Consumers Admit to Too Much Screen Time

eMarketer estimates that US adults will spend 5 hours, 38 minutes each day with digital media on PCs, mobile devices and other connected devices (such as connected and smart TVs and connected game consoles) this year, representing 46.7% of daily media time. Meanwhile, TV will grab 4 hours, 15 minutes of adults’ daily media time, or 35.2% of the total.

While consumers can’t resist all of these screens, recent research finds they think they may be overdoing it. In a July 2015 study by YouGov and The Huffington Post, 54% of US internet users said they spent too much time using digital devices, including computers, mobile phones, TVs and video game consoles.

Responses were even between males and females. However, feelings of too much screen time correlated with age. While respondents from every age group were more likely to agree that they spent too much time with screens, younger consumers were far more likely to say so compared with their older counterparts. Fully 63% of 18- to 29-year-olds said they spent too much time using the devices, vs. 49% for those 45 and older. Whites and Hispanics were also much more likely than blacks to admit to too much screen time. In terms of income, respondents who had a household income over $80,000 were more apt to say they spent too much time using digital devices than those in lower income brackets.

This year, advertisers in the US will spend $58.61 billion to reach consumers on digital devices, representing a year-over-year rise of 15.5%, or 31.3% of total media ad dollars. Spending on TV advertisements will total $70.59 billion.

Courtesy of eMarketer