News

New PARADE Technology Study Finds Consumers Confused (30/7/2004)

Technology has provided us with more choices than ever-plasma, LCD and HDTV television; digital video recorders and cameras; online gaming and more. The result? We're confused!

A new study from PARADE magazine, conducted by The Yankee Group, has found 16% of consumers think they own a digital video recorder (DVR); 4% do.

71% percent say they understand and can explain the concept of a DVR to a friend; 36% understand and can explain the concept of TiVo. TiVo is a DVR.

Similarly, 40% of consumers say they understand and can explain an MP3 player to a friend; 35% understand and can explain an iPod. An iPod is an MP3 player.

Plasma televisions and computers are No. 1 on Americans' technology wish lists, at 26% each; 17% want HDTV; digital cameras, 16% and DVD players, 10%.

Online gaming is burgeoning, especially among women (70%), the biggest users of Web-based parlor games. Men take the edge in other entertainment- related applications, including e-mailing photos (75% vs. 67%), burning audio CDs (54% vs. 44%), watching DVDs on PCs (47% vs. 37%) and purchasing or downloading MP3 files (36% vs. 29%).

Compared to households without children, families (children 18 or younger) are more technologically advanced. They better understand concepts like DVR (79% vs. 66%), text messaging (78% vs. 60%), HDTV (61% vs. 50%), broadband (56% vs. 46%) and MP3 (47% vs. 35%).

Four profiles of head of the household, defined by the PARADE study:

* Gadget gurus are technologically advanced. They have a median age of 40, are affluent (average income of $87,500) and, most likely, parents (58%). Fifty-four percent are male. Gadget gurus comprise 15% of the population.
* Digital mainstreamers, or those with intermediate skills, are also around 40, with an average income of $62,500; 43% are parents, 52% are female. Thirty-six percent of us are mainstreamers.
* The tech-challenged are low adopters, largely female (61%), age 50, with an average income of $42,500. Thirty-one percent are parents. Thirty- four percent of Americans are tech-challenged.
* The technologically overwhelmed are slow adopters, age 60, with an average income of $30,000; 63% are female; 15% of Americans are overwhelmed.

Segments are based on product ownership and weighted by national penetration. The PARADE study was conducted in March/April 2004 among 2,000 households.

www.parade.com