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This article in Advertising Age (@adage) by Jack Neff (@jackneff) begins, “If you thought of Generation Y as the digital generation, wait till you get a load of their kids.” This insightful research can help publishers prepare for the consumer who will be buying books 10 years from now, whatever those books will look like.

Pre-teen and even pre-school children are key drivers for adoption of the iPad and other tablet computers, and a substantial number of kids, including two in five 11 and 12 year olds, now regularly use social networks even though they're technically not allowed, according to the study LMX Family: A Window into the Media Life of the American Family (LMX stands for Longitudinal Media Experience) conducted in early February by Ipsos OTX (@ipsosnewspolls).

Ipsos also says pre-schoolers are adopting digital habits or being exposed to new devices even faster than tweens, a sign of the speed with which digital technology is reshaping media and marketing habits for the youngest children. Of households with preschoolers, 38% had handheld gaming devices vs. only 24% among those with children aged 6-12. Preschool households also held an edge in laptops (82% to 76%), gaming consoles (76% to 63%) and Internet-capable cellphones (69% to 65%).

The youngest children have the most exposure to digital technology because they’re more likely to have Gen Y parents shaping their expectations, says Donna Sabino, senior VP-kids and family insights for Ipsos OTX.

“People laugh when they see 3 and 4 year olds who are used to smartphones or tablet touch-screen devices going up to a laptop and touching the screen to make it move,” says Sabino. “When I see that, I think the technology is already obsolete for her. Her expectation is that all her interface with media is going to be intuitive, something she can touch. It's a history of the future right now — what are we teaching them to expect from us going forward?”

·         18% of parents will let their tween boys aged 9-12 play video games rated adult only, and 36% will let them play games rated mature, provided a parent is playing too.

·         20% of parents will let children 6-12 go with them to R-rated movies.

·         23% of children 6-12 regularly visit social networking sites and 41% of kids 11-12 do so, though membership in the sites is supposed to be limited to 13 and up.

·         By age 11, half of kids have cellphones. Half of the time it’s the parents’ idea.

·         Kids in the household are huge drivers of iPad penetration. 10% of households with children under 13 now have iPads, vs. only 3% in households without children 6-12.

·         35% of households with children 6-12 plan to purchase some brand of tablet computer in the next year.

·         Over half of parents say their children should be able to go online on their own by age 6.

Read this in full.

Also read our blogpost, "25% of Toddlers Have Used a Smartphone."

Dan Coates, president of Ypulse (@ypulse) says, “There's a fundamental shift in how media is being consumed, and Gen Y is at the epicenter of it all.”

·         In the prior week, nearly 1 in 4 members of Gen Y watched video content that was streamed to a computer, 1 in 7 downloaded video content to a computer, and 1 in 20 watched video content that was streamed to their mobile phones.

·         On average, Gen Y spends nearly 3 hours a week watching streamed TV programs, and an hour and a half a week watching downloaded TV programs.

·         Gen Y streams and downloads video from a variety of locations: they are nearly as likely to do so at home as they are at a friend's house.

·         Gen Y most commonly streams full-length, professionally produced videos, such as movies and TV shows, with music videos not far behind. College students watch a wider diversity of content than teens, with most checking out news clips, commercials, sports, and political videos in addition to long-form movies and TV shows.

He says, “The trend towards cloud-based, on-demand digital media shifts the locus of control from the producer to the consumer. Having grown up immersed in digital media, Gen Y will lead this shift.”

Read this in full.

What are the implications of these findings for publishers?

According to BtoB Media Business (@btobmagazine), “the users of iPads and other tablet devices are increasing their content consumption at a greater rate than individuals who don't own the devices, according to a survey released by L.E.K. Consulting (@LEK_Consulting).

The “Hidden Opportunities in New Media Survey” finds that 29% of tablet owners increased their use of magazines in the last year compared with just 4% of nontablet owners. Similarly, 26% of device owners said they increased their consumption of newspapers compared with just 6% of nontablet owners.

