EIAA Digital Mums with Young Children

Executive Summary April 2011

Contents Digital Mums with Young Children 1. Theres no such thing as the average mum 2. The mums media use 3. Using the day to communicate 4. Creating a relationship with mums 5. Social media and entertainment 6. Living up to their standards 7. Key findings 8. About the Digital Mums with Young Children Executive Summary

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1. Theres no such thing as the average mum

16% of European women are living with children aged between 0-4 (11% 5-9, 13% 10-15, 6% 15-18) and 65% of these mums with young children use the internet via PC/laptop (51%) or mobile/PDA (14%) weekly across the 15 European countries surveyed1. This, the EIAA Digital Mums with Young Children Report, reveals the wider array of online activities that these mums are engaging with, when compared with women without young children. It is clear that these digital mums with young children are embracing the internet and it is playing an ever increasing role in helping them enrich and manage their busy lives from saving time, to carrying out research and making the most of online entertainment.

The popularity of the internet amongst digital mums with young children varies across Europe it is most popular in Belgium (100%), Norway (97%) and the Netherlands (95%) with more than Digital mums with children access the internet in a variety of locations 95% use the internet at home, 41% go online at work, 7% use the internet on the 9 in 10 using the internet in a typical week. move, 5% log on in an internet caf or hotspot and 3% use the internet at

2. The mums media use

Adept at multi-tasking, mums with young children are also more likely to mesh their media 82% use at least one other media whilst they watch TV (vs. 71% of women without young children) with 4 in 10 using the internet (vs. 30%), 44% reading magazines (vs. 23%), 22% read newspapers (vs. 31%)

Internet emerges as the must have media amongst mums with young children with over 6 in 10 (61%) claiming they would be lost without the internet, nearly three times the percentage of who claim they would be lost without TV (22%). 7% feel lost without radio (vs. 14%), 3% newspapers (vs. 10%) and only 1% would be lost without magazines (vs. 2%)

3. Using the day to communicate

It seems clear that once the young kids are safely in bed, mums with young children are taking advantage of the peace to tackle tasks online or use the web for me-time as logging on in the evening is most popular - 72% of these digital mums access the internet between 5.30pm-9pm, compared with 67% of online women without young children, and mums with young children are 16% more likely to use the internet in the evening than watch TV (72% vs. 62%).

These digital mums with young children spend 17.8 hours online each week, compared with 16.8 hours amongst online women without children, and 73% of these digital mums use the internet every day of the week (vs. 68%).

4. Creating a relationship with mums

82% digital mums with young children keep in touch with friends/relatives more as a result of the internet (vs. 68% of women without young children), 6 in 10 have chosen better products or services as a result of the internet (vs. 47%), half feel better able to manage their finances online (49% vs. 44%) and 4 in 10 of these online mums feel they can better equip themselves for lifestyle changes as a result of the internet (41% vs. 15%).

Digital mums with young children are not ones to fall behind on local and national news and events, they are keeping up with the latest information via the web - 55% regularly visit news sites (vs. 50% of online women without children) and 51% look for local information online (vs. 40%). Alongside news and local information websites, family and kids (57% vs. 18%), clothing and fashion (56% vs. 42%) and banking and finance (50% vs. 41%) sites are also particularly popular amongst digital mums with young children sitting in their top five favourite website types to visit.

5. Social media and entertainment

The top five web activities amongst digital mums with young children also includes email (80% vs. 75% of women without children, communicating via social networks (59% vs. 46%), instant messaging (43% vs. 41%), posting ratings and reviews (35% vs. 28%) and contributing to forums (35% vs. 22%) highlighting that with young children at home the internet is a key communication tool for these digital mums.

The research clearly highlights that digital mums with young children are also developing a deeper involvement with online content in using the internet for relaxation and entertainment 32% watch video online via PC, laptop, mobile phone or PDA (vs. 30% of online women without young children), 32% download TV, film or video clips/content (vs. 20%) and their thirst for entertainment does not stop at online video as downloading music (31% vs. 24%) is also significantly more popular amongst digital mums with young children when compared with online women without young children

6. Living up to their standards

Digital mums with young children are more frequent online shoppers than online women without young children. 92% of all digital mums with young children have shopped online, buying and average of 14 items and spending 643 in just six months compared to 14 items and 519 spent amongst online women without children. When looking at the products or services digital mums with children buy on the internet its clear the familys needs and wants are shaping web behaviour with approximately half buying clothes (55%), books (53%) and toys (49%), compared with 39%, 50% and 21%of online women without young children respectively.

When researching or considering a product or service, more than half all digital mums with young children consider both online customers (54%) and experts (52%) reviews important information sources, compared to 43% and 48% of online women without young children respectively. Additionally websites of well-known brands are valued particularly highly amongst digital mums with young children (51% vs. 39%) showing that this group of busy mums are increasingly using online to make purchase decisions. This indicates that online shopping is proving a useful way for mums with young children to get jobs done whilst saving time spent on the high street or in the supermarkets with their babies or very young children - something that is often seen as an unwanted challenge!

7. Key findings
Mums with young children are embracing the internet and the internet is playing a crucial role in helping mums enrich and keep in control of their busy everyday lives

These digital mums with young children are developing a deeper engagement with online content. In addition to task-based activities they are now using the internet for relaxation and entertainment and to engage with other people online

Digital mums with young children are participating and personalising their web experience. They are connecting via social networking sites and contributing to forums and blogs

The online activities and shopping habits of digital mums with young children varies significantly compared to those without young children. Advertisers should be aware of these differences in order to outreach to their target market

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8. About the Digital Mums with Young Children Executive Summary

The Digital Mums with Young Children Executive Summary reveals pan-European insights from the 2010 Mediascope Europe study looking at the impact having a young family has on the media lifestyles of European women. The report reveals the wide array of online activities that women with children aged 0 to 4 are using to enrich different areas of their life, from saving time, to carrying out research and making the most of online entertainment. The industry standard European piece of cross-media consumer research, Mediascope Europe, has been conducted since 2003 and it has made a major contribution to the understanding of changing media consumption patterns, the evolving consumer and e-commerce trends. Mediascope Europe covers consumer use of Internet, Radio, TV, Newspapers, Magazines and the latest study includes mobile internet use for the first time. The study clearly demonstrates the growing shift to interactive media across the European markets surveyed. The 2010 Mediascope Europe study was extended to Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and Turkey in addition to the 10 markets previously covered (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden) to capture the varying ways in which consumers are developing across Europe and assess their similarities and differences. The full 40 slide EIAA Digital Mums with Young Children Report is available now comparing the media habits of mums with children aged 0 to 4 to those women without young children. The report includes both pan-European and regional1 data and looks at the media use of internet (PC and mobile), TV, radio, newspapers and magazines focusing on online habits such as social media, online entertainment and e-commerce and additionally includes some insightful findings from the Yahoo! Report What Women Want (August 2010). For more information and to purchase the report contact: Sarah Botterill Marketing and Research Executive European Interactive Advertising Association sbotterill@eiaa.net www.eiaa.net Phone: +44 1536 712710

Regions included in the full EIAA Digital Mums and Tots Report are Northern Europe: Norway, Sweden, Denmark; Southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Portugal; Western Europe: UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands; Eastern Europe: Poland, Russia, Turkey