NPD Releases Study on Baby Boomers and Digital Media

PORT WASHINGTON, September
9: A new study from The NPD Group reveals that teens and young adults are not
the only ones consuming digital media, noting that 61 percent of Internet users
in the 44-to-61 demo had visited streaming or downloadable video sites.

In addition, 41 percent of
baby boomers had visited social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace.

“There’s an ongoing
misperception that certain web activities are the exclusive domain of young
people,” said Russ Crupnick, an entertainment industry analyst for The NPD
Group. “That misperception could cost the entertainment industry, in terms of
lost opportunities to target valuable consumers.”

NPD’s Entertainment
Trends in America study also found
that baby boomers who engage in activities like social networking or video
streaming are also more likely to buy DVDs, CDs and go out to the movies. On
average, those in this demo who stream video are 15 percent more likely than
their non-streaming counterparts to buy a CD, DVD or movie tickets. “As more
consumers of all ages spend more time online, there’s potentially going to be
less time for them to consume entertainment content in traditional ways,”
Crupnick said. “These findings underscore the growing need for entertainment
companies to promote and distribute digital entertainment content online, in
order to keep pace with the changing needs and desires of consumers of all
ages.”

—By Mansha Daswani