Access

Gender

US male and female internet users spend their leisure time in different ways, according to the "Magid Media Futures" report by Frank N. Magid Associates and sponsored by Metacafe. For men, the most popular leisure activity in April 2009 was watching TV (18%), followed by using the internet (17%), playing console games (12%) and sports and exercise (11%).

On the other hand, surfing the net (21%) was the most popular activity for female Web users in April 2009, followed by watching TV (19%), reading books (16%) and listening to music (8%).

For both sexes, going online and watching TV were the top two leisure activities. Least popular were reading print media, text messaging and talking on mobile and home phones. With the exception of those ages 55 to 64, more women said going online was their favorite leisure activity than men of the same age. (eMarketer, July 2009)

Mothers are among the most savvy of all online users in the US. They are also one of the larger user groups online. 34 million mothers in the US go online at least once a month, according to eMarketer.

US adult female internet users with children, 2008-2013:
- 2008: 33.9 million
- 2009: 34.3 million
- 2010: 34.7 million
- 2011: 35.1 million
- 2012: 35.6 million
- 2013: 36.1 million

Mothers are the key decision-makers for many family purchases, and increasingly the information they obtain and activities they engage in online affect those decisions. In ways that marketers are only beginning to understand, the internet is influencing mothers and enabling mothers to influence others.

A survey by Razorfish and CafeMom found that websites (24%), referrals from friends and family (21%), information from search engines (19%) and from mobile web browsing (12%) were the most common sources online moms used to make a purchasing decision. The moms were less likely to use TV, magazines, newspapers or radio.

According to Experian Simmons, 70% of online moms made a purchase online in the past 12 months.

When it comes to what moms shop for online, the Marketing to Moms Coalition found that 39% of online moms planned travel, local travel, maps and directions.

Moms surveyed by Razorfish and CafeMom were more likely to have shopped for clothing or accessories (40%) or food/cooking items (31%) online than baby/parenting gear (26%). 21% shopped for travel. (eMarketer, June 2009)

Power Moms (women age 25-54 with at least one child) represent 19.2% of the active online population in the US and they wield more influence than ever before, according to Nielsen Online.

While the importance and use of the internet among moms is seemingly universal, where they spend their time online differs between specific demographic categories:

- Established Moms (those aged 40-50 with 3 or more children at home) are heavy online shoppers. Shopzilla.com was the No. 1 online destination for this demographic group; Established Moms are 92% more likely than the average user to visit Shopzilla. Target and Wal-Mart Stores were No. 2 and 3.

- Top sites visited by Newbie Moms, women aged 25-34 with 1 or 2 children in the home, include several social networking destinations. Newbie Moms are more than twice as likely as the average Web user to visit Blogger and 85% more likely to visit Facebook.

Across the board, moms are increasingly concerned about the economy and seek money saving strategies and solutions online, which in part fuels the digital coupon renaissance taking place. Within Nielsen Online's Power Mom blogger segment, composed of more than 10,000 parenting and mom-oriented blogs, the economy and money saving conversations permeate more than 12% of total messages posted during March and April 2009, up from 8% the year prior.

Mom bloggers review everything from beauty products to cars to inkjets, enabling marketers unparalled reach to their target consumers. In an increasingly connected world, moms seek the wisdom of their online counterparts as trusted advisors, according to Nielsen Online. (Nielsen Online, May 2009)

There were 95.9 million males online in the US in 2009 (or 48.2% of the online population), according to eMarketer. This compared with 103.2 million females.

US internet users by gender, 2008-2013:
- 2008: 93.0 million male (48.2% of the online population) / 99.9 million female (51.8% of the online population)
- 2009: 95.9 million (48.2%) / 103.2 million (51.8%)
- 2010: 98.9 million (48.2%) / 106.3 million (51.8%)
- 2011: 101.4 million (48.1%) / 109.4 million (51.9%)
- 2012: 103.7 million (48.0%) / 112.3 million (52.0%)
- 2013: 105.9 million (47.9%) / 115.2 million (52.1%)

Although the US internet population will continue to grow, by 2013 males will make up just 47.9% of the online population, and at 105.9 million users will still be the minority. (eMarketer, April 2009)

Fewer men than female in the US said they had "never" been online - 15% of males compared with 20% of females, according to a Gallup poll. 53% of males spent more than 1 hour per day on the internet, compared with just 42% of females. By contrast, more females reported being online for an hour or less per day, 19% versus 15% of males.

Frequency of internet usage by US adults, by gender, December 2008 (% of respondents):
- A few times per month or less: 5% of male / 6% of female
- A few times per week: 11% / 12%
- Up to 1 hour per day: 15% / 19%
- More than an hour per day: 53% / 42%
- Never: 15% / 20%
(eMarketer, April 2009)