Study: Women's Tech Usage Expands

Women choose the Internet, sleep and showers as the three things they could not live without for one month, according to new research by Women of NBCU

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/20/2011 5:15:04 PM

New research from Women at NBCU has found that women have higher ownership rates of smartphones and that women are more reliant and comfortable with technology than a year ago.

Illustrating that growing confidence was the fact that 75% of women disagreed with the statement "men are more comfortable with tech than women" and the fact that more women have smartphones than men.

Another example of the importance of tech in women's lives is the finding that both women and men selected the Internet as one of the three things they could not live without for one month.

Sleep also made the top three ranking for both sexes, but there was a gender gap in the third, with women opting for showers and men choosing sex.

The study also found that in some newer aspects in the digital space such as group buying, social gaming, and mobile, women's leverage is driving trends in new media.

"Three-quarters of the female population is online and their increasingly passionate and widespread consumption of digital is shaping this ever-evolving space," said Melissa Lavigne-Delville, VP of trends and strategic insights, integrated media at NBCUniversal. "As this growing number of digitally-dependent women alters the landscape in unexpected ways, marketers need to react in real-time - super-serving her with highly curated and relevant content, products and information."

In the mobile space, women were particularly active, with 54% of women owning a smart phone, versus 46% of men. Women were also more likely to own a gaming app (75% versus 67% for men) and the Wii gaming device (44% of women and 41% of men).

Women have more brand friends than men, as well as more social friends than men on social networking sites. They check their profiles four or more times each day and spend 3.3 hours online daily for non-work related activities.

The new research is part of the work by Women at NBCUniversal, which was set up in 2008 at NBC Universal to offer marketing and research help to advertisers trying to connect with female consumers via NBCUniversal's assets and shows.

The survey was conducted by OTX in April 2011 amongst individuals 18-54.