News

22/8/2003

Eight Out of Ten Specialty AV Retail Shoppers are Likely to Buy a Flat Screen TV

TFCinfo Corp, the worldwide leader in A/V market research, announced today that they have completed the first ever in-store large LCDTV vs. Plasma study. End user preferences were determined by personal interviews conducted at Harvey Electronics, where buyers were able to see, compare and purchase the two types of flat screen displays.

Good news for flat screen display manufacturers is, 85.6% of shoppers surveyed stated they were likely to buy a flat screen TV in the future -- and the future is now. Of those likely to purchase, more than half stated that they plan to buy within the next 6 months! Which technology they will choose, and what price are they willing to pay, are the ultimate questions.

TFCinfo's LCDTV vs. Plasma multi-client survey was aimed at understanding the level of desire, practical uses, and strength & weaknesses - both real and perceived - of plasma and LCDTV held by A/V enthusiasts and early adopters.

"What we did in this research has never been done before," stated Tanya Lippke, Manager of Survey Market Research for TFCinfo. "Not only was this the first ever in store study to pit large LCDTV up against Plasma, but we also used a methodology that would allow us to measure pre-conceived advantages and disadvantages of the two competing displays, and then a "blind comparison" that would allow us to measure the actual advantages and disadvantages as seen through the eyes of shoppers."

TFCinfo asked respondents which display they felt was superior in various metrics (such as better picture quality, wider viewing angle, better contrast, and other metrics) before being exposed to the "blind comparison" display area. This allowed TFCinfo to gauge any perceptions that shoppers already had about the two displays. TFCinfo then had shoppers look at a display area that had a large LCDTV and a Plasma display set up side by side and completely covered (the sets were labeled A and B, and the only area visible was the picture viewing area). This allowed TFCinfo to then gather data on the actual advantages and disadvantages seen by shoppers. It also allowed TFCinfo to observe the customer's propensity to switch preferences.

"It was extremely interesting to see the pre-conceived ideas that shoppers had going into this survey," stated Lippke. "There are definitely some misconceptions that shoppers have about these two technologies, and it will be very important for manufacturers to address some of these issues."

TFCinfo not only looked at future purchasing, advantages/disadvantages and preferences for these two displays, but also aspects of brand (awareness, consideration sets, and most likely to purchase.) A few of the brands that stood out in this research include: Fujitsu, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung and Sony.

www.tfcinfo.com