People spend more time at home, are doing less but are happier despite recession, claims IPA research
Research from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has claimed that people are now spending more time at home, are doing less and are, on the whole, happy, despite the recession.
The IPA TouchPoints4 survey, which covers general life activities, attitudes, mood and media usage, found that, on average, people are spending 17 hours and 30 minutes each day at home. 20 minutes longer than in 2010.
The average amount of time spent shopping fell from 38 minutes a day in 2010 to 29 minutes, while 15-24 year olds were found to be ‘significantly’ more emotional.
The recession meant that 47% of all adults agreed that they were more stressed, while 24% said that they felt that there was little they could do to change their lives.
Over half, 57% of adults said they had tightened their belts significantly, while 73% said that they would save up, rather than use a credit card, to purchase something expensive.
Of all purchases made in a week, 57% are of £20 or less, while 4% was online, although cash was still the main method of payment.
An increasing number also said they looked for the lowest prices (67% in comparison with 59% in 2010), and also took advantage of special offers (68%).
In terms of how people consumer media, multi-tasking is a growing theme, with 79% of adults using two or more media within the same half an hour, rising from 76%.
Social interaction with television saw 6% of all adults when watching a TV programme like the ability to chat online about what they are viewing (rising among 15-24’s to 17%.)
Over one third (39%) of all adults and 59% of 15-24s use their mobile phones to access online content, while 9% of adults use a tablet computer at least once a month.
Lynne Robinson, research director for the IPA, explained: “The ways in which people live and consume media are changing due to the recession and the development of new technologies giving consumers more media channel choices and the ability to control when and how they consume media. TouchPoints provides a unique overview of these changes, charting where we are now and the leading trends.”
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