Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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- Overview
- The issues
- Awareness of technology’s downsides will force a shift in tech brands’ messaging
- Parents feel conflicted, but want unplugged family time
- The best way to protect kids from the effects of technology remains unclear
- Predators and cyberbullies are an easily understood threat among parents
- Facebook revelations put data privacy on parents’ radar
- The opportunities
- There is a growing movement away from screens
- There is room for brands to take a stand against cyberbullies
- Older parents need empowering
- Transparency will win with families
- Parents want chances for their families to be together IRL
- The family home is about to get smarter
- What it means
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- Parents are able and willing to pay for new technology
- Kids have access to tech
- Social media is essential to parents and teens
- Families embrace smart speakers
- Research shows detrimental effects of tech devices and apps
The Market
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- Demographic trends
- Less than one third of US households have kids
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- Figure 1: US households, by presence of own children <18, 2008-18
- Parents tend to have more money and are willing to spend on tech
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- Figure 2: Median household income, by type of household, 2016
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- Figure 3: Agreement with statement, by parents and non-parents, May 2018
Technology Ownership and Use
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- Technology in the family home
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- Figure 4: Tech devices used by families, November 2018
- Technology gets handed down
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- Figure 5: Percentage of kids who use parents’ old devices, November 2018
- Smartphones and tablets
- Nearly all parents use smartphones
- Tablets provide families with flexibility
- Age 12 is a threshold for kids’ phone ownership
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- Figure 6: Smartphone and tablet ownership among kids and teens, November 2018
- Social media
- Parents populate social media
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- Figure 7: Adult social media users – Parents and nonparents, 2012-18
- Social media is integral to teen life
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- Figure 8: Teens’ social media use and engagement, 2012-18
- Smart speakers
- Households with kids are more likely to have a smart speaker
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- Figure 9: Children’s use of smart speakers, November 2018
- Parents trade one technology for another
- Opinion remains divided
Issues Impacting the Market
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- Better regulations needed to help protect kids
- The UK has GDPR, but the US lacks similar legislation
- COPPA is ineffective
- Advertising in app games for kids goes unchecked
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- Figure 10: Screen capture of Doctor Kids app game
- Modern technology has psychological implications, especially for kids
- Persuasive design manipulates minds
- Social media linked to depression and anxiety in kids, tweens, and teens
- Disparities in household income drive a digital divide
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- Figure 11: Percentage of US adults who use the internet, by income, 2000-18
Key Trends – What You Need to Know
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- Amazon and Alexa move in to the family home
- Apple stumbles behind Google for classroom supremacy
- Facebook targets kids…
- …but expertly executes Portal campaign
- Distracted parents parent poorly
- #DeviceFreeDinners offers marketing opportunities
Mintel Tech Trends Impacting Families
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- The Suite Life in the family home
- Both parents and kids are learning The Rules of Connection
- Parents feel a need to Switch Off
What’s Working
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- Amazon recognizes opportunity for kid-focused smart speaker
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- Figure 12: Echo Dot Kids Edition
- Case study: tech companies compete for the classroom
- Where Apple went wrong
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- Figure 13: Use of tablet at schools, by age of child, November 2018
- Why Google is winning
- Ultimately, price and practicality matter most
- TV ads for Facebook’s Portal highlight family closeness
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- Figure 14: Facebook Portal Commercial – Holidays
What’s Struggling
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- Smartphones addict and distract
- Parents are distracted from parenting
- Teens are concerned about their own use
- Apple compromises on smart speakers
- Alexa gets Apple Music
- Price cuts on the HomePod
- Facebook’s relationship with younger users is complicated
- Facebook loses its cool
- Messenger Kids aims to win younger kids but worries mental health experts
- “Be Best” anti-cyberbullying campaign sends mixed messages
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- Figure 15: Excerpt from Talking With Kids About Being Online brochure, May 2018
What’s Next
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- Device-free dinners?
