EIAA Digital Mums with

Young Children

Executive Summary

April 2011

Contents Page

Digital Mums with Young Children 3

1. There’s no such thing as the average mum 3

2. The mum’s media use 3

3. Using the day to communicate 4

4. Creating a relationship with mums 4

5. Social media and entertainment 5

6. Living up to their standards 5

7. Key findings 7

8. About the Digital Mums with Young Children Executive Summary 8

16% of European women are living with children aged

between 0-4 (11% 5-9, 13% 10-15, 6% 15-18) and 65%

of these mums with young children use the internet via

PC/laptop (51%) or mobile/PDA (14%) weekly across

the 15 European countries surveyed1.

The popularity of the internet amongst digital

mums with young children varies across Europe –

it is most popular in Belgium (100%), Norway

(97%) and the Netherlands (95%) with more than

9 in 10 using the internet in a typical week.

Digital mums with children access the internet in a variety of locations – 95%

use the internet at home, 41% go online at work, 7% use the internet on the

move, 5% log on in an internet café or hotspot and 3% use the internet at

Adept at multi-tasking, mums with young children are also more likely

to mesh their media – 82% use at least one other media whilst they

watch TV (vs. 71% of women without young children) with 4 in 10

using the internet (vs. 30%), 44% reading magazines (vs. 23%), 22%

read newspapers (vs. 31%)

Internet emerges as the ‘must have’ media amongst mums with

young children with over 6 in 10 (61%) claiming they would be

lost without the internet, nearly three times the percentage of

who claim they would be lost without TV (22%). 7% feel lost

without radio (vs. 14%), 3% newspapers (vs. 10%) and only 1%

would be lost without magazines (vs. 2%)

1. There’s no such thing as the average mum

2. The mum’s media use

This, the EIAA Digital Mums with Young Children Report, reveals the

wider array of online activities that these mums are engaging with,

when compared with women without young children. It is clear that

these digital mums with young children are embracing the internet

and it is playing an ever increasing role in helping them enrich and

manage their busy lives – from saving time, to carrying out research

and making the most of online entertainment.

3. Using the day to communicate

It seems clear that once the young kids are safely in bed, mums with young children are taking advantage of the peace to

tackle tasks online or use the web for ‘me-time’ as logging on in the evening is most popular - 72% of these digital mums

access the internet between 5.30pm-9pm, compared with 67% of online women without young children, and mums with

young children are 16% more likely to use the internet in the evening than watch TV (72% vs. 62%).

These digital mums with young children spend 17.8 hours online each week, compared with 16.8 hours amongst

online women without children, and 73% of these digital mums use the internet every day of the week (vs. 68%).

4. Creating a relationship with mums

82% digital mums with young children keep in touch with friends/relatives more as a result of the internet (vs.

68% of women without young children), 6 in 10 have chosen better products or services as a result of the

internet (vs. 47%), half feel better able to manage their finances online (49% vs. 44%) and 4 in 10 of these online

mums feel they can better equip themselves for lifestyle changes as a result of the internet (41% vs. 15%).

Digital mums with young children are not ones to fall behind on local and

national news and events, they are keeping up with the latest information via

the web - 55% regularly visit news sites (vs. 50% of online women without

children) and 51% look for local information online (vs. 40%). Alongside news

and local information websites, family and kids (57% vs. 18%), clothing and

fashion (56% vs. 42%) and banking and finance (50% vs. 41%) sites are also

particularly popular amongst digital mums with young children – sitting in their

top five favourite website types to visit.

5. Social media and entertainment

The top five web activities amongst digital mums with young children also includes email (80% vs. 75% of

women without children, communicating via social networks (59% vs. 46%), instant messaging (43% vs.

41%), posting ratings and reviews (35% vs. 28%) and contributing to forums (35% vs. 22%) highlighting

that with young children at home the internet is a key communication tool for these digital mums.

