Consumers Addicted To CE Devices, Plan More Purchases

A new survey suggests more than 80% of consumers are addicted to electronic devices and cannot function without them, particularly computers.The 2010 Electronics Retail Survey commissioned by Eye, a seller of outdoor and commercial indoor and space, says 82 percent of respondents said they could not live without their electronics, and more than half (52 percent) said their CE devices define who they are.

The survey also casts new light on what influences consumers on their choice of CE products. The vast majority of respondents (99 percent) said they were made aware of the new electronic products by advertising, and more than half of those surveyed said mall advertising influences their purchase decisions.

Ninety-seven percent of shoppers like seeing new electronics products advertised on larger formats, and 96 percent said it helps them choose between different CE brands.

But three-quarters of respondents were also influenced by online advertising. Other influencers included TV (73 percent) and word of mouth (69 percent). Ads in shopping malls accounted for influencing 57 percent of survey respondents while magazines accounted for 46 percent.

The results are based on a random sample of 608 adults aged 18 to 64 who were surveyed online by US pollster Toluna.

Consumers are particularly addicted to computers, which was cited by 82 percent as the one device they could not live without, and far outpaced TVs (14 percent), digital cameras (3 percent) and MP3 players (1 percent).

Not surprisingly, 92 of shoppers said they planned to buy a computer within the next three years.

Other popular planned purchases included DVDs (85 percent), video games (76 percent) and digital cameras (74 percent). Half said they plan to purchase a PDA within the next three years while only 40 percent plan to purchase a 3D TV.

60 per cent of respondents also said they “cannot resist new gadgets,” and favourite brands were cited as Sony (58 percent), LG (45 percent), Hewlett-Packard (39 percent), Samsung (36 percent) and Apple (36 percent).