Digital may be on the rise, but new data suggest that mums are spending an average of 21 hours a week watching TV.
The study, from agency Carat, looks at the media habits and attitudes of four types of mums ahead of Mother’s Day
Key findings:
· TV is still the most consumed media – ahead of online
· 69% agree that vouchers and offers persuade them to try brands
· 60% access the internet via a smartphone at least once a week whilst 41% access the internet via a tablet
· 41% use the internet to play games
· 89% of mums say they are the ones responsible for the main grocery shopping ‘almost all the time’
The research revealed that these mums – with children aged from new-born to 17 years old – could broadly be grouped into four archetypes: Millennial Mum, Earth Mum, C-Suite Mum and Juggling Mum – all with slightly different attitudes and behaviours.
“In an increasingly digital economy, it’s important to really understand people, what they like, what their motivations are and of course how we can reach them effectively,” said Dan Hagen, Chief Strategy Officer for Carat UK. “CCS provides us with a great bedrock of understanding which we can then supplement with digital and social data to create really rich pictures of people for our clients.”
Of the 1,488 mums of children aged zero to 17 years old surveyed (with the data set then extrapolated to create a GB representative sample of 5.5m), the following can be observed:
Media habits:
· TV is still the most consumed media ahead of online
o An average of 21 hours per week is spent watching TV, meanwhile 18 hours are spent online
· Mums consume three hours of catch-up TV a week
· Mums spend six hours on social media weekly
· 60% access the internet through their smartphones at least once a week
· 41% access the internet through their tablet at least once a week
Purchasing habits:
· 89% say they are the ones responsible for the main grocery shopping ‘almost all the time’
· 82% agree that they shop around to make sure they get the best deal they can
· 75% agree that when purchasing expensive item they research first on internet
· 69% agree that vouchers and offers persuade them to try brands
Social media habits:
· 61% access their Facebook account at least once a week
· 26% have WhatsApp – 21% use WhatsApp at least once a week
· 23% have a Twitter account
· 31% use social media to watch video content
· 28% use social media to update their status / tell people what they are up to
· 26% use social media to take and upload a video / photo
· 25% use social media to play games
Why they go online:
· 74% send / receive an email at least once a week
· 51% manage their personal finances at least once a week
· 48% use instant messaging services at least once a week
· 41% use the internet to play games
· 38% take pictures / video clips at least once a week
· 38% make an online purchase at least once a week
The research revealed additional attitudes and behaviours of the four types of mother. All the times below are reported per week.
Millennial Mum – 2.2m
Age: 18-34
Average income. Technology is very important for her as it helps her keep up to date with the world and her friends. She cares about her appearance but is not high fashion. She wants to have a healthy lifestyle. She enjoys a good piece of advice about children – their nutrition, their psychology etc. She is busy as she is trying to accommodate all her responsibilities in only 24 hours. She wants to keep a balance between her role as a mother and her role as an individual. She is a new mother and it’s difficult at the moment. She doesn’t want to let her career stagnate but at the same time she has to dedicate a lot of time to her child. Flexible working hours are important to her. She wants to be able to leave on time to pick up her child from nursery and occasionally she has to work from home due to illness or other factors.
· Time spent watching TV: 21 hours
· Time spent on social media: 5 hours
· Time spent watching catch-up TV: 3 hours
· Time spent on the internet: 17 hours
Earth Mum – 1.2m
Age: 45+
Not affluent. Her career is not her number one priority. She cares about the environment and pays attention to brands that have reduced packaging or taken other CSR measures. She cares a lot about the spiritual side of life. She is unconventional and does not like to compromise. She is unconcerned with clothing or fashion and is certainly not trendy. She cares deeply about poorer countries and if she has time or the opportunity she is happy to support less fortunate people. She does not spend a lot of time on media in general being neither a big TV nor internet fan. She believes there are more productive ways of spending her time.
· Time spent watching TV: 18 hours
· Time spent on social media: 3 hours
· Time spent watching catch-up TV: 3 hours
· Time spent on the internet: 14 hours
C-Suite Mum – 1.1m
Age: 25-44
She is affluent and career focussed. She has succeeded in combining her career with parenthood. She is a very modern and aware of both fashion and technology. She exercises and cares about her health and appearance spending on clothes and grooming products. She aspires to leadership and often is a seen as one. Interestingly, she is the only mum that spends more time online than watching TV.
· Time spent watching TV: 22 hours
· Time spent on social media: 4 hours
· Time spent watching catch-up TV: 4 hours
· Time spent on the internet: 25 hours
Juggling Mum – 1.0m
Age: 35-44
Not affluent. This mum feels pulled in all directions. She wants to work but is currently working part time or in the home. She wants to find a way to be good at everything. She has a lot going on and may be divorced. She does not like change. She worries about balancing being happy and calm whilst also being a mother that has to work to support her family. She struggles to fit everything in her timetable. She wonders what others think of her. Sometimes she assumes people dislike her. In terms of media habits she watches a lot of TV but hasn’t become the biggest online fan.
· Time spent watching TV: 21 hours
· Time spent on social media: 4 hours
· Time spent watching catch-up TV: 2 hours
· Time spent on the internet: 15 hours
Source: Carat