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- Figure 16: #DeviceFreeDinner – Kid Hat, November 2018
- Teaching kids digital citizenship
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- Figure 17: Google’s Interland Digital Citizenship Game
- Brands will unite to help Alexa run your smart home
- Smart home technology could make life easier for parents
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- Figure 18: Screenshots of Ovie Smarterware app
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Parents have mixed feelings about technology
- Online predators and cyberbullying are top tech concerns among parents
- Half of families allow device use at dinner
- Younger kids are subject to more regulation than older kids are
- Parents are divided in their stance on social media use
How Parents Feel about Technology
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- Technology complicates family life more than it enhances it
- Parents want unplugged family time
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- Figure 19: Percentage of parents interested in disconnecting, by key demographics, November 2018
- Case study: Subaru knows families
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- Figure 20: 2019 Subaru Ascent | Subaru Commercial | A Big Day Out (Extended), September 2018
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- Figure 21: 2019 Subaru Ascent | Subaru Commercial | Dream Big (Extended), September 2018
- Unplugged time is about concentration
- Parents are ambivalent toward tech as a parenting tool
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- Figure 22: Percentage of parents who agree with statements about the upside of technology, November 2018
- Devices are less threatening than social media
- One quarter of parents want kids to wait until adulthood for social media access
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- Figure 23: Percentage of parents who agree kids should not have personal devices/social media accounts, by key demographics, November 2018
Which Online Threats Worry Parents
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- Actions of others concern parents most
- Stranger danger is parents’ top fear
- Parents worry their kids will be bullied, not do the bullying
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- Figure 24: Online dangers – Percentage of parents who selected each situation, November 2018
- Inappropriate content is also a concern
- Parents of older kids are less worried
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- Figure 25: Selected online worries, by age of child(ren), November 2018
How Parents Regulate Kids’ Technology Use
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- Tech rules vary from one household to the next
- Monitoring in common spaces
- Monitoring digitally
- Weekday limits
- Half of all families allow devices at the dinner table
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- Figure 26: Frequency of family dinners at home, November 2018
- Devices at dinner: parent profile
- Demographic differences
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- Figure 27: Demographic profile table, by households with and without devices at dinner, November 2018
- Behavioral differences
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- Figure 28: Parents’ tech rules, by households with and without devices at dinner, November 2018
- Attitudinal differences
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- Figure 29: Percentage of parents who agree with statement, November 2018
- Cellular data use is an issue for one third of families
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- Figure 30: Parents’ tech rules, November 2018
- Most tech-related rules depend on age of child
- Parents of younger kids have more control over kids’ tech use
- Majority of families have rules for in-app purchases
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- Figure 31: Parents’ tech rules, November 2018
- Pro-tech parents agree about devices, but align less on social media use
- Age 12 is a common threshold for device ownership
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- Figure 32: Appropriate age for a child to have his/her own tech devices, November 2018
- Parents are fairly divided on the best age for social media
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- Figure 33: Appropriate age for a child to have own social media accounts, November 2018
- Parents’ concerns about appropriateness do not necessarily translate to restrictions
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- Figure 34: Device ownership and social media use among kids aged 12-17, November 2018
- Only half of kids on social media are monitored by parents
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- Figure 35: Social media use and monitoring among parents with kids aged 12-17, November 2018
Demographic Differences
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- Moms vs dads
- Dads have a more positive view of technology
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- Figure 36: Positivity toward technology, by gender of parent, November 2018
- Moms are more likely to limit kids’ screen time
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- Figure 37: Parents’ tech rules, by households with and without devices at dinner, November 2018
- Moms are more concerned about predators and cyberbullying
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- Figure 38: Top online threats, by moms and dads, November 2018
- Parents’ generation
- Millennials view technology more positively than older parents do
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- Figure 39: Attitudes toward smart tech, by parental generation, November 2018
- Older parents are less confident in their tech skills
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- Figure 40: Degree of tech savvy, by parental generation, November 2018
- Parents’ race and ethnicity
- Black parents’ attitudes toward tech
- Hispanic parents’ attitudes toward tech
- Asian parents worry about long-term detriment
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- Figure 41: Family tech rules and controls, by race and Hispanic origin, November 2018
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- Figure 42: Online threats, by race and ethnicity, November 2018
Appendix – Data Sources and Abbreviations
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- Data sources
- Consumer survey data
- Consumer qualitative research
- Definitions
- Technology terminology
- Abbreviations
- Generation definitions
Appendix – The Market
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- Figure 43: Households, by presence of own children, 2008-18
- Figure 44: Median household income, by type of household, 2016
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- Figure 45: Adult social media users – Parents and nonparents, 2012-18
- Figure 46: Teens’ social media use and engagement, 2012-18
- Figure 47: Percentage of US adults who use the internet, by income, 2000-18
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