Read the study in full in pdf format.

E-Commerce Times says analyst firms are recalculating their 2011 PC sales projections after noticing a trend in which more consumers are passing on PC purchases in favor of tablets.

The above chart displays the results of the Google AdMob Network Survey.

What are the implications of the above study and analysis for publishers and other content creators? Write your comments below.

According to a study conducted in March by OnCampus Research (@CampusResearch), the research division of the National Association of College Stores, college students continue to increase their usage of e-readers, but most still prefer print textbooks. The survey of 655 students finds a 6% increase in ebook purchases in March compared to a study conducted in October, and more students are reading materials on dedicated reading devices while fewer are using laptops or netbooks. While only 15% of students say they own an e-reader, 39% report they use one, up from 19% in the October study. The number of students owning a dedicated reader in October was 8%.

Of those now owning a digital e-reader, the Amazon Kindle was the most popular, with 52% of college students owning one, compared to 32% five months ago. Other top e-reader devices included Barnes & Noble’s Nook (21%), Apple iPhone (17%), and Apple iPad (10%).

Students interested in purchasing a new e-reader are most interested in the iPad and Kindle (both 27%), followed by the Nook.

Print textbooks continue as the preferred media option among this demographic. Fully 75% of the college students in the March 2011 survey said that, if the choice was entirely theirs, they would select a print textbook. This is similar to the findings of the October 2010 e-reader survey, as well as one done in the fall of 2008.

Read the news release.

Initial findings from Project Reconnect, an ongoing survey based on a global poll of parents and teenagers, found a “remarkable” level of agreement across territories and age groups over which features of online ads are acceptable - and which are not.

The researchers, who questioned consumers in four key territories - Brazil, China, the UK, and the US - found that ads offering a “tangible benefit” for users are acceptable - as are ads that are “different, fun, engaging, and/or offer something extra.”

But the survey also revealed that people “instinctively” describe online advertising in potentially negative terms – “pop-ups, banners, and spam.”

Generally, there is a shared belief there is a “time and place” for online ads, and that advertisers should not overstep boundaries and “pester” consumers.

Read this report in full.

Chief Marketer (@chief_marketer) reports that “more than half of the moms responding to a study on parenting and mobile use say they first bought a smartphone as a result of having a child. Fifty-one percent admit they’re ‘addicted’ to their smartphone. And their favorite feature is the phone camera.”

Those are some of the findings of the 21st Century Mobile Mom Report compiled by BabyCenter.com (@BabyCenter). The report, built from a behavior study of more than 5,000 moms and a deep-dive study of a subset of 23 specific moms, finds that overall adoption of smartphones among mothers has risen 64% in the last 2 years. At 59% ownership, moms are currently 18% more likely to own a phone that can download apps than the general population.

Here are the study’s highlights:

• 78% admit they “love” their smartphone.

• 51% of Moms are addicted to their smartphone.

• 53% say the purchase was directly related to becoming a mom.

• Mom’s #1 feature is the camera.

• #2 feature is video capabilities.

• #3 feature is apps with more half having 10 or more apps.

• 25% of the apps on a mom’s phone are for her children.

• 68% say of Moms know how to use most of the features.

• 75% of Moms claim to troubleshoot their own phone.

• 33% use it for health and wellness (tracking family health & research).

• Moms top social activities are: newsfeeds, status updates, and reading answers to posted questions.

• 68% use their smartphone while shopping.

• 62% of moms use shopping apps to research or compare prices.

• Moms are 248% more likely than the average adult to text friends then call them.

• 46% claim to have taken an action after seeing a mobile ad on their phone.

• 29% say they like to scan bar codes and QR codes for further information on a topic.

Read the article in full.

Also read our blogpost "25% of Toddlers Have Used a Smartphone."

How will knowing this about today’s mothers influence how you publish content for them? Let Somersault help. And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard.

