• by April 18, 2002

Jupiter Media Metrix today reports that Internet usage more heavily affects the television viewing habits of women with children than women without children in the U.S. According to the first report from Jupiter's new Online Behavior & Demographics service, 44% of women with children admit that their usage of the Internet decreases the time they spend watching TV. Jupiter analysts forecast that marketers and publishers will have the opportunity to reach more than 49 million women online between the ages of 18 and 49, in addition to another eight million female college and graduate students by 2006.

"Because women with children often have time constraints, and therefore a limited time budget for media consumption, increased use of the Internet is more likely to cannibalize time that was once spent watching television," said Jon Gibs, Jupiter Research analyst. "Advertisers and programmers interested in reaching mothers should therefore consider increasing their online marketing efforts relative to TV advertising."

The debut Report from Jupiter's newly launched Online Behavior & Demographics service - titled "Demographic Profile: Women Online" – reveals that women with children enjoy using the Internet to play games online (29%), download music (29%) and conduct research for school and homework-related projects (40%). In contrast, women without children are more inclined to turn to the Internet for utility-related activities, such as making travel arrangements (54%), doing research for work (41%), checking stock quotes (20%) and reading the news online (47%). In addition to segmenting female Web users by popular online activities, the Jupiter Research Report examines women's Web site visitation habits, attitudes toward online advertising and online shopping patterns.

"Now more than ever, all companies, regardless of their particular industry or market segment, need to know as much as possible about the online audience and customer," said Evan Cohen, senior vice president of data research for Jupiter Research. "Jupiter's Online Behavior and Demographics service provides the baseline understanding of online population trends that businesses are looking for to build targeted marketing strategies."

Women with Kids Looking for Deals Online

According to a Jupiter Consumer Survey, 41% of women with kids say they buy things online on sale that they wouldn't have bought otherwise. This subset of women also tend to use coupons obtained online for local services (23%) and grocery products, such as food (50%) and household products (43%), far more often than women without kids. On the other hand, women without kids tend to have higher brand affinity as 20% of them say that the brands they use reflect their personality (versus 14% of women with kids).

"Women with kids look for online bargains, while those without children tend to be more brand loyal. Therefore, companies looking to reach women online with kids should focus on price promotions and marketing programs such as online coupons," Gibs said.

Women Without Children Spend More Online

According to Jupiter analysts, women without children spend more money online than women with children. The Survey reveals that 63% of women without children spent over $100 online over the past three months, while only 52% of women with children said the same. Meanwhile, 47% of women with children spent $100 or less online in the previous three months, while this was true for only 35% of women without children. Jupiter analysts attribute these findings to levels of disposable income -which tend to skew higher for women without children.