Study: Podcast fans command billions in spending power for consumer packaged goods

Cadence13 and Nielsen have released a research report titled The Purchasing Power of Podcast Listeners, the first in a series that will examine the behaviors and trends within this audience. Nielsen’s HomeScan panel provided much of the data connectivity between podcast listeners (sorted into various segments) and purchasing behavior. The first report explores listeners of shows about sports, society & culture, and television & movies, and their spending habits in the consumer packaged good categories of snacks, carbonated beverages, and beauty products.

According to the results, households with podcast fans spend more than the average household annually on consumer packaged goods, $4,036 compared with $3,981. Fans of sports podcasts spend at least $81 more per year. For the TV & movie group it’s $67 more and for society & culture it’s $32 more per year.

Snacks were the top-performing category. All of the 66 million households that contain podcast fans made purchases in the snacks category. The podcast fans also spent 4.5% more than the average. The whole podcast audience surveyed influences $2.9 billion in snack purchases annually.

“Our podcasts continue to see a rise in major brand advertising,” said Jay Green, SVP of Digital Strategy and Analytics at Cadence13. “The new data from our collaboration with Nielsen Fanlinks gives us deeper insights into understanding this actively engaged audience and the relationships they have with key product categories and specific brands. Snacks, Beverages and Cosmetics are only the beginning of what we will be uncovering.”

Anna Washenko