Category: Consumer Electronics

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Voice assistants-what users ask about [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 9, 2018

As the saying goes, many talk about the weather, yet few do anything about it. Our research doesn’t show if people expect Alexa to have any skills to do anything about the weather. However, it is the main subject users speak with Alexa about. That’s followed by requests about music.

MetaFacts VUP-Voice User Profile-Subjects by System

Meanwhile, web searches are the major subject users speak with their voice assistants about. This subject is dominated by Google Assistant and closely seconded by Microsoft Cortana.

Alexa is ranked #1 in the breadth of subjects actively used and is primarily used for weather, music, and entertainment. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Alexa is more-favored for shopping than other systems. What may be surprising is that shopping isn’t Alexa’s top helpful task. Since most connected shopping today is visual, most involve the use of a larger screen device such as a PC or Tablet.

Google Assistant is ranked 2nd for the breadth of subjects, mostly utilized for web searches, navigation, and music.

The 3rd-ranked Apple Siri is used primarily for web searches, weather, and navigation, and is uniquely strong in messaging.

4th-ranked Microsoft Cortana is similarly used for web searches, weather, and music. Like Alexa, it’s slightly stronger than average for scheduling.

This is based on the MetaFacts Voice User Profile survey conducted in February 2018. This subset of the results reports on active usage, which is a practical measure to contrast with the potential of what voice assistants may or may be able to do.

Observations

The market for voice assistants is in a time of flux and rapid development, as each voice assistant system touts the breadth of its skills, richness of its vocabulary, accuracy, humor, or other capabilities. Meanwhile, users are experimenting, with some former users having been discouraged by unmet expectations and others only at the start of their adoption.

Related research results

The MetaFacts Voice User Profile includes other related analysis, including:

  • The subjects Voice Assistant users ask about: weather, scheduling, music, entertainment, home automation, and more
  • Which Voice Assistant systems are being actively used, on which platforms, and which segments they are attracting
  •  Which listening devices are being actively used – from Smart Speakers to Smartphones and Headsets
  • Where Voice Assistant users will – and won’t – do their talking: in restaurants, driving, while walking, and many other locations and settings
  • How well – or poorly – users experience their Voice Assistants, and how performance metrics vary by system and listening device
  • How many adults are active Voice Assistant users, how many are former users, and how many have never tried one
  • Reasons given why consumers have never used a Voice Assistant, as well as why former users aren’t currently active users

Source

The information in this MetaFAQs is based on a survey of 525 online adults during February 2018 as part of the MetaFacts Voice User Profile (VUP). The study universe includes active voice assistant users, former voice assistant users, as well as consumers who have never used a voice assistant.

About MetaFAQs

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

Current subscribers may use the comprehensive TUP datasets to obtain even more results or tailor these results to fit their chosen segments, services, or products. As subscribers choose, they may use the TUP inquiry service, online interactive tools, or analysis previously published by MetaFacts.

On request, interested research professionals can receive complimentary updates through our periodic newsletter. These include MetaFAQs – brief answers to frequently asked questions about technology users – or TUPdates – analysis of current and essential technology industry topics. To subscribe, contact MetaFacts.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.
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Voice assistants-What’s listening now? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 1, 2018

Among voice assistant users, Apple AirPods have the most recent use of a listening device, with 78% having used it on the day we surveyed them. This high active-usage rate is closely followed by Apple notebooks or desktop Macs.

Android smartphones rank last for this most-recent-use measure, although rank 1st for having been used within the prior week.

This is based on the MetaFacts Voice User Profile survey conducted in February 2018. This survey was conducted in late February shortly after the release of the Apple HomePod, so too soon to measure the impact of Apple’s new smart speaker on the marketplace.

Observations

We’re in a time of experimentation, as technology users are finding their voice. The novelty of voice-control is still fresh, and it remains to be seen whether Voice Assistants will be regularly used by more than a few tech enthusiasts.

Voice Assistant use has reached a greater share of the public’s attention, especially following Amazon’s aggressive push into Smart Speakers and enabling Alexa across a broader range of devices. Similarly, Microsoft’s Cortana, Google Assistant, and Samsung Bixby have garnered renewed attention, and are slowly starting to come into everyday use.
Measuring recency of use is an important indicator of true usage levels. It’s one thing for consumers to play with the features of their new technology devices. It’s another thing for them to incorporate something like Voice Assistant use throughout their day.

Related research results

The MetaFacts Voice User Profile includes other related analysis, including:

  • The topics Voice Assistant users ask about: weather, scheduling, music, entertainment, home automation, and more
  • Which Voice Assistant systems are being actively used, on which platforms, and which segments they are attracting
  • Which listening devices are being actively used – from Smart Speakers to Smartphones and Headsets
  • Where Voice Assistant users will – and won’t – do their talking: in restaurants, driving, while walking, and many other locations and settings
  • How well – or poorly – users experience their Voice Assistants, and how performance metrics vary by system and listening device
  • How many adults are active Voice Assistant users, how many are former users, and how many have never tried one
  • Reasons given why consumers have never used a Voice Assistant, as well as why former users aren’t currently active users

Source

The information in this MetaFAQs is based on a survey of 525 online adults during February 2018 as part of the MetaFacts Voice User Profile. The study universe included active Voice Assistant users, former Voice Assistant users, as well as consumers who have never used a Voice Assistant.

