Boomers Beating Gen Y in Tech Purchases

Generation Y may still jump at the latest technologies faster than baby boomers. But according to a recent survey, consumption rates among boomers are booming, albeit unsurprisingly given their greater disposable incomes.

Carried out on behalf of Accenture, Internet market research firm Survey.com recently surveyed 3,000 American consumers over 18 years old on their use of more than a dozen devices including computers, mobile handsets and HDTVs.

While 79% of all respondents still regard mobile handsets, not as a source of entertainment, but as a means of communicating via voice, exchanging text messages and emailing; use of mobile data services among Generation Y (18-24 year olds) leaped from 14 to 26%.

Business Booming with Boomers

Following are some of the survey’s results:

Baby boomers increased their rate of blog reading and listening to podcasts by 67% year-over-year, nearly 80 times faster than Gen Y (1%).

Boomers increased their use of social networking sites by 59%, more than 30 times faster than Gen Y (2%).

Boomers increased watching and posting videos on the net by 35%. Gen Y usage dropped slightly (-2%).

Boomers increased their video game-playing on mobile devices by 52%, 20 times faster than Gen Y (2%).

The growth rate among boomers listening to music on iPods and other portable music devices was 49%, more than 4 times faster than Gen Y (12%).

The Bottom Line

What the results reveal are that baby boomers (45-64 year olds) are embracing consumer technology products and services at a rate of nearly twenty times faster than the Younger Generation. Indeed, last year, boomers boosted their appetites for popular consumer technology applications by an average of 50%.

Steve Daitch is the Social Media Manager at Mind360.com - a leading scientific brain training games developer for boosting your memory, attention, executive functions, reasoning, and other key cognitive skills. As a Mind360 visitor you simply select your own Personal Training Program, which comes complete with a personal coach and constant feedback to ensure your swift and visible progress.