Men

Experian Marketing Services has released a new report [download page] on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered (LGBT) Americans, analyzing among other aspects their annual income and spending. The report shows that household discretionary spend among gay men trails their heterosexual counterparts ($15,100 vs. $17,400), and the same is the case with lesbian women ($15,000 vs. $16,000). However, on a per capita basis, discretionary spend is higher among gay men ($6,794) than heterosexual men ($6,041). Read more »

Almost 6 in 10 "digital dads" (fathers with children under 18 in the household, who own a smartphone) claim to have acted on a mobile coupon offer, compared to 46% of mothers with smartphones and 31% of those without kids in the household, per results [pdf] from a Placecast survey conducted by Harris Interactive. And digital dads not currently receiving mobile alerts are open to receiving them: 7 in 10 reported being at least somewhat interested in getting them from merchants, provided they were on an opt-in basis. Read more »

A recent study from Arbitron found that when it came to mobile commerce, the top web domains tended to have higher reach than the top applications, but that users tended to spend far more time with the apps. New data from Nielsen [download page] supports that latter finding on a broader level, revealing that in March 2013 both smartphone and tablet (limited to iPad) owners spent far more time with apps than on the mobile web. Overall, smartphone users spent just 13% of their time using the mobile web, and iPad users a relatively larger - but still minor - 24%. Read more »

Tablet adoption is rising quickly, and has reached majority penetration in certain segments of the population, according to [pdf] results from a new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. In the latest survey fielded last month, Pew found 34% of American adults reporting ownership of a tablet, almost double the 18% adoption rate it found in a survey fielded in April 2012. Looking at the demographics of tablet ownership, the latest study finds that adoption spikes in the 35-44 age bracket, and appears to rise alongside educational attainment and household income level. Read more »

Total US spending related to Father's Day (Sunday, June 16, 2013) should reach almost $13.3 billion this year, per results from a National Retail Federation (NRF) and BIGinsight survey. That would mark a 4.5% rise from a projected $12.7 billion last year. While the percentage of adults planning to celebrate Father's Day is relatively flat, at 77.7%, the average celebrant will increase spending by a couple of dollars, to roughly $120. By comparison, Mother's Day spending was expected to reach about $20 billion this year, with the average celebrant shelling out $169. Read more »

Many LGBT mobile owners put their devices to use for travel and shopping, reveals a new study from Digitas. Comparing the shopping activities of gay men and lesbians, the study reveals that much like the population at-large, men are more likely than women to engage in a variety of mobile shopping activities, with gay men more likely to: use mobile scanners while shopping (39% vs. 32%); use shopping applications (38% vs. 28%); and buy items on their mobile devices (32% vs. 29%). The study also finds that roughly one-quarter of respondents have purchased a hotel stay (25%) or flight (23%) from their device in the past 3 months. Read more »

61% of American cell phone owners can be classified as smartphone owners, according to a new study [pdf] from the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. That's slightly higher than a recent comScore estimate of 58% mobile market penetration (though that was in the 13+ population, rather than the adult population), and leads the researchers to note that it means that 56% of all American adults are now smartphone owners. The study notes that smartphone ownership is higher among younger age groups, and similar increases within each group alongside household income level. Read more »

A survey of adult smartphone and tablet owners by Prosper Mobile Insights [registration required] has found that 35% prefer to access the internet via a smartphone and 14% via a tablet, meaning that only a bare majority still prefer to use their desktop or laptop computer. In fact, a slight majority of male respondents prefer to access the internet via a smartphone (36.9%) or tablet (14.9%). Females lean a little more heavily towards the desktop or laptop, as fewer prefer to rely on their smartphones (32.7%). Read more »

A lot has changed in the past 5-10 years, but the endurance of McDonald's as an American fast food icon seems to have stayed firm. According to a new study [download page] from Placed, McDonald's was easily the most popular fast food chain in April of this year, with slightly more than half of Americans visiting one of its restaurants during the month. Back in 2008, McDonald's was rated Americans' favorite quick service restaurant (QSR), and that was for the 5th-year running. In this latest study, Placed finds Subway clearly in the second spot, visited by about 4 in 10 Americans during the month, followed by Starbucks (25%), Burger King (24.7%), and Wendy's (23.8%). A demographic analysis shows large discrepancies in preferences by ethnicity. Read more »

A new analysis of Census Data released by the Pew Research Center details a dramatic rise in the percentage of households with children that count the mother as the primary or sole source of family income. The study indicates [pdf] that the proportion of such households with the mother as primary or sole breadwinner has almost quadrupled in the past half-century or so, from 10.8% in 1960 to 40.4% in 2011. While the majority of those "breadwinner moms" are single mothers (63%), a significant 37% are married mothers who are pulling in more income than their spouses. An accompanying survey by Pew finds the public holds mixed feelings about this trend. Read more »