Consumers are spending the same amount online in 2009 as they did in 2008, according to Forrister’s annual report on consumer behavior. But the report shows consumers are much more engaged this year because of social networking activities.
Forrester surveyed 40,000 consumers in the U.S. in January and February to determine habits that are critical to marketers’ understanding of where and how to reach consumers across media channels.
Consumers’ overall time spent with online media is stabilizing
Despite more households having broadband access, most media behaviors remained relatively flat year over year. Overall time spent with the Internet, for example, remained static at about 12 hours per week.
Consumers haven’t traded in their TV sets yet
While a quarter of online consumers are watching full-length TV shows on the Internet, these same consumers are still spending 13 hours a week watching TV offline.
Broadband growth has slowed, but not come to a halt.
Broadband adoption grew nearly 5.5% from 2008 to 2009, which translates into another 6.5 million households that have access to online activities as social networking.
Social networking isn’t just for Gen Y anymore
Just under a third of all online consumers are on social networking sites, up from 15% in 2007.
The mobile Web is an extension and not a replacement
Cell phone users who log onto the mobile Internet also spend an average of almost 11 hours a week on the regular Web.