In a study conducted by climate change education research group, CLiZEN, current zoo and aquarium visitors are highly engaged in digital media on a regular basis. The inaugural study was intended to collect background information on zoo-goers for use as the group develops educational recommendations specific to climate change. However, these results have larger educational and marketing implications, as was discussed earlier in this previous post. From the study:

"Research Topic: Zoo and aquarium visitors have access to and experience with virtual social networks and other Internet technology platforms.

To determine the potential for usage of technology platforms as effective climate change education resources for zoo and aquarium visitors, visitors were asked if they use mobile technology to access the Internet and whether they regularly use any social networks or gaming systems.

Most visitors have access to a hand-held Internet connection during their visit to a zoo or aquarium
Overall, 60% of visitors regularly use Facebook.
- Usage of Facebook varies considerably based on visitors’ ages. For visitors age 18-24 years old, 84% use Facebook, whereas visitors age 60 years old or more, only 28% use Facebook
Twenty-five percent of visitors regularly play Nintendo’s Wii gaming system (Figure 25).
In addition, almost half of survey respondents indicated they regularly play at least one type of electronic game.
- Older visitors, however, may not be as likely to utilize these resources (approximately 20% of the sample)."

To read the full study, click here.