Advertising Age just published an article titled "Meet the Typical Electronics Consumer." (
http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=119580) As I don't have reprint rights, I'll be quoting the statistics from the study "Consumer Electronics Online: Converged or Confused?" by eMarketer analyst Lisa Phillips. Take a look at the stats and think about how they apply to your buying habits and your friends' perceptions of you, as the resident/local HD guru. and also think about how we can leverage these stats into a presentation and greater involvement at the next EMA or IDEA event we're invited to.
$1.9 Billion is the amount spent on online advertising by consumer-electronics makers in the U.S. last year. That's just under 1/3 of the total ad spending for the product category. The average U.S. company spends about 5.9% out of the ad budget for online ads. This indicates to me that the consumer-electronics industry is spending money at a much higher rate than the average company to reach its target audience online. They know that a huge chunk of consumers for their products spend a great deal of time online. And here at HTF we're the consumers they're targeting. Take a look at the ads that help pay for the forum.
77% of buyers researched their electronic purchases online before buying. 77% of buyers bought those items at a brick-and-mortar store. Do you divide your electronic purchases between online etailers and actual stores? I know I do. I'll buy a DVD recorder/player online. But, I'll go into my local Video Only to buy my televisions. Why? Because all the prices for the DVD recorders/players are pretty comparable online. However, I can go into Video Only and bargain on the price for that TV and come away with a price lower than the sticker price. Does anybody else do that, too?
65% of households in the U.S. will have broadband internet access this year. This is expected to reach 90% by 2011, just 4 years away. Anybody out there still using a modem? Just 6% of households will have dial-up by 2011. And 4% will still have no internet access at all. This makes the prospect of video download, a much more lucrative proposition for the studios with the opportunity for greater market penetration of the services. That's if it can be done simply and quickly by the non-technological population. The online equivalent of plug & play would make this possible on a large scale.
$60,000-$100,000 is the average annual income of 31% of visitors to online appliance and electronics sites. 30% were in the $30,000-$60,000 income range and 19% made under $30,000. 20% made more than $100,000. Well, I'm not going to tell you my true annual income but I do fall in to that 31% group. What about you?
91% of consumers thought it was important for online retailers to have complete product information. Just 55% said they would take the effort to go to the manufacturer's website to find the information if it wasn't at the online store site. So, if I was an independent retailer, I'd do as Crutchfield does and have as much information as possible about the product directly available to any potential customer. Has any online store lost your business because they didn't have the info you needed to make an informed buying decision? What about buying DVDs? How many times have you gone from site to site, store to store, blog to blog trying to get the piece of information that will make you decide to buy?
20 minutes is the average amount of time a consumer will spend trying to set up a device before giving up. More than 50% of electronic devices returned to stores last year were in perfect working order! Our home theaters are increasingly complex. Initial wiring or re-wiring can be a nightmare. How many switchers do you have to connect multiple HDMI signals? I've maxed out my patience many a time connecting things. My wife knows not to disturb me and to lock the cats up if I tell her I'm working on the equipment. But at least I know what I'm trying to achieve and what to expect from my efforts. But what about the average guy trying to hook up his HD equipment. Co-axial, composite, component, S-Video, HDMI, DVI! No wonder some folks give up.
2/3 of consumers polled could not define the term "digital home." Once they knew what it was, 90% said setting it it would be "very expensive." I live in a 2 bedroom condo in downtown San Francisco with 2 HD TVs. I can't even begin to imagine what would happen if I had a whole house to digitally play with! Anyone out there with a "digital home"?
23% of TV sets in the U.S. receive no cable or satellite programming. What are their viewing habits outside of over the air broadcasts? Are they renters of DVDs? I've had cable for 30 years but I've never had satellite. But, I do subscribe to the Satellite Direct monthly guide for its comprehensive program listings. Anyone out there without cable or satellite?
62% of people would buy a HD TV if there were significant price drops. Only 21% would buy it for improved picture and audio quality. I'll admit, this confuses me. Are people just going to buy an HD TV because they can afford to? Don't they want a better picture and better sound? I guess the 4th quarter should see interesting sales with DLP sets being phased out by Toshiba and LCDs and Plasmas coming down in price.
And here's the stat that applies most directly to the HTF group: 83% of "advocates"-those people who believe good brands are worth talking about-recommended a recent electronics purchase to a friend. This betters the 67% who recommend cars and the 66% who recommend home loans. At EMA we ended up getting those free HD and Blu-ray DVD players. Now you know why- we're seen by the consumer electronics industry as the "advocates" who'll tell our friends and the world what we think and what to buy. Each group is counting on us to spread the HD or Blu-ray word.
The last thread I started sure got interesting (and a mite heated). Lets keep this one cordial and do some brainstorming and not head butting!
