Here are my notes from Pavan Li’s presentation on “Searcher Moms” in the Search User Behaviour presentation at Search Engine Strategies 2008 Toronto conference. She’s been conducting research on the search patterns of a demographic we all know and love — Moms!
I’ve been reseraching search usage in the “moms sector”. Moms are key decision makers for purchases of so many things — from cereal and clothes to vacations and financial planning.
In partnership with DoubleClick Performics and ROIResearch, we measured 1000 moms’ internet usage and media consumption. We found that their search engine usage and the role search engines play in their online and offline purchases in a number of categories:
- travel
- furniture
- consumer electronics
- appliances
- automobile
- packaged goods
- personal care
- baby care
- household food
- soft drinks
We found that moms are driven to search by offline advertising: two-thirds of them used search after seeing an ad.
60% of moms have college or higher education. One-third come from a house with a household income over $100,000 or higher. One-third have a child 18 years of age or younger. Moms are a valuable market, with the combination of:
- education
- buying power
- need to purchase for family
76% of moms use the internet at least 1 hour a day. 36% of them use it at least 3 hours a day.
Moms are experienced and tenacious searchers. They consider search the most efficient way of getting information for products and services. If they can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll go through multiple result pages before switching search engines. They’re a very loyal group.
What’s the number one thing moms look for? Deals. Promotions, sales and specials. Their top
two concerns:
- store location
- information about offline promotions
The higher the price of a product, the more they use search.
One reply on “Notes on “Searcher Moms” at Search Engine Strategies 2008 Toronto”
[…] Searcher Moms: Microsoft researcher Pavan Li talked about her research of the search behaviour of mothers, an important demographic not just ’cause they’re moms, but because they have the magic combination of education, buying power and being the primary purchasers of goods for the family. […]