Millennial Parents Seen to be Early Tech Adopters

January 15, 2020

Fullscreen Millennial Use of Tech by Parental Status Jan2020There’s been a lot of talk about Millennials, from what influences their purchasing habits to which technology they prefer to use for online shopping. But as more Millennials become parents, how is their use of technology changing? Here’s what a Fullscreen survey of 1,500 respondents ages 13-37-years-old discovered.

First off, Millennial parents (dubbed “Parennials” by Fullscreen) are early tech adopters. They are 9% more likely to say they are the first of their friends to try new products and are 2.5 times more likely than non-parent Millennials to own emerging technology products. Indeed, Perennials are more than twice as likely as non-parent Millennials to own a voice assistant (47% vs. 22%).

Parennials are also more likely than their non-parent counterparts to regularly use video streaming (66% vs. 55%), a tablet (51% vs. 44%) and a smartwatch (37% vs. 21%). The one type of technology analyzed they are less likely to use regularly is a smartphone, although the difference is relatively minor. Both groups of Millennials have reached near-total smartphone penetration, aligning with recent Pew Research data showing that 93% of US Millennials own a smartphone.

The research also found that fathers are more likely than mothers to own new technology, particularly when it comes to voice assistants. Some 55% of dads own a voice assistant device, compared to 37% of moms. Overall, Parennials use these devices to access general information (69%) and to stream music (67%), although fathers are more likely than moms to use a voice assistant for to-do lists, to help with household chores, and to add events to their calendar.

Parennials More Likely to Use Facebook and YouTube

A full 92% of Parennials say they use Facebook (compared to 88% of non-parent Millennials), while 86% say they use YouTube. (vs. 79% on non-parent Millennials). An equal number (65%) of Millennials, with or without children, use Instagram.

In 2019, Comscore reported that Millennials (18-34-years-old) were more likely to use the relatively new social media platform TikTok than other age group in the US. This more recent survey points out that more Parennials (6%) are using TikTok than non-parent Millennials (4%), although these figures show that adoption rates remain low, likely due to TikTok still being mostly for teens.

Separately, the research indicates that Parennials are using social media as a way to decompress (74%), view content that makes them happy (73%) and to focus on their personal interests (67%). And, while many are concerned with inappropriate content (62%), predators (59%) and bullying (38%) when it comes to their children’s exposure to social media, they are more likely to agree that social media has a positive impact than those without children.

Video Gaming = Family Time

Half (50%) of Parennials report that their child uses a video gaming system on a regular basis. Parennials are also gaming, with some 46% saying they play video games regularly, a higher incidence than reported by non-parent Millennials (41%). That being said, Parennials are only spending slightly more time gaming (3.7 hours per week) than non-parent Millennials (3.3 hours per week). The report hypothesizes that this time gaming is part of family time, much like those that co-view video content with their children.

About the Data: The report’s findings are based on a survey of 1,500 Americans ages 13-37. “Parennials” are respondents ages 25-37 with at least 1 child while non-parent Millennials are others ages 23-37.

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