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New York, New York- (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - September 26, 2006 - Research released by global Internet company and search engine, Yahoo! Inc. and worldwide media communications specialist, OMD, has confirmed that global families are harnessing pervasive technology and media to help them manage busy households and achieve more balanced, satisfying lives.

The study, “It’s a Family Affair: the Media Evolution of Global Families in a Digital Age,” found that technology and media are essential to planning, researching and acting on many of family life’s important priorities, and that multi-tasking significantly extends the average day’s activities beyond 24 hours. The research project combined results from polling more than 4,500 online families in 16 countries with in-home interviews and scrapbooks tracking media and technology usage by families in seven countries. Consistent themes include a resurgence in traditional values, and recognition that the ”always on” nature of technology highlights the need to also focus on low-tech activities such as playing board games and dining together.

Nearly three quarters (73 percent) of families with children said it is important to eat dinner together each day. Eight out of 10 adults said they “enjoy spending time with their family.” This number increases to nine out of 10 among those married with children. The research also found that the average global family owns 11 technological devices (12 devices in the U.S.), creating concerns about information overload while enabling better communications:

• 70 percent of global survey respondents agreed that technology allows them to stay in touch with family;
• 29 percent of parents said that they use mobile phones to keep in touch with children throughout the day;
• 25 percent of parents said instant messaging has helped improve relationships with their children.

While media usage was highest in the U.S. compared to other countries surveyed, only a third (31%) of U.S. parents believe their children fail to spend enough time outdoors or playing sports – compared to 41% of parents in Taiwan, South Korea and India, and almost two thirds (63%) of parents in China.

Wenda Harris Millard, Chief Sales Officer at Yahoo! explained, ” The study shows that regardless of their size or composition, today’s families value time-honored traditions like dining together, and they’re using technology to help manage busy, family-centered lives. Technology is essential to family life, not because people love gadgets, but because it helps them do what they want to do.”

The following survey results highlight how families increasingly rely on technology:

Technology has dramatically expanded the ability of families to communicate, and today’s younger generation cannot imagine life without pervasive technology. More than half (55 percent) of survey respondents age 18-34 agreed that without technology they “wouldn’t be able to stay in touch with friends and family.” More than a third in the 18-34 age group said their social lives would suffer without technology (34 percent) and that technology enabled them to overcome shyness (36 percent).

As for the purpose of the time spent with technology, parents pointed to beneficial uses such as access to news and information. More than half (56%) said the Internet has helped children with schoolwork, and nearly two thirds (61%) said the Internet has ”exposed my children to a broad range of cultures.”

Families have adapted to new and changing media and technology, and now rely on the Internet as their top source of information on travel, jobs, finance and automobiles. Approximately half of respondents said they rely primarily on television for news (50 percent) and comedy (43 percent). Magazines are a significant source for celebrity gossip and other niche content. Newspapers are viewed as a strong secondary source, after the Internet, for information with a local flavor such as jobs, sports, concerts and events.

In addition to enabling socializing, technology has become integral to routine family life. Two thirds (66 percent) of U.S. families surveyed use the Internet to research products, and 64 percent use a search engine every day. Families also use the Internet to share photos (62 percent), make travel reservations (60 percent) and research health (61 percent).

Joe Uva, President and CEO of OMD Worldwide noted, ”It’s clear that within the ‘43-hour day,’ families are making concerted efforts to spend time together and to live out a new family value that says ‘we control technology – it does not control us. These ‘longer’ days reflect multi-tasking at all levels of the family, so it’s more important than ever for advertising to engage people and to help enrich their lives, not add to the clutter.”

A dramatic shift in family demographics and dynamics underlies the key findings of the Yahoo!/OMD research. With only a third of U.S. online households (33 percent) today consisting of the once-typical husband, wife, and children, the Ozzie and Harriet era is long past. The family power structure is changing as younger men are far more likely to cook, clean, and plan family activities, while women are as likely as men to manage family finances. As a more open, democratic family emerges, roles and levels of influence change.

Michele Madansky, Vice President of Sales Research at Yahoo! added, ” Family 2.0 isn’t the Cleavers of the 1950s or the futuristic Jetsons. Today’s men cook, women work, and kids often are very tech-savvy. Father doesn’t always know best. He may not have a clue about what MP3 player is the best value, but daughter can be the expert because she has spent time online comparison shopping prices and features.”

With 718 million global Internet users (source: Media Metrix), technology is helping bring far flung corners of the world closer together. As this trend continues, relationships with people and businesses are affected. The research shows that families in developed countries around the world are as inundated with technology and media as American families, but with some important distinctions. The U.S. lags other global regions in mobile phone usage. Mexico and the United Kingdom have the highest adoption of DVRs, and Asia leads in MP3 player adoption. In China, 59 percent of survey respondents watch streaming video online versus 25 percent globally.

Understanding how Family 2.0 interacts with each other and multiple technology devices and media channels is critical for businesses looking to reach consumers and influence purchasing behavior. The research suggests that products and services that can be positioned as helping busy families achieve the balance they seek will find receptive audiences. Reaching out to the whole family also is increasingly important. In the U.S., two thirds (66 percent) of survey respondents said the entire family influences purchases.

Effectively targeting the right family member at the right time is fraught with complexity and challenge. Receptivity to advertising falls as ad channels become more personal. In the U.S., respondents reported that they were most open to ads in magazines and newspapers (72 percent), radio (60 percent) or TV (59 percent), and less receptive to ads on mobile phones or MP3 players. In addition, some media, such as TV (70 percent), movies (50 percent) and in some cases, the Internet (20 percent), are enjoyed together as a family, while other technologies are more likely to be experienced individually.

Mike Hess, Global Director of Communication Insights and Research for OMD observed, ” Shared activities provide an opportunity to reach and influence the entire family. The more personal the medium, the more wary people are of advertising. They’re more likely to consider only messages that are highly relevant, which means that Internet-based solutions such as behavioral targeting and contextual relevance will be important in pinpointing family members that have the most influence in specific purchases.”

The project was a two-phased market research study that included in-home ethnographies and scrapbooks as well as a quantitative online survey. The in-home interviews and scrapbooks were conducted in New York, Wichita, San Diego, Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City, Sydney, Paris, London and Mumbai. Participants represented some common and emerging family types typical in those cities.

The online survey was conducted with a total of 4,783 respondents aged 18+ in 16 countries in Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas. Survey responses were collected during July and August 2006 via an online panel. Respondents are representative of Internet users in those areas, and may not reflect the overall population. The survey contained questions regarding media and technology ownership, usage and attitudes as well as in-depth questions about the family profile and values. Quantitative research was conducted in 16 countries total: Australia, Canada, France, India, Mexico, UK, USA, Argentina, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Italy, Philippines, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan.

OMD is a media communications specialist, with more than 140 offices in 80 countries. Named 2005 Global Media Agency of the Year by Adweek and 2005 Media Agency of the Year in the U.S. by Advertising Age, OMD also had the distinction of winning the most EFFIES in 2006 and more Media Lions than any other media agency at the 2005 Cannes International Advertising Festival. The agency network is a unit of Omnicom Group Inc.

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provide online products and services essential to users’ lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

To learn more about OMD, please visit: www.omd.com.

For more information about Yahoo!, please visit: www.yahoo.com.