Nielsen has released a smörgåsbord of data on “the new digital consumer.” The just released report covers a variety of categories, from device ownership and video streaming to mobile’s impact on social media usage.
One of the standout findings in the report is that US adults spent on average 34 hours per month using the mobile internet on smartphones. By comparison, they spend 27 hours on the PC internet.
Of that smartphone internet time, apps capture 86 percent of usage. Only 14 percent of smartphone internet access time comes via the mobile web.
TV is still the top screen. Consumption of live TV is down but overall TV watching is up due to “time-shifted TV.”
Source: Nielsen
Nielsen says that Americans in 2013 report owning a average of “four digital devices,” which include HDTVs, DVRs, PCs, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles. The research firm puts smartphone penetration at 65 percent (Q3 2013), which is now identical to the comScore number. Eighty percent of adults own internet connected PCs, which is up a point from 2012.
Hulu and Netflix users are streaming content across an array of devices, with the PC still being the most popular. But it’s otherwise sobering to see the array of devices being used to watch video content.
Source: Nielsen
Nielsen also reports that “84 percent of smartphone and tablet owners say they use their devices as second-screens while watching TV at the same time.” Second screeners do a wide range of things while watching TV — all of which begs the question of the continued impact and effectiveness of TV advertising.
Social media are used daily by 64 percent of US adults (on the PC) according to Nielsen. However mobile devices are driving growth, with 47 percent of smartphone owners using social media daily.
Echoing other studies, Nielsen also found that Americans’ social media usage is diversifying. Facebook still dominates. Yet the gap in terms of time spent on the various sites is less in a mobile app context than it is on the PC.
Source: Nielsen
Finally Nielsen discusses how important mobile devices have become to consumer research and purchase behavior. Data from holiday 2013 already established this (Nielsen’s data are from Q3 2013). But the following reinforce the notion of a much more complicated, multi-screen customer journey.
Source: Nielsen
There are additional findings in the report that I haven’t discussed above. You can download a copy here.
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