Brandweek (@Brandweek) has an excerpt of the book Curation Nation: How to Win in a World Where Consumers are Creators  (@curationnation) by Steven Rosenbaum (@magnify). The book explains that “brands, both old and new, need to stop ignoring the emergence of consumer power and instead embrace it and accept it. They must channel it, and in turn change how they think about customers. Humans, formerly known as either consumers or couch potatoes, are now creators and thought leaders, passive no more.” Rosenbaum goes on to say

Brands begin with the need to lead, the expertise to tell their story, the skill to attract intent, and therefore the ability to be trusted within their communities. Because brands have access to both paid and earned media (advertising and public relations), as well as their own brand space, they are inherently publishers. The big change for the brands that have been built in the post-millennium world is that they are media, rather than buying media. For example, Starbucks sees such remarkable foot traffic and return visits through its doors that it doesn’t need to buy television advertising to reach its customers. Its stores, its signage, its window displays are all media that lets it tell its story to customers....

In order for brands to be present and participate in the new “social” world, they need to have a voice. And a voice that is more than a monologue. A dialogue. And that requires that they develop a curatorial context for the space they’re in — and a way to share ideas that come from their area of expertise, but not necessarily their own content creators....

[B]rands that ignore the need to embrace an editorial voice are bound to be unhappy when consumers use their newfound power to talk about them —whether they like it or not.

Read the full excerpt.

Let Somersault help you effectively communicate your brand using social media. And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard that features RSS feeds of articles on the topic of branding and links to services that will help you monitor the social media buzz swirling around your brand.

Click to enlarge this Infographic by Column Five (@Columnfive) to view statistics regarding the mobilization of today’s digital native and his/her comfort level with consuming content (news, but by implication & extrapolation, also books) electronically.

The percentage of Americans age 12 and older who have a smartphone has more than doubled in the past year, from 14% to 31% of the population according to the new national survey from Arbitron Inc. (@ArbitronInc) and Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2011: Navigating Digital Platforms. Among the many other findings:

• Facebook is now being used by a majority of all Americans age 12 and over (51%); this number was only 8% in 2008.
• A majority of American households now have two or more computers (51%); as compared to 24% of households in 2002.
• Usage of online radio is up significantly, with weekly usage of all forms of online radio having doubled in the last 5 years; self-reported weekly time spent with online radio is now nearly 10 hours (9 hours 47 minutes).
• Daily time spent with TV, Radio, and the Internet combined has increased by 20% in the last 10 years, with self-reported daily usage now at 8 hours 11 minutes compared to 6 hours 50 minutes in 2001.
• Just under 1/3 of all Americans (31%) have plugged an MP3 player such as an Apple iPod into their car stereo systems.
• One in 10 Americans report listening to Pandora Internet Radio in the week before they were surveyed.
• Among the 81% of American households with Internet access, 2/3 now have a Wi-Fi network installed.
• More than 1/10 of all cellphone owners have listened to online radio streamed in their cars by connecting their phones to their car stereo system.

Read the research findings in full.

Also see Warc coverage of the research in the article "Digital change hits US."

What are the implications of this research for digital audiobook publishing and how should your brand take advantage of it?

Ken Featherstone of OgilvyAction Global (@ogilvyaction) says times have changed and brand managers should no longer consider men to be a marketing afterthought:

A recent Yahoo! study finds that about six in 10 fathers consider themselves to be the primary household decision-maker in packaged goods, health, pet and clothing purchases. It doesn’t stop at the household trip: Men are spending more time on their own personal needs. Eighty-four percent of men said they purchased their own clothes (up from 65% in 2001), as reported by BusinessWeek.

Nearly one in three principal household shoppers are men, up from 14% two decades ago, according to Neilsen. Statistics from Black Friday, Back-to-School, and Winter Holidays consistently show men spending more than women on big-ticket items.

Read the article in full.

How should this influence book cover design and in-store merchandising kits?