity argues evenings and weekends are peak usage times. But for this group morning and early afternoon saw the heaviest usage activity. Other than the time spent with media chart, this is perhaps the most striking finding.
People have argued that the only way to reach teens is via SMS. By the same token the most effective way to reach this all-important demographic — moms — may soon be mobile.
March 30th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
I can speak from personal experience and from what I’ve observed with my mom friends this research seems to be spot on. Great post!!!
March 30th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Thanks
March 31st, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Makes me think of my wife and mobile phone usage. Shes loves Groupon and Living Social. Spot on!
April 7th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
Excellent post.
April 13th, 2011 at 7:03 am
[...] Litmus: Android testing live Screenwerk: Forget ’18-34′ Men, Mobile Is about Moms [...]
May 5th, 2011 at 10:29 pm
I’m a working Mom. If I spent 6 hours a day on a smart phone I wouldn’t have time to spend with my kids or do my job. Are these Moms employed? Do they cook dinner for their families? I don’t know how they fit it in
May 5th, 2011 at 11:17 pm
Lots of coffee I suppose.
May 9th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
[...] the target audience, moms, are now heavy users of smartphones. I recently wrote up some impressive data from BabyCenter about “mobile moms” and smartphone [...]
July 1st, 2011 at 10:11 pm
[...] other times within the neighborhood or even miles away. Each distance presents an opportunity.In recent research of more than 5,000 mobile consumers, 31% said that they most typically research something on their [...]
July 2nd, 2011 at 4:24 pm
[...] recent research of more than 5,000 mobile consumers, 31% said that they most typically research something on their [...]
July 2nd, 2011 at 5:45 pm
[...] recent research of more than 5,000 mobile consumers, 31% said that they most typically research something on their [...]
July 2nd, 2011 at 6:02 pm
[...] recent research of greater than 5,000 mobile consumers, 31% said that they most typically research something on [...]
July 3rd, 2011 at 10:07 am
[...] recent research of more than 5,000 mobile consumers, 31% said that they most typically research something on their [...]
November 14th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
[...] much more interesting and substantive piece of survey research about mobile moms came out in March from BabyCenter. Among other findings the survey (n=5,000) [...]
December 6th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
I kicked and screamed and insisted that I didn’t need an iPhone four years ago when my husband bought one for me. At that time my daughter was 2 1/2. Now, four years and four iPhones later, it is by my side at all times. My usage mirrors your graphs nearly exactly. I use for everything. I can’t imagine life as a busy working mom without it!!
March 30th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
Are you kidding me? My moms attached to her phone 24/7, well she sleeps at night, but what I’m saying is that she’s so addicted to her phone, It’s just drives me crazy always seeing her so into her Smartphone, when she talks to me even then she is busy with her phone
April 23rd, 2012 at 8:56 pm
In truth all Moms are addicted to their phone!