• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, December 15, 2016

Cortana, how many calories are in one pound of body fat? Google, how many miles must I run to burn off one pound? Marketers are still in the holiday throes, but as we get closer to New Year's Eve, the search engines will become inundated with queries related to fitness.

"Fitness buffs" are 49% more likely to have a household income of $100,000 annually, 95% more likely to pay attention to ratings and reviews posted online by other consumers, and 94% more likely to follow their favorite brands or companies on social media, according to data released Thursday.

The data from Hitwise, a Connexity company, suggests that fitness buffs are highly reliant on their mobile devices, which makes sense. In fact, they are 45% more likely than the average person to think their cell phone is an expression of who they are, and are 25% more likely to purchase products advertised on their cell phones. 

As part of Bing's top-searched moments in 2016, the search engine released its top search trends in tech. The iPhone 7 took the No. 1 spot. Self-Driving Teslas came in at No. 2. Nod to Shop landed at No.3. The 4-inch iPhone came in at No. 4 and SoundCloud rounded out the top handful at No. 5.

Google also released a list of the most popular search terms for 2016, with the iPhone 7 at the top of the consumer tech list. 

Fitness buffs also are 81% more likely than the average person to belong to the Mosaic group classified as "Power Elites," and use keywords "cabelas," "fitbit." "rei" or "bass pro shop" in search queries.

The data analyzes consumers who purchased or visited Web sites for athletic apparel, fitness trackers or workout equipment, and expressed fitness-positive attitudes via panel data for more than four weeks ending October 29, 2016.

Dick’s Sporting Goods, REI, and Basspro.com also ranked high in query results, suggesting that consumers who search for one of these retailers belong in a subset of fitness buffs loving outdoor activities centered on camping, hiking and fishing.

Women, with a medium age of 44, make up 55% of this audience segment that Connexity created. The top indexing age bracket among both males and females is between the ages of 35 and 44, followed by those between the ages of 25 and 34.