Nine in ten U.S. adults today use at least one mobile device. Mobile phones have truly become an essential part of consumers’ every day lives, and email marketers can easily capitalize on this immense market if they plan and segment their campaigns strategically. Recently released consumer reseach from Experian Simmons reveals the following key trends that provide deep insight on the traits and characterstics of the mobile consumer today:

• The most popular mobile function today – aside from talking – is taking pictures, which 70% of mobile phone owners do each month.
• Adults under age 50 are the most likely to be mobile users with 93% owning a mobile phone today.
• Over 78% of adults over the age of adults over age 60 are now mobile.
• Fully half of cell phone users simultaneously engage with some other medium while on their mobile. TV is the most common media distraction with 21% of mobile phone owners watching TV while using the phone
• Thirty-one percent of mobile phone owners check personal email on their phone and 21% check their work email.

To learn more about what research by Experian Simmons has to say about today’s mobile consumers, we recommend reading the “Mobile marketing” section of our latest report, the 2010 Digital marketer: Benchmark and trend report.

Source: Experian Simmons Fall 2009 Consumer Study/National Hispanic Study

Today’s consumers are more connected to their electronic devices and gadgets than ever before. To provide insight on the demographic traits and behavioral tendencies of the consumers that purchase electronics in America, Experian Simmons analyzed relevant information from its 2009 National Consumer Study and New Media Study. Key findings include:

• Seventy-one percent of new TV buyers in 2009 reported purchasing either an LCD or plasma TV, more than double the rate in 2006
• Nearly half of all TV buyers reported that the screen size of their most recent purchase was 40 inches or larger
• Between 2006 and 2009, ownership of VCRs among US households dropped 13% to 79%. Meanwhile, DVR ownership doubled
• The most popular mobile function today is taking pictures, which 70% of mobile phone owners do each month
• Video gaming among adults grew a relative 9% between 2007 and 2009, with half of almost all adults now saying they own or play games

Travel tends to peak during the holiday season and late winter months.  But given the state of our economy and financial changes that have occured over the last year, how have American’s travel habits shifted? A review from the Experian Simmons Summer 2009 and Summer 2008 full-year National Consumer Studies shows that domestic vacation travel is slightly down in comparison to years past. Key trends and statistics include:

• Over the past year, all modes of transportation, except for buses, have seen a decrease in the percentage of vacationing Americans using them for travel. This likely due to the fact that fewer Americans are vacationing away from home.

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The highly-anticipated 2009 NFL Season is now upon us. With free agency and today’s transient popluation, many fans show their allegiance to specific players rather than teams – and over the past years their loyalties have poured into their fantasy football leagues.

Experian Simmons reviewed data from its Spring 2009 National Consumer Study/National Hispanic Consumer Study to gain insight on Americans who play in fantasy sports leagues. For this report, this consumer is defined as being very or somewhat interested in the NFL and having participated in a sports fantasy league in the last 12 months. Certain trends were uncovered specific to this group, including:

• Fans that work full-time and are employed by others are the Americans most likely to have participated in a fantasy sports league during the last 12 months.
• Those who are most likely to have participated in a fantasy sports league are between the ages of 18 and 44; and close to a third of them are between 25 and 34 years old.
• They are most likely to have never been married.

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With Mother’s Day close behind us, we thought that now would be a good time to reflect on the defining characteristics, such as household composition, income and lifestyle, that make up today’s American family. We also want to take a closer look at the every day family dynamics which affect how our children are raised.

Listed below are some key findings on these timeless topics of interest:

• 30.4% of U.S. households include children 17 years or younger. This represents over 34 million total households which provide care to America’s future generations.
• 19% of households with children under 18 are married, 11% are single (separated/divorced/widowed) and 9% have never been married.
• Today the majority of households have some type of child-care inside their own homes. Group centers are next in popularity, followed by care in another home.
• There seems to be, over the first three periods, a growth in married families and a decline in single-parent households. Up until this past fall, married households grew three percentage points, from 17 million to almost 20 million total households.

Source: Experian Simmons National Consumer Study, Fall 2008, Full Year

Baseball season is in full-swing! To celebrate this national pastime and shed some light on common characteristics and behavioral tendencies of baseball fans in America, Emailresponsibly.com would like to share some interesting facts and statistics from Experian Simmons’ National Consumer Study.

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Although the number of Americans watching March Madness (15%) ranks behind the NFL’s Super Bowl (38%) and MLB’s World Series (22%), the sport has quite a distinct following. Firstly, college basketball fans tend to be slightly older. In fact, Americans in the 18-24 year old age bracket are 4% less likely to be very or somewhat interested in college basketball than those 45 years of age and older. Read on for more statistics and trends pertaining to those most likely to be following March Madness this month.

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