Broadband Users Are Big Spenders Online

Are you responsible for your station’s Web presence? Take note: Broadband users are an attractive demographic. One research company calls them “the next generation of Web users and information seekers.” And many of them listen to online radio.
Scarborough Research says American adults with at-home broadband connections accounted for about one-third (31%) of consumer online spending last year, totaling $15 billion.
At-home broadband users, defined as people who used an ISDN, DSL technology or a cable modem to get on the Net in the past 30 month, are 19% of online adults. The 23 million broadband users are twice as likely as all Internet users to have spent $2,500 or more online in the past 12 months, the company found.
“Broadband users are 39% more likely to purchase jewelry online; 64% more likely to purchase toys and games online; and 64% more likely to purchase cars, trucks and SUVs,” it stated.
“Furthermore, broadband users are more likely to use the Internet to view traditional media content than other Internet users. This escalating category of Internet users is the next generation of Web users and information seekers.”
Broadband users are 68% more likely than all Internet users to have read a magazine online and 40% more likely to read a newspaper online in the past 30 days. One-fifth of broadband users listened to the radio online in the past 30 days, making them 72% more likely than all Internet users to do so, the company reported.
Honolulu is the top-ranked broadband market; 40% of adults who accessed the Internet in the past 30 days have a broadband connection at home. San Diego and Rochester, N.Y., follow.
Cities with the lowest broadband penetration include Spokane, Wash.; Albuquerque/Santa Fe; and Roanoke/Lynchburg, Va., which range from 9% down to 6%.