Indicative of the different ways younger and older Americans use, and think of, their in-home networks and digital information and communications technology (ICT), new market research from The Diffusion Group (TDG) found that “74 percent of Millennials using a home network describe their use as either equally or primarily media-oriented.” That percentage decreases linearly with age, according to TDG’s, “The In-Home Video and PC Ecosystem” report.
“Young adults consume greater amounts of online media in the home from sources like Netflix,” TDG notes, “certainly more so than their older counterparts.”
On the flip side, the older the home network user, the greater the tendency for their home network usage to be characterized as “data-centric.”
Just 24 percent of home network users between the ages of 25-34 described their home network usage primarily as data-centric; 73 percent described it as “media-centric.” Among those 45-54, 45 percent described their home network usage as data-centric, 49 percent as media-centric. For those 55-64, the corresponding figures were 58 percent data-centric and 35 percent media-centric. For those 65+, the data showed people were 65 percent data-centric, 26 percent media-centric.
Commenting on the survey results, TDG President and report co-author Michael Greeson stated, “Most interesting is how rapidly this media orientation drops off as the age of the home network user increases. Beyond Millennials, this emphasis shifts incrementally toward a more data-driven behavior characterized by the use of net-connected, networked PCs for ‘productivity’ or non-media needs.”
