Forrester Research released a new study Understanding the Changing Needs of the US Online Consumer 2010. It’s a deep survey that interviewed more than 30,000 US consumers about their media habits. Highlights include:
* High speed Internet connections are the norm, with 91% of the population connecting online through broadband.
* Time spent with TV and Internet are now equal. Americans spend an average of 13 hours per week on each.
Time spent with the Internet is up 121% since 2005.
* Time spent with radio (not online), newspapers and magazines is dropping.
The study looked at a variety of online behavior and categorized certain activities as “mass appeal” or not. After email use, which has been adopted by 90+% of the population, shopping online is the most widely popular online activity – in 2007 about one-third of the population was doing so, by this 2010 study more than 60% of respondents shop online. Social networking is the next most popular activity reaching 62 million US Adults. Other activities such as blogging, listening to streaming audio, and IMing are engaging less than one third of the population and will never be mass appeal, according to the study.
Although the study also notes the growing popularity of Internet use with texting and email leading the list of popular activities. Interestingly, despite the fact that listening to music online was basically sidelined by the study as an activity that will never be mass appeal, this chart shows that mobile online listening to music doubled its audience 2007 to 2008 and again 2008 to 2009. Only social networking equaled that rapid growth.
Forrester Research
— Jennifer Lane, President, Audio4Cast.com, has a long career in Internet radio. Read her blog about the business of Internet radio and digital audio at www.Audio4cast.com .