About MetaFAQs

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

Current subscribers may use the comprehensive TUP datasets to obtain even more results or tailor these results to fit their chosen segments, services, or products. As subscribers choose, they may use the TUP inquiry service, online interactive tools, or analysis previously published by MetaFacts.

On request, interested research professionals can receive complimentary updates through our periodic newsletter. These include MetaFAQs – brief answers to frequently asked questions about technology users – or TUPdates – analysis of current and essential technology industry topics. To subscribe, contact MetaFacts.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.
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Technology spending – beyond owned gadgets [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 30, 2017

Tech spending – it’s mostly driven by living in the moment, through month-to-month subscriptions and on-demand content. Spending on tech devices, while substantial, is only a fraction of annual household spending. Also, the biggest spenders are few in number.
During the full year of 2015, 90% of household technology spending was for services and 10% for devices. Total household tech spending averaged $7.9 thousand for the year. Most of this spending was concentrated among the top 25% of spenders. In 2015, the Top Quartile of adults spent $23.6 thousand on average for technology services and devices.
For these biggest tech spenders, services make up 93% of the technology spend. This is in contrast to the bottom quartile of spenders, whose spending is more equally balanced, with 63.6% going for services and 36.4% for devices.

Continue reading “Technology spending – beyond owned gadgets [TUPdate]”
Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.
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Every step you take – smartphone step-trackers [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 24, 2017

Baby steps count, as long as they’re in the right direction.  Digital health promises positive outcomes for a wide range of people. However, like gym memberships and home treadmills, they don’t do much unless people use them. A first step for many is to use what’s handy. Most smartphones can track a user’s steps, and many are being used for that purpose, although use isn’t as widespread as fitness trackers or smartwatches.

Continue reading “Every step you take – smartphone step-trackers [TUPdate]”
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Are most hearables being used by young males? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 13, 2017

Wireless headsets have been available for more than a decade, and are strongest among two age and gender groups. These hearables-active groups also have above-average shares of VR Headset early adopters.

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The strongest segments for active hearables use include younger males – age 18-44 and youngish females – age 25-34. Penetration is above one in four among males 25-34 (27%) and among males age 35-44 (26%). Among females, hearables usage peaks among females age 25-34, at 15%.

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Looking ahead, we expect these same age & gender groups to continue as the strongest users of hearables and don’t expect other segments to be as keen on hearables.
These age & gender segments are in some of the most-active life stages, with the highest levels of presence of children, full-time employment, and household income. These sociological factors correlate strongly with higher demand for home entertainment, game-playing, and streaming music listening. Also, they are the strongest age & gender segments in tech spending for devices and services.

These age & gender segments are also above-average in their use of voice assistants such as Apple Siri or Microsoft Cortana, and hearables help to use these with the greatest of convenience.

In other words, many of these youngish adults are looking for a way to listen to what they choose to listen to, and for a way to be heard, if not by friends or associates, at least by their own digital assistants.

About MetaFAQs

This MetaFAQs is based on the TUP/Technology User Profile 2016 survey.

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

Current subscribers may use the comprehensive TUP datasets to obtain even more results or tailor these results to fit their chosen segments, services, or products. As subscribers choose, they may use the TUP inquiry service, online interactive tools, or analysis previously published by MetaFacts.

On request, interested research professionals can receive complimentary updates through our periodic newsletter. These include MetaFAQs – brief answers to frequently asked questions about technology users – or TUPdates – analysis of current and essential technology industry topics. To subscribe, contact MetaFacts.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.
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Is there an age skew for using VR headsets? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 2, 2017

Virtual reality hasn’t reached market reality, despite decades of experimentation and overhyped false starts.

Recent investment has brought renewed attention, hope, and development to the prospects of widespread VR use. Based on our TUP 2016 US survey, only 2% of connected adults are actively using a VR headset, such as the Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR. This modest acceptance rate is only part of the research finding, though, as there is more that can be learned from the early adopters.

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Virtual reality headset adoption is led by youngish, but not the youngest, adults. Adults age 25-39 have the highest rates of VR Headset usage.

Adults age 30-34 have the strongest usage rates – at 5%. Slightly older adults – age 35-39 – have the next-highest usage rate.

In addition to their quest for fun and convenience, these age groups are in some of the most-active life stages, with the highest levels of presence of children, full-time employment, and household income. These sociological factors correlate strongly with higher demand for home entertainment, game consoles, game-playing, and gaming desktops and notebooks.

Looking ahead, we expect this age group to continue as the strongest users of VR Headsets. While there are exciting commercial developments, from training simulations to rapid prototyping, we expect these VR applications to reach fewer employees than consumers for VR Headsets.

This is based on our most recent research among 7,336 US adults as part of the TUP/Technology User Profile 2016 survey. This MetaFAQs research result addresses one of the many questions profiling active technology users. The TUP Lens with the most information about VR Headsets, age skews, and Entertainment Activities are the TUP 2016 Wearables Lens, Consumer Electronics, and Home Entertainment Lens.

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About MetaFAQs

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

Current subscribers may use the comprehensive TUP datasets to obtain even more results or tailor these results to fit their chosen segments, services, or products. As subscribers choose, they may use the TUP inquiry service, online interactive tools, or analysis previously published by MetaFacts.

On request, interested research professionals can receive complimentary updates through our periodic newsletter. These include MetaFAQs – brief answers to frequently asked questions about technology users – or TUPdates – analysis of current and essential technology industry topics. To subscribe, contact MetaFacts.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.