The research clearly highlights that digital mums with young children are also developing a deeper

involvement with online content in using the internet for relaxation and entertainment – 32% watch

video online via PC, laptop, mobile phone or PDA (vs. 30% of online women without young children),

32% download TV, film or video clips/content (vs. 20%) and their thirst for entertainment does not

stop at online video as downloading music (31% vs. 24%) is also significantly more popular amongst

digital mums with young children when compared with online women without young children

6. Living up to their standards

Digital mums with young children are more frequent online shoppers than online women without young children.

92% of all digital mums with young children have shopped online, buying and average of 14 items and spending

€643 in just six months compared to 14 items and €519 spent amongst online women without children.

When looking at the products or services digital mums with children buy on the internet its clear the family’s

needs and wants are shaping web behaviour with approximately half buying clothes (55%), books (53%) and

toys (49%), compared with 39%, 50% and 21%of online women without young children respectively.

When researching or considering a product

or service, more than half all digital mums

with young children consider both online

customers (54%) and experts (52%) reviews

important information sources, compared

to 43% and 48% of online women without

young children respectively. Additionally

websites of well-known brands are valued

particularly highly amongst digital mums

with young children (51% vs. 39%) showing

that this group of busy mums are

increasingly using online to make purchase

decisions. This indicates that online

shopping is proving a useful way for mums

with young children to get jobs done whilst

saving time spent on the high street or in

the supermarkets with their babies or very

young children - something that is often

seen as an unwanted challenge!

- Ends -

7. Key findings

Mums with young children are embracing the internet and

the internet is playing a crucial role in helping mums enrich

and keep in control of their busy everyday lives These digital mums with young children are developing a deeper

engagement with online content. In addition to task-based

activities they are now using the internet for relaxation and

entertainment and to engage with other people online

Digital mums with young children are participating and

personalising their web experience. They are connecting via

social networking sites and contributing to forums and blogs The online activities and shopping habits of digital mums with

young children varies significantly compared to those without

young children. Advertisers should be aware of these differences

in order to outreach to their target market

The Digital Mums with Young Children Executive Summary reveals pan-European insights from the

2010 Mediascope Europe study looking at the impact having a young family has on the media

lifestyles of European women. The report reveals the wide array of online activities that women with

children aged 0 to 4 are using to enrich different areas of their life, from saving time, to carrying out

research and making the most of online entertainment.

The industry standard European piece of cross-media consumer research, Mediascope Europe, has

been conducted since 2003 and it has made a major contribution to the understanding of changing

media consumption patterns, the evolving consumer and e-commerce trends.

Mediascope Europe covers consumer use of Internet, Radio, TV, Newspapers, Magazines and the

latest study includes mobile internet use for the first time. The study clearly demonstrates the

growing shift to interactive media across the European markets surveyed.

The 2010 Mediascope Europe study was extended to Poland, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and

Turkey in addition to the 10 markets previously covered (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium,

Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden) to capture the varying ways in which consumers are

developing across Europe and assess their similarities and differences.

The full 40 slide EIAA Digital Mums with Young Children Report is available now comparing the

media habits of mums with children aged 0 to 4 to those women without young children. The report

includes both pan-European and regional1 data and looks at the media use of internet (PC and

mobile), TV, radio, newspapers and magazines focusing on online habits such as social media, online

entertainment and e-commerce and additionally includes some insightful findings from the Yahoo!

Report ‘What Women Want’ (August 2010).

For more information and to purchase the report contact:

Sarah Botterill

Marketing and Research Executive

European Interactive Advertising Association

sbotterill@eiaa.net

www.eiaa.net

Phone: +44 1536 712710

1 Regions included in the full EIAA Digital Mums and Tots Report are Northern Europe: Norway, Sweden, Denmark;

Southern Europe: Spain, Italy, Portugal; Western Europe: UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands; Eastern

Europe: Poland, Russia, Turkey

8. About the Digital Mums with Young Children Executive Summary