What's Greater Than Sex?

Well, if you're a male between the ages of 18 and 34, it should be obvious: nothing. But the Internet sure comes close.

In a recent study from Break Media and Hall and Partners (which came to me via Marketing Charts), they surveyed over 500 men from 18-34 years of age, and made some interesting discoveries - not the least of which was that 69% say they can’t live without the Internet, versus just 31% for television.

That's more than a 2:1 margin of the Web over TV. Are you listening, traditional marketers? I'd suggest it's time to look at how you're spreading your media buys.

These aren't total geeks, though: 79% would rather meet a woman out on the town than online, 71% prefer "a date with a hot girl to a poker game with the boys" and - here's the definitive number - 74% would rather have sex than surf the web.

Well, okay. Maybe they are geeks - these stats merely noted what they'd prefer not what they do. And when given the choice of "sex" or "web," I wonder how many chose both? ;-)

In addition, here are some salient facts about this demographic:

• 63% have a smart phone and one in four use their mobile device to connect to the Web
• 40% use the Internet for more than 22 hours a week
• 36% say they can’t live without the Internet for socializing
• 33% say they can’t live without online entertainment
• 59% notice online ads
• 35% like ads that allow them to play a game
• 34% like online ads that allow them to participate in a contest
  

Hmm...digital marketing is looking a little more attractive now, isn't it?

And for those of you marketers looking for personality attributes that may tie to your brands, you might consider:

• Conformist: Only 26% think they are trendsetters.
• Responsible: Only 18% agree that having fun is more important than being responsible.
• Green: 53% say they care about the environment.
• Social: 49% claim to have no trouble meeting new people; 51% like to spend as much time hanging out with friends as possible; only 20% said they valued appearance over personality when it comes to attraction.
• Adventuresome: 68% enjoy traveling to new places; 61% enjoy spending time outdoors.
• Laid back: Only 38% say they live a fast-paced life.
• Not wellness-centric: 38% claim to lead a healthy lifestyle; however 45% say their appearance is very important to them.

If you don't care as much about targeting your media spend and you want to apply the mass marketing approach and go for the majority, here's your ideal target: an outdoorsy non-chalant traveling tree hugger who doesn't care how he or his date look, as evidenced by his flabby gut.

Or, you could follow the indicators and create some engaging and shareable digital interactions that get results.

Is there anything about the above statistics that surprises you?

Photo credit: thepollen