• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, September 18, 2009

When it comes to online marketing, it turns out that the recession may be creating even more differences between women with and without kids, reports a new study from Prospectiv. "We knew they'd have different behavior," says Jere Doyle, CEO of the Wakefield, Mass.-based online performance marketing company.

"But just how different moms are from single women surprised us a bit. Moms are looking for coupons much more frequently and redeeming them more. And the takeaway for marketers is very different -- moms, for example, are more likely to say they want to hear from brands frequently."

When asked what type of information they are most like to receive by email, for example, 45% of the mothers in the survey say "anything that pertains to my lifestyle," versus 30% of the women without kids. And only 25% of the moms say, "Don't send me anything at all," versus 35% of the non-moms.

Mothers are also far more likely to use product samples offered online (47% versus 38%) and use online coupons (40% versus 34%.) Women without kids are more likely to say that coupons and samples have less impact, and 27% of them say they buy products only when they need them, compared with just 20% of the mothers surveyed.

Doyle thinks many of these changes will be lasting. "So many women say they are using -- and trust -- online coupons, that it seems unlikely they would stop just because the economy picks up," he says. "This is a long-term, sustainable trend."

The survey also turned up a surprising finding, especially for marketers pouring millions into Mommy blogs: Only 1% of moms think blogs are the best way to communicate about a product, compared with 8% of women without kids.

The low credibility that moms give blogs as marketing vehicles is intriguing, considering how popular they have become.

A just-released survey from the National Retail Federation's Retail Advertising and Marketing survey reports that women with children in the home are more likely to use Facebook (60.3%), MySpace (42.4%) and Twitter (16.5%) than average adults (50.2%, 34.4%, 15.0%, respectively). The study also found that an impressive 15.3% of these moms maintain their own blog.