Men are Media Hogs
Men consume more media -- in all forms -- than women.
Media consumption habits of men and women differ, particularly on the Internet. A report from Forrester Research called “Men are from CNET, Women are from iVillage” identifies the divergence in men and women’s behavior online, as well as with other forms of media.
In a typical week, men spend 10.2 hours on a PC, 6.7 of which are spent on the Internet. Women spend a total of 8.5 hours using a computer, 5.3 of those are online. Media consumption across all categories, except reading magazines, is higher among men by an average of seven hours per week.
On the Web, men tend to surf for news, magazines, finance, job and career information. They also visit discussion boards and comparison shop. Online activities for women skew more toward utility; they get movie information, play games, share photos, and use online phone directories.
| Time Spent On Media Activities (hours) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | Women | All | |
| Reading newspapers | 3.6 | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| Reading magazines | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Watching TV | 13.6 | 12.1 | 12.8 |
| Watching movies on video or DVD | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
| Listening to the radio | 8.1 | 6.9 | 7.4 |
| Playing video games | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1.2 |
| Using the Internet | 6.7 | 5.3 | 5.9 |
| Using a PC (including time using the internet) | 10.2 | 8.5 | 9.3 |
| Total | 49.9 | 42.5 | 45.9 |
| Note: Respondent base is North American consumers. | |||
| Source: Forrester Research, Inc. | |||
The report says men are 60 percent more likely to research financial data than women. Women, however, are more inclined to use the Web to search for bargains and download coupons. One activity where women outpace men is IM, however that is only a slight lead.
Data was compiled using Forrester’s Consumer Technographics. It consisted of a Web-based survey of over 5,000 U.S. and Canadian individuals.
