Women

Americans may not be as keen to share personal and other content online as citizens in other countries, suggests a survey from Ipsos OTX. The study asked respondents to identify how much they share online - including status updates, feelings, photos, videos, and links. Across the 24 countries tracked, an average of 24% said they'd best describe their amount of sharing as either "most things" or "everything." But that figure dropped to just 15% among American respondents. Read more »

81% of mothers will engage more with a brand if they are offered a reward, details PunchTab in new survey results, with mothers likely to respond to a variety of reward options in several different ways. Financial rewards are highly likely to spur a response, with 83% of respondents saying they would be motivated to engage with a brand if it offered free products and services, and 82% saying the same about receiving gift cards. But non-financial rewards work for many, too: two-thirds would be happy to receive perks associated with "elite" status. Read more »

Roughly 7 in 10 smartphone and tablet owners have tried to make purchases on their device, indicating a high degree of comfort and enthusiasm with mobile commerce, according to a new study commissioned by Jumio and conducted by Harris Interactive. However, two-thirds of this group report having abandoned a purchase due to a problem with the checkout experience. Most commonly, these respondents said they didn't feel comfortable entering their credit card information (51%), while many also blamed a checkout process that took too long (47%) or that was too difficult on their device (41%). Read more »

83% of radio listeners in the US have a profile on a social networking site, according to results from Jacob Media's Techsurvey 9, which surveyed more than 78,000 listeners across the US and Canada. While social networking use is (unsurprisingly) highest among radio listeners aged 18-34 (91.1% in the US and Canada combined), it's also quite high among the 55+ crowd (73.5%). By comparison, a recent Pew survey found that 67% of US internet users have a social networking profile, a figure that drops to 52% among 50-64-year-olds, and just 32% among the 65 and older set. What's more, American radio listeners seem keen to look beyond just Facebook: 29% use Twitter; 21% use Pinterest; and 20% use Google+. Read more »

Mother's Day spending outlooks are mixed, but generally positive, according to recent reports from the NRF, IBISWorld, and Brand Keys. The NRF forecast predicts that the average consumer will spend 11% more on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 12), for an average of $169, with total spending expected to reach $20.7 billion. Brand Key's survey results [pdf] are similar, with celebrants planning to spend an average of $171, for a total of $18.6 billion, which would be a 5% increase from last year. IBISWorld, though, sees total spending reaching a smaller total of $17.1 billion, just 0.2% higher than last year. Read more »

Online video attracts a significant audience, with 1 in 5 or more American adults watching a TV show online (23%), user-generated content (UGC - 31%), or originally produced online video (OPOV - 19%) on at least a monthly basis, per results from an IAB study [pdf] conducted by GfK. But who are these viewers? The study profiles the audience of each online video type, finding that they each skew male, but more so among OPOV viewers. Viewers of original online content also skew older than those who watch TV shows online. Read more »

50% of tablet owners played a video game on their device in the past 30 days, according to [pdf] new data released by GfK MRI iPanel. While tablet owners use a variety of devices to play games, they're most likely to use their tablets, with cells or smartphones (43%), desktops (33%), laptops (32%), and video game consoles (31%) following in recent usage. These device owners feel less of a pull to playing games on MP3 players (12%) and handheld gaming devices (11%), though. Read more »

Roughly 8 in 10 Americans pay attention to travel marketing and advertising, according to results from a survey commissioned by SpringHill Suites, a Marriott International brand. Marketers' efforts seem to have their desired effect, too: 28% of respondents said that the industry's marketing and advertising helps incentivize them to go on vacation. Women were 44% more likely than men to feel that way (33% vs. 23%), and the gap between parents and non-parents was even greater, at 54% (37% and 24%, respectively). Read more »

QR code scanning - once the domain of the younger crowd - is becoming more evenly distributed across various age groups, according to [download page] data released by ScanBuy. The company, which says it processed a new high of 6.7 million scans via ScanLife in March, reveals that 57% of mobile barcode scanners were aged 35 and older in Q1, up from just 41% a year earlier. In particular, the 45-54 (18% share, from 12%) and 55 and older (14%, from 9%) groups represent rapidly growing proportions of scanners. Read more »

Smartphone and tablet owners just can't seem to let go of their devices. Young smartphone owners seem particularly addicted: 3 in 4 check them when they wake up in the morning, while up to 40% check them every 10 minutes. As it turns out, even a vacation won't pry smart devices out of their owners' hands. When they go on vacation, 8 in 10 owners say they take their devices along and use them all the time, compared to slightly more than 1 in 10 who take them but rarely use them. Read more »