She’s likely to be female, Facebooking, smartphoning, and digitally shopping. She’s the Connected Consumer, and she’s a lot older than you might expect: on average, 40 years of age, and with a mean household income of $63,000.

And Connected she is: in addition to having a PC or laptop computer, 43% have a smartphone, and 16%, a tablet.

Meet the Connected Consumer is a report from Zmags, a digital design company. Zmags surveyed 1,500 U.S. adults in November 2012 who owned a tablet, a smartphone and/or a computer, asking people their views on shopping, apps and the digital lifestyle.

Connected consumers shop across all 3 platforms – via tablets, smartphones and computers. Zmags calls this “device indifference.” The most common product category shopped-for on tablets are, not surprisingly, electronics, followed by books, toys, clothing, and music.

Tablet users did 87% of their holiday shopping using their devices, spending on average $325. And, 49% of tablet users anticipate shopping even more on their tablet in 2012.

Smartphone users are most likely to purchase music via their devices, followed by electronics, books, toys, and clothes.

For shopping, connected consumers don’t like using branded apps on their smartphones or tablets – instead, these shoppers like to go to websites and mobile sites, and 60% use digital or print catalogs and go directly to retailers’ sites to shop.

Zmags segments Connected shoppers by style of shopping: Savvy Shoppers look for the best, with 55% of them owning a laptop, PC and smartphone. Interestingly, 43% of Savvy Shoppers are tablet owners.

The most prevalent feelings Connected Consumers have about shopping are “happy,” “excited,” “thrifty,” “productive,” and “fulfilled.” Tablet owners feel particularly happy, excited, and productive.

Productivity seems like a major value among tablet owners: 29% say their motivation when they shop via tablet is convenience.

Facebook features prominently among Connected Consumers: 80% of them are active on Facebook. 57% of tablet owners follow their favorite brands on Facebook, versus 43% of all Connected Consumers. 22% of tablet owners also like to share good deals with friends on social networks.

Health Populi’s Hot Points: Consumers are digitally connecting across multiple platforms: in this study, Zmags looks into peoples’ shopping behaviors via computers (laptop/PC), smartphones and tablets. This is the consumer’s emerging multi-screen environment. People are accessing information and conducting transactions using several devices, and it’s clear one isn’t replacing another for the time being. Cable television is another platform where retail shopping is increasingly conducted, as well.

The adoption and enchantment with these devices can enable people to not only ‘shop’ for health services, but to receive these services in real-time at a distance. Traditionally “telehealth” has been thought to be delivered in a B2B sense, between health providers — say urban centered medical experts consulting remotely with physicians in the hinterlands.

However, Connected Consumers have the technology to enable care to be delivered at home and on-the-go. For example, Delta Airlines recently contracted with OptumHealth (a division of UnitedHealth Group) to provide telehealth services for the company’s very mobile workforce through the NowClinic online care.

As more consumers become Connected Consumers, they will be able to avail themselves to the growing opportunity of Participatory, Connected Health.