Moms Love their Smartphones: Study shows mobile is now mainstream
April 13, 2011
By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk
Here are some interesting findings from a recent survey of moms who responded to a study on parenting and mobile. They revealed that they purchased a smartphone as a result of having a child and 51% of them admitted that they are “addicted’ to their smartphone. Their favorite feature is the phone camera of course.The “21st Century Mobile Mom Report” was compiled and released by parenting portal BabyCenter.com. The study included more than 5,000 moms and gives detailed information on how, where, and when moms use their smartphone and the best ways for marketers to reach them. It found that overall adoption of smartphones among mothers has risen 64% in the last two years. At 59% ownership, moms are currently 18% more likely to own a phone that can download apps than the general population.
“The smartphone screen is more intimate than any other medium out there today. The majority of moms sleep with their cell phone next to their bed and more than half check their phone first thing in the morning and last thing before they go to sleep. You can’t say that about any other medium,” said Tina Sharkey, Chairman and Global President of BabyCenter. “Mobile isn’t just a media channel, it’s her constant companion that makes juggling easier. It makes her feel like a better mom.”
Those effects are manifested in the extra time smartphone moms engage with their devices. According to the report, the average smartphone mom spends 6.1 hours a day engaged with her device. That not only more than doubles the average time spent daily on mobile by moms with a standard feature phone (2.5 hours) but it even exceeds the time those feature phone moms spend on the Internet over a PC (5.4 hours) or indeed any medium, including TV.
As the primary purchaser in the family, today’s mom uses mobile in her shopping experience by using tools to research, decide, and buy right in the store. The report found that 68% of moms use their smartphone while shopping – meaning a mom is 15% more likely to do so than average. In fact, nearly half (46%) claim the most convenient time to receive information about a product is when they are in the store. Also, 62% of moms use shopping apps to research or compare prices.
These Moms now also use their smartphone to manage more than just the family schedule. One-third(33%) have used their smartphone for health and wellness in the past month, making a mom 50% more likely to do so than average. Their health and wellness activities include tracking their family’s health (60%) as well as researching health conditions (90%). Moms are also 40% more likely than average to use their smartphone for social networking. Her top three social activities include reading social newsfeeds (56%), updating her status (54%), and reading answers to posted questions (48%).
This report is another justification for marketers to get on with their mobile strategies quickly and figure out the best way to market to these women. Mobile is now mainstream to these new moms and marketers need to understand now how to build meaningful relationships and connections with them. You can read more about BabyCenter's 21st Century Mobile Mom report here.
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