U.S. Millennial Moms Spend Far More Time on Smartphones Than With PCs or TVs, Says IAB

Mothers’ ownership of smartphones in the U.S. passed that of laptop and desktop computers for the first time, said a fall study on the “lives of moms" by the Interactive Advertising Bureau. IAB's report, released Tuesday, compares technology habits and media behaviors of online moms aged 18-32 in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, China and the U.K. U.S. moms also are spending 35 percent more time online via their smartphones than via computers, it said. Elsewhere, 76 percent of millennial moms in Brazil own smartphones, up from 25 percent in 2012, and 93 percent of U.K. moms own smartphones, up from 73 percent two years ago. China leads the five countries in smartphone penetration among moms at 95 percent (up from 62 percent in 2012), followed closely by Canada at 94 percent, up from 59 percent two years ago, IAB said. Tablet ownership is on the rise, too, with China making the biggest gains, from 15 percent penetration in 2012 to 50 percent, while the U.K. penetration jumped from 18 percent to 66 percent. U.S. millennial moms spend more time with media overall at 8.9 hours daily, up from 8.3 hours in 2012, far more than the 2.8 hours they spend watching TV, IAB said, and more than the 1.7 hours spent on PCs. “With millennials making up the majority of new moms, brands and agencies need to think of this valuable demographic as tech-savvy and mobile-first, if they want to earn their interest and loyalty,” said Anna Bager, IAB senior vice president-mobile and video. The report is based on multiple sources, including an in-depth survey conducted by BabyCenter with 10,533 moms Nov. 3-Dec. 21, with U.S. qualitative research gathered via in-person friendship groups, and a longitudinal six-month online discussion group, IAB said. The U.S. portion of the survey included 2,742 participants, of whom 1,672 were millennial moms.