Media

U.S. smartphone penetration is approximately 57 percent so it’s no surprise that consumers are using their phones to assist with shopping needs. What’s interesting is 16 percent of Hispanic shoppers are using their mobile device to make purchases compared to 12 percent of general market shoppers. This was revealed in the latest issue of The Checkout , an ongoing shopper behavior study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research.

The home is where many kids encounter their first smartphone. A Grunwald Associates and Learning First Alliance study in November 2012 found that in 77% of surveyed US households with school-age children, someone in the family owned a smartphone, nearly equal to the penetration rate of PCs in such households.

The vast majority of U.S. adults read newspaper media content across a range of technology platforms, according to an analysis of the newest data on media usage from Scarborough Research—including 59% of Americans ages 18-24, the youngest cohort of adults, a group that many are skeptical ever think about newspaper content.

Azteca America announced the appointment of Margarita Black as Vice President of Programming, where she will be responsible for day-to-day programming and also collaborate on long-term strategy. The appointment is effective immediately.

Teens are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than they have in the past, but they are also taking a variety of technical and non-technical steps to manage the privacy of that information. Despite taking these privacy-protective actions, teen social media users do not express a high level of concern about third-parties (such as businesses or advertisers) accessing their data; just 9% say they are “very” concerned.

There is no question that mobile is becoming an essential shopping tool for many US moms. According to a March 2013 survey from retail solutions company Alliance Data, more than half of surveyed mom internet users reported using their smartphone or tablet at least weekly for some aspect of shopping, whether it be research or buying. And 35% of respondents said they used their device daily for shopping purposes.

Mobile commerce is grabbing an ever-growing slice of the overall ecommerce pie. eMarketer estimates that 15% of all US online retail sales in 2013 will be made on a mobile device, an increase from 11% in 2012.

Spending on mobile marketing keeps rising, as brands learn the power of reaching consumers on these devices, and consumers become increasingly mobile-first.