iPod owners are more likely to create Internet content like blogs, according to an Intelliseek study. The report from August 2005 showed that iPod owners are twice as likely to have created a weblog than people who don’t own an mp3 player, and far more likely to have blogged than owners of other mp3 players.
In addition to being leaders in Internet information creation, iPod owners tend to use other communication and media technology tools more often. For example, they are 2.5 times more likely to text message on cell phones, three times more likely to take pictures with camera phones, and three times more likely to download Internet video clips to their computers. With the release of the video capable iPod, Intelliseek expects that trend to continue and to grow.
iPod owners also tend to be product innovators, owning digital video recorders like TiVo, PDAs, cell phones, laptop computers and broadband internet connections.
Ultimately, Apple is reaping the rewards of what amounts to a massive free marketing campaign. The number of blog entries on any given day that mention the iPod is equal to the number of entries about all other mp3 players combined.
Pete Blackshaw, Intelliseek’s chief marketing officer, commented “Provided iPods continue to delight consumers, Apple will benefit from a growing volume of free, trusted advertising from other consumers.”
As the iPod continues to gain popularity and marketshare, the number of iPod owners sharing information on the Internet will rise, too. Odds are, it won’t be long before other companies take notice and try to tap into that information pool by marketing directly to iPod owners.