Women follow their emotions when it comes to choosing online video content, with cute and happy videos becoming the de-stressing therapy of choice, according to new research.
The joint study conducted by Nielsen and TODAYonline.com, looed at the digital video consumption patterns of 35 women aged 24-44 who had streamed TODAYshow.com as a proxy site.
The study claimed that in the morning, “often before they even get out of bed,” women seek time-sensitive information like news, weather, stocks, e-mail, and social network updates. As the day goes by, women turn to more functional or entertaining content like coupons and games.
One 28 year-old respondent told Nielsen, “I am a couponer…I love to save money. I don’t know if that makes me cheap, but I will spend all day long [couponing] until my husband gets home.”
And finally at the end of the day, according to Nielsen, women seek out inspirational or “happy” videos to comfort themselves when the day’s stress wears them out completely.
“Emotional triggers such as the need to relieve stress, boredom and feelings of loneliness contributed greatly to overall video consumption,” Nielsen wrote.
“To escape the stress of the work day, women turn to surfing, looking at videos of cute animals, reading jokes and other “happy things.” These online activities balance out their day and contribute to their overall sense of well-being.”
Women are also apparently more susceptible to videos shared by family and friends on social networks. In a separate study conducted in August 2010, Nielsen found that 25 million women watched streamed videos through social media platforms, up nearly 50 percent from the year before and over-indexing men by 11 percent. This “indicates the power of links shared by women with family and friends,” Nielsen wrote.
Source: Nielsen
