• by Kate Kaye , March 29, 2004

If she's at work, she's probably online. That's what a study of working women's media usage and buying habits, released today by The Washingon Post Co.'s washingtonpost.com and Nielsen//NetRatings, suggests.

As measured by Jupiter Research this year, 63 percent of all U.S. women are online, and this number will increase to 70 percent by 2006. These household purchase decision-makers frequently use the Web for utilitarian purposes such as product research. As the washing machine and crock pot were to previous generations, the Internet is now viewed as a helpful tool--and then some--for women with responsibilities inside and outside the home.

Stating the obvious: "Working women generally tend to be busier," confirms Marc Ryan, senior director of analysis for Nielsen//NetRatings. "They seem to be more apt to do whatever they can to get everything done by taking advantage of time savers."

In conducting the study, says Caroline Little, CEO and publisher of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, the online publisher's goal was to assist its advertisers in understanding "a very massive audience" of daytime working women. "The only way you can reach these people is through the Internet," she claims. The research supports her contention. More than 60 percent of working women recommend using online advertising to reach them, compared to 41 percent who recommend using TV ads.

The study analyzed a panel of 825 women and 226 men who regularly access the Internet. More women were included, explains Ryan, "to dig deeper into the sample." According to the study's criteria, a working woman is over the age of 18 and works somewhere with access to the Internet--either at home or outside the home. Participants were gathered from across the Web to represent a general population sample.

The Nielsen//NetRatings/washingtonpost.com study found that 60 percent of working women who use the Web say they don't have enough time for their personal lives, compared to 48 percent of working men online. Working moms are even more strapped for time; 70 percent say they don't have enough of it. Their usage of TV, the Internet, and radio is significant. Nearly 80 percent of working women spend at least one hour watching television daily, 60 percent spend over an hour online each day, and around 50 percent listen to the radio for more than an hour a day. Over 75 percent of working women with titles of vice president or higher rank spend more than one hour online each day. In contrast, less than 10 percent of working women spend more than an hour daily with newspapers and magazines.

While other media such as TV and print are seen as time sappers, the Internet helps working women use their precious moments more efficiently.

According to the study, 70 percent of working women are unlikely to remove the Internet or radio from their routines when looking to save time, but more than half would halt TV, newspaper, and magazine consumption. In addition, around half have increased their use of the Internet recently, while 25 percent have decreased their usage of other media.

"I am able to take care of many business and personal issues online while I'm thinking about them and have the time," notes one study participant. "I can run errands, shop, pay bills, research for work, etc.-- all within a shorter span of time than if I was actually out and about running those errands," writes another.

Shopping and product research appears to be the Web's most relevant purpose for working women. Almost 90 percent say they can do more product research via the Internet than offline, and 87 percent say product research is made easier online. For example, over 80 percent have conducted online research before purchasing travel products or services offline.

"This goes with the general theme of 'I'm strapped for time; I need to make my life easier and the Internet makes my life easier,' " affirms Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive's Little.

One study participant who conducts real estate research and tracks investments online comments: "I am able to research purchases online much more thoroughly than I would ordinarily; this makes me a better-informed consumer. ... The list of benefits to me is endless."