Happy Mothers Day! Mom Wants a Smartphone Upgrade, Not Candy or Flowers (Study)

Rich Appel
·2 min read

If you’re planning on giving Mom flowers or candy for Mother’s Day, heads up: That’s so 2009.

The just-released results of “Moms and Media 2014,” a survey conducted by Edison Research, show that compared to all respondents 12 and older, moms are more likely to own a smartphone, access Facebook on their phones or listen to online radio.

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Since 2010, a greater share of moms have owned smartphones, with the current count at nearly 70% (compared to just over 60% for Edison’s 12+ sample). That’s a significant cut of the already-whopping 92% of moms owning any mobile phone. So Mom would probably prefer an upgrade to another Whitman’s Sampler.

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The report also suggests that for a modern-day June Cleaver, Facebook friends have replaced the bridge club: 60% of moms have access to the social network site on their mobile phones (ahead of the 49% for the total sample), and they’re checking it more often each day, and have more Facebook friends, than dads. They’re also more likely to be following companies or brands on social sites.

Think Facebook’s no longer cool? Mom got that memo too: Edison shows the share of mothers with profile pages declined for the first time this year (from 72 to 69%). What’s more, 30% of moms are using Pinterest and nearly 25% are on Instagram.

Online radio has made a bigger impression on moms: three-fourths have ever listened, with over half having done so in the past month, outpacing the sample as a whole. 40% reported having listened in the past week and spending an average of 12 hours with any type of radio delivered online, and close to a third are streaming audio in the car. That’s good news for services such as Pandora, which over half of moms have listened to, and the app for which over half of those with smartphones have downloaded. It’s also good for Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio app, which 25% of moms report having used and 20% have downloaded.

Traditional AM/FM radio is by no means out of the picture, though. Not only do half of moms still have one in the bedroom – for 20% it’s still their first choice in the morning (trailing only TV) – close to 40% say they’d listen more if their phone included an FM tuner. As it stands,13% of moms with smartphones have downloaded the app for any specific AM or FM station.

And if you’re thinking that listening is focused on the hits of 70s, 80s and 90s…think again. Over half of moms surveyed by Edison feel it’s important to keep up to date with music. So Mom’s more likely to be “Happy” with Pharrell than Phil Collins.

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