Gender and Racial Differences in Media Use.

Want to reach under-35 year-old Hispanics and African-Americans? Women? Mobile technology may be the best platform for the first; print magazines for the second, according to findings from independent media agency TargetCast tcm’s recent survey of consumer media habits and preferences.

Forward-thinking marketers should plan on doing more with mobile, as Smartphones are expected to continue to gain traction with consumers throughout 2011 as the tool of choice for activities once reserved for PCs — checking email, surfing the Web, and streaming multimedia content.

Insights such as these, culled from TargetCast’s annual survey of more than 1,500 adult consumers, show that – even as digital media use continues to grow, and newspaper, magazine and radio business are under siege – with more media platforms to choose from, consumers are increasingly personalizing their usage.

“Consumers are interacting with both new and traditional media in ways that enable advertisers to craft more personalized media experiences,” said Audrey Siegel, President and Director of Client Services of TargetCast tcm. “Our findings suggest that as consumers continue to move their media consumption online and experiment with digital and mobile communications, marketers had best reallocate and experiment accordingly.”

What may have more significant bearing on marketers’ decisions throughout the coming year is consumers’ ongoing shift of activity from their personal computers toward online and digital media. A majority of adults under 35 expect to be using their mobile devices a year from now as much as they currently use PCs and other technology devices, according to the report. Already, a significant portion of young adults say that they use their mobile devices as much or more often than their PCs to check email, surf the Web and to stream multimedia content (36% of 18 to 24 year olds; 35% of 25 to 34 year olds). Of note in the area of mobile device usage is a difference along racial lines. Hispanics and African Americans are more likely than whites to use mobile technology as much as or more than PCs.

However, TV, magazines and radio, the “traditional” media, are not dead; in some cases, they are preferred over the Internet or other digital media. Interestingly, there are notable differences between women and men. Women, for instance, have a clear preference for print magazines. Nearly 60 (58%) percent of women surveyed said they prefer reading a printed magazine, compared to 48 percent of men. Over half (55%) of women said that print magazines are a valuable source of information and of entertainment (64%), versus men’s lower enthusiasm (45% and 48%).

To be sure, consumers continue to go online to take care of an increasing array of tasks and activities: For instance, 33% of respondents say they’re using it more to manage their finances; 38% say they’re doing more shopping online; and nearly half (45%) report increased use for social networking.

For more information at http://www.targetcast.com/>