How Mom Bloggers Influence Politics and Society
Mom Bloggers defined as women who have at least one child in their household and have read or contributed to a blog in the past 30 days, make up fourteen percent of all American moms (defined as women with at least one child in the household).
However, according to a new study from Scarborough Research, a consumer marketing research firm, their social and political influence reach far beyond the confines of the playground.
Among other findings, the study shows that Mom Bloggers are much more politically involved and socially mindful than their non-blogging counterparts.
Over three-quarters (76%) of Mom Bloggers assert that they “always” vote in presidential elections, while 45% “always” vote in state elections. In terms of party identification, 29% of Mom Bloggers self-identify as Democrat, a quarter (25%) as Republican, and 29% as Independent.
Moreover, 17% choose none of these labels to describe themselves. Mom Bloggers are more than twice as likely as all mothers to have contributed to a political organization in the past twelve months.
While no single political party unifies Mom Bloggers, the Scarborough Study shows that they find consensus via cultural and environmental issues. They are more than twice as likely as all moms to have contributed to an arts/cultural organization.
Additionally, Mom Bloggers are 75% more likely to have contributed to a social care/welfare organization and 64% more likely to have contributed to an environmental organization.
In fact, Mom Bloggers are 85% more likely than all mothers to support a politician based on environmental issues and they are 38% more likely to have done volunteer work in the past year.
Taking a demographic look, Mom Bloggers are 52% more likely than all mothers to have completed a college or post-graduate education. Though they are roughly the same average age (37) as moms overall, the average household income for Mom Bloggers is $14,000 higher, totaling $84,000 per year.
They are 88% more likely to pay more for eco-friendly products and services and 89% of Mom Bloggers have children between two and eleven years of age.
Buying behavior for Mom Bloggers is consistently motivated by environmental concerns and awareness. For example, Mom Bloggers are 69% more likely than all moms to buy organic food on a regular basis.
They are also 46% more likely to purchase locally grown food. Additionally, Mom Bloggers are 49% more likely than all mothers to buy eco-friendly cleaning products.
In terms of media consumption, Mom Bloggers were 38% more likely to have visited a broadcast TV website in the past 30 days and 51% more likely to have visited a newspaper website in that time.
Mom Bloggers are 20% more likely to listen to news radio and 58% of Mom Bloggers watch the local news on television. Mom Bloggers’ online habits are also illustrative. In the past 30 days, nearly all (90%) Mom Bloggers have visited a social networking website, 77% checked the weather, more than two thirds (70%) paid bills online and nearly half (46%) browsed the web for coupons.
According to the Scarborough Research, Scarborough USA+ Study, Release 1 2011, the top local markets for Moms who have read or contributed to blogs in the past thirty days are: Salt Lake City (35%), Seattle/Tacoma (23%), Austin (21%), Nashville (21%), Washington, D.C. (20%) and San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose (20%).
The study findings were announced Thursday, Oct. 27.
Surveying more than 210,000 adults annually, Scarborough is a joint venture between Arbitron Inc. and The Nielsen Company.
