Technology has brought about immense change in the lives of American consumers. Today, eight-in-ten U.S. adults access the Internet and seven-in-ten use email and surf the web. Fully nine-in-ten adults have at least one mobile device and four-in-ten send text messages. While Americans wholeheartedly embrace new technology and adopt it quickly, others take a longer time to adjust before integrating new technology into their lives.

A new technology segmentation system developed by Experian Simmons uncovers four distinct groups of consumers to help marketers be more relevant in their targeting efforts and messaging.

• Wizards: “Technology is life”
• Journeymen: “Technology is an important part of my life”
• Apprentices: “Technology is changing my life”
• Novices: “Technology has a limited impact on my life”

As seen in the chart below, Journeymen are the most receptive to hearing about products/services via email and are increasing the amount of time they spend shopping and surfing the Internet. In terms of mobile advertising, Wizards are the best segment to target. They are interested in receiving mobile advertisements and are the most likely to purchase products they see advertised on their cell phones. Click here for more results from the study.

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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With the winter holiday season heading our way, candy consumption will surely rise. Experian Simmons reviewed data from its Spring 2009 Kids Study: Full Year and its National Consumer Study to gain insight on Americans who are most likely to consume candy, as well as what types of candy they prefer. Key findings from the analysis include:

• Seventy-five percent of all U.S. Adults say they eat chocolate or hard candy.
• Ninety-six percent of American children ages 6 to 11 say they eat chocolate or hard candy with little difference across age groups. Older kids, though, indulge more frequently than their younger friends.
• Specifically, kids ages 10 and 11 are 16 percent more likely than the average kid to say that they eat 6 or more servings of candy per month. Young children ages 6 and 7 who are most reliant on their parents for their candy supply are the least likely to have 6 or more servings a month.

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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