Life-Stage Segmentation Profiles

Portrait of the Middle-Income Mature

Overview

They are established, comfortable, and likely have some discretionary income. The Middle-Income Mature (MIM) represents 16 percent of the population – the same percentage as all three Young segments combined. They are over 45 years old, have no children in the house, and have an annual household income between $30,000 and $75,000. Seventy-three percent of them are married, 66 percent have grandchildren, and 91 percent own their own home. Only 16 percent consider themselves politically liberal.

Newspaper Readership & Newspaper Web sites

In 1995, 85 percent of people who were MIM had read the newspaper the day before, or the previous Sunday. By 2005 that number had slipped eight points, but at 77 percent is still a strong block of newspaper readers. During the same period of time, there was a 12 point drop in MIM who agree that they “need to get the news every day.”

Sunday readership took an seven point slip from 1995 to 2005, but 70 percent of these influential adults are still Sunday newspaper readers, which is higher than any segment but the Upper-Income Mature. Primarily they cite the news articles/features as most important in deciding to buy the Sunday newspaper, and 65 percent of the readers are subscribers.

Turning to the daily newspaper, readership slipped among the MIM to 63 percent, an eight point loss. Despite the loss, this is still a high concentration of readers and nearly three-quarters of those readers are subscribers. More than half spend 30 minutes or more with their daily paper and over half read their daily paper in the morning.

When those who read the newspaper were asked if they had a favorite newspaper section, the response was Local News, Sports, Main News, Comics and Editorials. Thirty-seven percent said they always read the preprints.

When it comes to direct actions taken, the group checks local sales, clips coupons, reads a cartoon, check the weather, and saves articles.

The numbers point to readers who consider the newspaper a worthwhile activity and expense: 68 percent say “I feel better informed after reading my newspaper,” 75 percent feel that reading the paper “helps me know more about my community,” 70 percent consider it a good value and 68 percent feel that reading the paper is mentally engaging. Seventy-six percent say they enjoy reading newspaper.

About one-third of them check sales in local stores with their newspaper and 21 percent compared prices for an item they were looking to buy. These numbers present a contrast with the more affluent Upper-Income Matures, among whom 19 percent checked sales and 9 percent compared prices on items.

MIM who are not newspaper readers were second only to Lower-Income Families in purchasing the newspaper to check sales in local stores or to compare prices for an item they were looking to buy.

The Middle-Income Mature group has lower use of the newspaper Web site than most other segments.

But that is not the case among the MIM who are also print readers. Among this core audience, the Middle-Income Mature readership of the newspaper Web site on Sunday is 44 percent, tied with the Upper-Income Families for highest Web site use among print readers. This indicates that cross-promotion opportunities between print and online could further develop loyalty from this group, and also presents opportunities that can be sold as a strong benefit to advertisers.

They spend less time than any segment once they are on the site, and about half say they visit the newspaper Web site in addition to reading the print product. Like the others in Mature segments, the MIM are less likely to replace reading the newspaper with a visit to the Web site.

One in five said they purchased single copies of the newspaper less because of using the Web site. Only one in twenty cancelled home delivery due to the Web site.

Their consumption of news and information via the Web site is average, or slightly lower than average, ditto their use of advertising and shopping. They would, perhaps, be considered the “generalists” of newspaper Web site users in that their consumption of news and information via the Web site is average or slightly lower than average for all categories.

Internet & Technology Adoption

The Middle-Income Mature is not a segment that is highly engaged in the Internet. In 2005, they were one of only two segments in which Internet use was below the 50 percent mark. Among the Internet users, most access the Internet from home rather than work. They spend slightly less time than average online, and are less likely to access the Internet via broadband and wireless.

Once on the Internet, they are less likely to download podcasts or web feeds and less likely to post photos. Otherwise their use falls into the mid-range of average or slightly less than average for activities most common, including email, maps, reviews, medical/fitness info, and news.

Of those who used the Internet for local news, an equal number went to Google and to the local newspaper Web site. Both of those destinations beat out Yahoo and the local tv station site.

Like their Internet use for information and news, they are average to lower than average in their pursuit of entertainment information on the web. However, their sources for online local entertainment information are first Google, then Yahoo. The local newspaper Web site comes in third. They are the lowest users of online ticket services.

They are average in their use of the Internet for classified purchases such as cars and homes.

In all categories of entertainment technology, they have shown themselves slow to come on board, and their ownership of everything from DVD players to computers to cell phones rank lower than average.

Shopping

As a group, the Middle-Income Mature are not frequently shoppers, falling below average in the number who have shopped in the past seven days. As a group they are average “mall shoppers,” and ditto as “Internet shoppers.” They are just as likely to be shopping Monday through Thursday as they are on Saturday. As a segment, they are almost evenly split between liking to go shopping and disliking shopping.

Sixty-six percent are Wal-Mart shoppers, while only about half that many shop at Target. They are less likely than others to research products online or to purchase online.

They go to Google and store Web sites for their shopping information, and to a lesser degree Amazon, eBay or Yahoo. Only 7 percent use the newspaper Web site for shopping research.

Advertising

Newspaper was the dominant source for advertising for most people, but the highest among the Mature segments, and among the MIM, the very highest of all. The Internet, direct mail, and television all came in far behind.

When asked which advertising media they spend the most time reading, 65 percent of the MIM said “newspapers,” the highest of any segment and 64 percent say newspapers are best for bringing attention to sales. Right on down the line when it comes to shopping and advertising, this group turns to newspapers more than any other media.

They are, not surprisingly, large users of newspaper inserts. Nearly three-quarters have used inserts in the past 30 days. About half used direct mail circulars or inserts from free publications.

Among newspaper readers, more than three-quarters bought items seen in preprints and nearly that many agree that preprints help them save money, are useful, and that they seek out the preprints for discounts.

Recommendations

The study does not specifically outline strategies for maximizing relationships with this group, however, it seems that their strong loyalty to newspapers is significant in developing advertising strategies and key advertiser partnerships.

This group is identified as over 45 with no children in the house, which makes it the heart of the “Boomer” audience, an audience that is increasingly capturing the attention of a large group of advertisers, and not just for “senior” products such as life insurance. Developing these relationships is also key to keeping this group as readers, since they so heavily rely on the newspaper as their primary advertising source.

Since 66 percent have grandchildren, it would seem that this group has interaction and influence with both the Young Segments and the Family Segments. Because they are key users of the newspaper and use the newspaper’s Web site in addition to, rather than as a replacement of, the print newspaper, cross-selling platforms should be optimized. Providing in-depth and additional shopping information and providing ways for the newspaper’s Web site to facilitate communication with their families and with advertisers are also opportunities that should be explored.

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For more information, contact Randy Bennett, NAA vice president, audience and new business development, at randy.bennett@naa.org.

© December 2007 NAA