Boomers going digital

Sep 12, 2008 by Dan Taylor    6 Comments    Posted under: Technology

According to a recent report by the NPD Group, baby boomers are a key demographic segment for digital products and marketing.  The study, “Entertainment Trends in America” reveiled that Baby Boomers who stream video are 15% more likely to buy a CD, DVD, or movie tickets (I can only guess that they’ve not yet mastered the art of the torrent).

While once only popular with youth and teen segments, baby boomers have come of (the digital) age, and are enjoying more and more online participation.  Recent consumer surveys found that 61 percent of baby boomer Internet users (aged 44-61) had visited streaming or downloadable video (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.), and 41 percent had visited social networks (linked-in, Facebook, and MySpace).

“There’s an ongoing misperception that certain Web activities are the exclusive domain of young people,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group. “That misperception could cost the entertainment industry, in terms of lost opportunities to target valuable consumers.”

The study also went on to find that more than half of all Web users surveyed (57 percent) visited social networking sites within the past three months.  ‘Young’ internet users (13-34 year olds) are far more likely to visit social networks and more often, but baby boomers that visited a social networking site did so on average 8 times over the previous three months (slightly less than once a week on average).

Getting down to the dollars and cents, NPW found that boomers who regularly use social networking or streaming video sites were more likely to buy CDs, DVDs, and/or movie tickets.

“As more consumers of all ages spend more time online, there’s potentially going to be less time for them to consume entertainment content in traditional ways,” Crupnick said. “These findings underscore the growing need for entertainment companies to promote and distribute digital entertainment content online, in order to keep pace with the changing needs and desires of consumers of all ages.”

It may come as no surprise that boomers have already mastered the art of email and web surfing, as the results were nearly universal across all age groups.  Online shopping came in with nearly similar results with 8 out of 10 users making an online purchase sometime during the past three months.  Teens and young adults reported a slightly lower score however, possibly due to lack of plastic (credit cards).

The survey was done by the NPD Group of Port Jefferson, NY, and included over 11,000 consumers, with results balanced to reflect the internet –connected US population of age 13 or older.