1. Leisure Time Activities
Looking for More Ways to
Balance Work and Leisure
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2. Finding More Time for Leisure
According to the 2013 US American Time Use Survey, employed adults living in households with no children younger than 18 dedicated 4.5 hours of the average day to leisure activities. Employed adults living with a child younger than 6 had approximately 3.5 hours for leisure activities.
For all persons, 15 years of age and older, men’s time for leisure activities increased from 5.55 hours for 2011 to 5.9 hours for Women also had more time for leisure activities during 2013, compared to 2011, 5.2 hours and 4.89 hours, respectively.
Television viewing continued to be the #1 leisure activities in terms of time spent, and slightly more during 2013, at 2.8 hours per day, compared to 2.75 hours during 2011.
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3. Various Views on Leisure Time
According to a July 2014 Gallup poll, 38% of Americans were spending more on leisure activities, compared to 28% spending less, than a year ago. Millennials were the largest generation spending more, 29%, and less, 37%.
The Q Wells Fargo Small Business Survey reported that 73% of those surveyed were extremely optimistic (13%), very optimistic (23%) and somewhat optimistic (37%) about having more 2015 leisure and vacation time.
People that described themselves as Steadfast Conservatives or Business Conservatives were more likely to be outdoor sportsmen and sports fans while Young Outsiders and Solid Liberals were more likely to spend their leisure time on health and fitness activities.
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4. Digital Leisure Lovers
According to Nielsen’s The Digital Consumer Report (Feb. 2014), of 8 digital channels measured, Americans spent 2 hours, 44 minutes less watching live TV and 1 hour, 54 minutes less using the Internet on a computer each month than during 2012.
The digital channel with the largest increase in time spent since 2012 was using browsers/apps on a smartphone, gaining 9 hours, 52 minutes, to a total of 34 hours, 17 minutes per month.
A 2014 study found that Americans had fewer minutes for leisure activities, fewer minutes for working and 0.12 fewer minutes for sleeping for each minute spent online.
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5. Millennials Make Time for the Media
According to Mintel’s 2013 Millennials’ Leisure Trends report, 57% of Millennials stated a preference for spending their leisure time online vs. 52% offline. For the youngest Millennials, 18–24, it was 68% and 50%, respectively.
Of all Millennials surveyed, 69% said they use computers and the Internet to plan their leisure time, which was 13% more than the average. In addition, 63% were more likely to multi-task on their smartphones during leisure time.
According to Verizon’s Millennials and Entertainment March 2014 report, Millennials’ top 5 interests are watch a TV program you like, 49%; listen to music, 45%; watch a movie of interest, 40%; spend time on social media, 32%; and play a video game on a game console, 31%.
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6. Busy-Bee Americans
Americans appear to have a much different attitude about leisure time than many Europeans. During the 1970s, the British, French and Germans worked as many hours as Americans, but today many Europeans work 40 hours less per year and receive 30 days of paid vacation.
Social scientists theorize that Americans would prefer to work more hours to acquire more material possessions and they view work as adding more meaning to their lives than leisure time.
According to the May 2014 article in The New Yorker, busyness is considered a virtue and a symbol of one’s social status. This has led to a counter-intuitive situation where low-income workers have more leisure time than high- income workers who view their careers as a competition they must win.
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7. Advertising Strategies
Advertisers of leisure time activities and products can include some of the statistics in this Profiler in their TV spots to promote the health and wellness benefits of more leisure time.
Retailers advertising hunting, fishing and outdoors sporting equipment will attract more of the dollars of self-described conservatives in programming with a conservative lean while health-and-fitness retailers will attract more liberals with spots running in programming with liberal themes or messages.
Retailers can still reach Millennials with TV advertising since it is their #1 leisure activity, but will maximum frequency and reach with complementary social media and mobile marketing components.
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8. Advertising Strategies
Consumers' tightened purse strings have led many to try to stay healthy or get healthy so they do not face high medical costs in the future. There is also an increased awareness on health and wellness. This mentality has led many consumers to engage in more physical activities and exercise, which can be a boon to these leisure activities.
People with lower incomes are less likely to engage in leisure time activities, especially those that require physical activity. For this reason, sports and recreation facilities should target more affluent consumers in their advertising efforts. Men are also more likely to engage in sports, exercise, and other recreational activities. Advertisers in these leisure categories should reach out to men through television-centered marketing plans.
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9. Social Media Strategies
Social media is an excellent marketing channel for retailers of leisure time activities and products to use blog and video posts to promote new activities and inviting customers to share their excitement, and the benefits they receive from using their leisure time wisely.
Retailers can maximize their engagement with Millennials by sharing links of pre-existing content on the Web that promotes outdoors activities that will provide Millennials with a healthy alternative to spending too much leisure time on social media.
With so many Baby Boomers retiring, and resulting in more leisure time, invite them to share their stories about how they are filling their additional leisure time and what new activities they’ve experienced that they never thought would be part of their daily lives.
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