Average Person Spends 13 Hours a Week Online

Harris Interactive has released the findings of its latest poll on Internet users. This doesn't come as much of a shock, but people are spending more time online these days.

According to the poll, adult Internet users are spending an average of 13 hours a week online." Of course, people's usage varies greatly; one in five (20%) of adult Internet users are online for only two hours or less a week while one in seven (14%) are spending 24 or more hours a week online," says Harris.

The firm presents the following as highlights from the poll:

- The age groups that spend the most time online are those aged 30-39 (18 hours) and those aged 25-29 (17 hours) and 40-49 (17 hours).

- Half (50%) of all those online bought something on the Internet in the last month.  This includes 62% of those aged 30-39 and 56% of those aged 40-49.

- The number of adults online, now 184 million (80%), has not changed significantly since 2008 and 2007.  This includes those online at work, at home, at school or any other locations.

- However, the number of adults who are online at home has increased to 76% this year, and 75% last year, compared to 70% in 2006, and 66% in 2005.

More findings from the poll can be found here, including more graphs, breaking them down by hours spent each week online by age, purchased online in last month by age, and PC/Internet use trends, as well as the estimated numbers of adults who are online - all by year.


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Women Favor Facebook Over Twitter

The majority (86%) of women are now using popular social networks, a 48 percent increase over 2008, according to a new study by SheSpeaks.

In addition, social networks including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, have become drivers of purchase intent among women, with 50 percent of social media users reporting they have purchased products because of information on social networking sites, and 40 percent have used coupon codes found on social networks.

The largest increase in social media use was among women 50 years of age and over, whose participation grew from 31 percent in 2008 to 70 percent in 2009. Social media participation was up across all age groups this year.

"Last year our members were going online primarily to research purchases, but now they are looking to social media to help them research, guide and facilitate every kind of transaction, from social exchanges to purchases," said Aliza Freud, Founder and CEO of SheSpeaks.

"Women have become more comfortable using social media, and for marketers, the overall growth and habitual use of social media represents opportunities to reach and engage women of all ages, and influence their purchase decisions."

Facebook is the most popular social network among women with 95 percent belonging to the site, up 46 percent from one year ago. MySpace participation declined over the last year (63% to 42%), while nearly 40% of the women surveyed said they have Twitter accounts. Although many women use both Facebook and Twitter, 80% prefer Facebook.

In fact, 25% of those surveyed abandoned Twitter after creating their accounts, while Facebook use only declined 7% for women after creating Twitter accounts. Facebook users also reported they are two times more likely to log in daily (72%), compared to Twitter users (36%).

"Although Facebook is currently more popular than Twitter among women, they each share a purpose in women's lives," said Freud.

"Facebook serves women's need to interact with friends and share photos, while Twitter has become a tool that is primarily used for professional networking and learning about up-to-the-minute news, promotions and deals."

The study also found online video has grown in popularity over the last year. Almost 40 percent of women indicated they frequently watch video and TV content online, and 85 percent say they watch it frequently or sometimes.

"Our members are spending more time watching video on the Web, especially now that more premium content is available," said SheSpeaks CMO Fiona Pietruski. "It is important for marketers to recognize that influential female consumers are spending their time with many types of digital media, where they can be reached with advertising and marketing messaging."
 
 
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Online Video Viewing Continues To Boom

DVR and online video continue to show considerable growth in the U.S., up 21.1% and 34.9 percent respectively, in time spent in the third quarter of 2009, according Nielsen's latest Three Screen Report.

In Q3, the average American watched 31 hours of TV per week, with 31 minutes spending playback mode with their DVR.

In addition, each week the average consumer spent 4 hours on the Internet and 22 minutes watching online video.

The average consumer spent 3 minutes watching mobile video each week.

"Americans today have an insatiable appetite for not only content, but also choice," says Nic Covey, director of cross-platform insights at Nielsen.

"Across all age groups, we see consumers adding the Internet and mobile devices to their media diet - consuming media anytime and anywhere possible."

Online video viewing is also on the rise, with Internet users watching 53 more minutes of video online in Q3 compared to the previous year.

Time spent among overall mobile video viewers remains consistent, with teens reporting the most time spent on average watching mobile, at just over 7 hours per month. Older mobile video users age 45-54 reported viewing 3 hours on their mobile phones each month.

Social networks are becoming a popular source for online video. Time spent viewing video on social networking sites increased 98 percent from October 2008 to October 2009. Older demographics are also helping to drive the growth in video consumption with in social media. The 35 to 49 year old segment increased their viewership time by 37 percent and those over 65 increased their viewership 47 percent year-over-year.

Mobile video viewing continues to grow, with 15.7 million Americans viewing video on their mobile phone in Q3, an increase of 53 percent over last year.
 

 

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Holiday Shoppers Turning To Social Media And Internet

Digital technologies continue to drive a new approach to shopping, with social media and mobile phones becoming key influencers this holiday season, according to a new survey of holiday retail spending and trends by Deloitte.

Social media is gaining traction with 17 percent of consumers planning to use social media during their holiday shopping, and 60 percent plan to use it to find discounts, coupons and sales information, More than half (53%) plans to use social media to research gift ideas, while 52 percent plan to check the gift wish lists of friends and family.

Consumers in all age groups plan to embrace social media over the holidays. While more than half (52%) of those who expect to use social media during the shopping process are in the 18-29 years old age group, 33 percent are in the 30-44 years old age group and 12 percent are in the 45-60 years old age group.

The mobile phone is another digital tool for the holidays that is on track to be used by 19 percent of consumers to help with their holiday shopping. Those consumers plan to find store locations (55%), research prices (45%), find product information (40%), get discounts and coupons (32%) and read reviews (31%). A quarter plan to make a holiday purchase with their phone.

The Internet ranks as a top shopping destination and continues to see steady growth. Nearly a quarter (22%) of consumers indicate they will shop primarily online this year and many are using the Internet to find special offers, with 44 percent of shoppers expecting to use a coupon they get online.

Reviews have become another key online source of information, with 39 percent of consumers indicating they often read consumer-generated reviews of stores or products online, and one-quarter (25 percent) saying they will likely purchase a product this holiday season based on an online recommendation. More than a third (34 percent) say that online consumer reviews and ratings influence their buying decisions more than advertising.

"Consumers are turning to mobile, online and social media during their entire holiday shopping experience," said Stacy Janiak, vice chairman and Deloitte's U.S. Retail leader. "Retailers should consider harnessing this activity to turn browsers into buyers with one-click access to coupons, promotions and purchasing tools."

"This year's leaner in-store inventories may also open the door for retailers to lure customers to their online channels where it is easier to access inventory, no matter where it is located."

The Internet is also changing the traditional store-based purchase process. Almost half of consumers (48%) say they like the convenience of shopping with multi-channel retailers, and 78 percent indicate they have purchased an item in a retailer's store after viewing or researching the product online. In addition 65 percent have done the opposite and purchased an item on retailer's website after viewing it in the store or catalog.

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