Femma Geeks Take Charge: American Women Take to Online TV, DVRs, Games, Social Media

TORONTO, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- American women are now ahead of men in activities ranging from streaming on network TV websites, frequent DVR use and casual gaming to participation in social media such as MySpace and Facebook, according to the results of the Women and Digital Lifestyles report released today by Solutions Research Group.

Among the key findings:

• More women stream TV shows from network TV sites than men -- 15% American online women did so last month compared to 11% of men. Moms with kids under the age of six and English-speaking Hispanic women were the most active women's segments with 19% and 21% streaming, respectively.
• Women in DVR households are more enthusiastic about them. They use their DVRs 9.3 times per week on average, compared to 8.3 for men. And DVR-owner women with kids watch 56% of their TV on a time-shifted basis, much higher than the average of 42% among male DVR owners.
• When it comes to gaming, 70% played a PC game in the last month vs. 69% of men. Among teen girls and young women 12-24, 82% participated and among those 40+, 66% played PC games.
• Men continue to lead console gaming (Xbox, PlayStation, Wii, et al) with 50% participating but the gap is narrowing. Overall, 38% of women played a console game in the last month, up from 35% a year before. Among teen girls and young adults 12-24, 69% play console games (up from 63%) and among 25-29, 55% play console games, up from 47%.
• -- Top handhelds and consoles for girls and women were: Sony PS2, Game Boy, Xbox, Nintendo 64 and DS. Women were also more likely to have a Sony PSP than men. African-American women are particularly engaged in console games, with two-in-three participating.
• Women also lead the social networking crowd where 42% of online women (vs. 41% of online men) visited a social media site in the last month up from 30% the year before. In the "Young Singles" segment, 74% visit social media sites. But even in the older "Empty Nester" segment of online women 40+, participation nearly doubled from 14% to 25% driven by a desire to connect with kids and family.

TOP DIGITAL LIFESTYLE PRODUCTS FOR WOMEN

1. Digital Camera - 24%
2. Wireless/Cell Phone - 23%
3. Game Console/Handheld - 19%
4. Digital Media Player - 14%
5. Laptop - 14%
6. GPS Navigation Unit - 10%

Note: U.S., 12+, bought for self or received as a gift between December 2007 and February 2008

• Shop till you click? Although "Empty Nester" women over 40 were less likely to be above-average in any aspect of technology use, the major exception was online shopping. Sixty-four percent of empty nester online women bought something online compared to only 55% of women 25-39 and 58% of men.
• The biggest gap between men and women related to movie and TV show downloads (peer-to-peer sites or sites like iTunes) where men were 1.5 to 2 times more likely than women to participate.
• And interestingly, while men were more likely to transfer songs from their PC to a portable unit, women were more likely to transfer photos from their digital cameras to their PCs, underlining the importance of lifesharing aspect of social media for women.

Women and Digital Lifestyles special analysis was designed to understand the emerging digital lifestyles of American women and key drivers of adoption in four lifestages: young singles, moms with young kids, moms with tweens/teens and empty nesters. The primary data source for the analysis is SRG's Digital Life America syndicated study based on tracking studies of the U.S. online population and accompanying focus groups. The special analysis is based on trending interviews with 1,508 online U.S. women between October 06 and November 07, complemented by 517 additional interviews in February 08. The sample for the study represents the regional, age and ethnic make-up of the U.S. women's online population on a proportionate to population basis.

SOURCE Solutions Research Group

Gartner Says Mobile Technology Vendors Must Better Address Gender Diversity and Demographics in their Products

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sixty-eight percent of the world's population is women and children who could benefit much from mobile technology, but the majority of mobile devices are designed by men, for men, according to Gartner, Inc. The user profile to which most mobile products are targeted is a western adult male (age 20 to 64), but this represents just 32 percent of the global population.

"Mobile products will have to address gender diversity and demographics, evolving and differentiating into a range of consumer products," said Monica Basso, research vice president at Gartner. "This trend, together with the consumerization of IT and progressive evolution of the worker population towards younger individuals and women will force user organizations to re-think their working structures, environments and processes."

At Gartner Emerging Trends Symposium/ITxpo 2008, taking place here through April 10, Gartner analysts discussed the demographic and gender trends that will influence mobile technology adoption.

Gartner says three big trends will affect enterprise demographics through 2018:

• Retirement will be pushed back in developed countries as baby boomers remain in their jobs, pursuing more-diversified career plans.
• Leading enterprises will develop talent programs for people at different career stages, ages and professional cross-roads and cultural, ethnic and gender diversity will rise with workforce migration, increasing activities within emerging countries, and increasing female workforce presence.
• Cultural, ethnic and gender diversity will rise; diversity is a valuable asset that enterprises must embrace to extend the reach and raise the service levels of their IT organization.
• Digital natives will bring new skills, cultures, preferences and expectations, forcing enterprises to pursue discontinuous talent and work practices. Their power within organizations will increase because they have more technological skills; more knowledge and use of social networks and smartphones; greater familiarity with innovative consumer products and business models; and increased ability to retrieve information.

"As a new mix of younger users replaces the less-varied profiles of those retiring, it will be the organizations that best understand the diversity of requirements and expectations that achieve the greatest levels of user productivity and satisfaction," Ms. Basso said. "With more digital natives and women joining organizations, the impact of consumerization on IT will become more visible. Users will demand more choices in the devices, applications and services they use and their preferences will be for consumer products and services rather than traditional business centric ones."

Gartner analysts said that by 2015, people will customize 90 percent of the information, tools, and educational and technological resources they use at work, at home and for entertainment. Personalization is key to meeting different target market expectations and can be pursued in mobile software, services, accessories and devices.

"Despite hundreds of different mobile devices and models available on the market, personalization is very limited today. It is mostly about aesthetics and cosmetics — covers in fancy colors and materials, themes with images and ringing tones, accessories like hanging items and holders," Ms. Basso said. "Normally it does not concern functionality and the form factor, which are rigidly assigned to a device depending on the target market segment. Eventually the form and function of mobile devices will be reinvented."

About Gartner Emerging Trends Symposium/ITxpo

Gartner Emerging Trends Symposium/ITxpo is Gartner's premier event focused on the emerging trends, technologies, business models and new management thinking poised to have a dramatic impact on business, the economy and society. More than 2,000 IT professionals from the world's leading enterprises rely on Gartner's Emerging Trends Symposium/ITxpo event to gain insight into how their organizations can use technology to address business challenges and improve operational efficiency. For more information, please visit www.gartner.com/us/emergingtrends.