2014 Personal Technology Study Ranks Wearable Devices, Cloud Technology and Streaming Media as Top Consumer Trends of the Year

SEATTLE, May 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study of American online consumers found that while the majority of consumers are not willing to part with their mobile phones or wearable devices they are thinking about ditching their cable TV subscriptions in favor of streaming media.  The 2014 Personal Technology Study, released today by Mindsight and Survey Analytics, reveals consumers' top ranked devices, mobile app habits, trends in media viewing, and how the average consumer manages data and device security. 

"Consumer confidence in personal technology adoption, usage and maintenance is on the rise, as evident by the study," said Andrew Jeavons, CEO of Survey Analytics. "As previously niche personal technologies like wearable devices become more and more mainstream, we find consumers are engaging with brands, products and services at a much faster rate than in previous years.  Consumers are more connected than ever before and they are demanding innovation from their devices at a rapid pace."

Can't Live Without: Food, Water, and Wearable Technology?!
When asked what personal devices they cannot live without, Americans listed mobile phones (iPhone and Android phone each with 67 percent) and laptops (61 percent) as must-haves. Surprisingly, wearable technology devices like smart watches (40 percent) and Google Glass (39 percent) ranked higher than Kindles (27 percent), iPods/MP3 players (21 percent) and video game consoles (17 percent). The combination of functionality, fashion and "cool factor" are landing wearable tech on mainstream consumer shopping lists.

The Who, What, Where, When and Why of Mobile Apps
Most Americans prefer to get mobile app recommendations from the app store (45 percent) or friends and family (44 percent). Over half of consumers surveyed have social media and gaming apps (54 percent each) installed on their devices. Weather, music and photo/video apps also rank among the most popular, while very few consumers are downloading health and fitness apps (29 percent). The average number of apps Americans have installed on their mobile devices is 21; however, they use an average of only eight apps over the course of a week.

Among those who own smartphones or tablets, respondents agreed most with the following statements: "I only download free apps," and "I don't like when the apps I download contain ads." Despite the fact that consumers are adverse to in-app advertising, nearly half of all Americans are using mobile devices and/or apps to research products while shopping in-store, presenting a valuable touchpoint for brands.

Not Your Grandfather's Cable Service
Nearly three-quarters of respondents currently have a cable TV subscription in their household. However, 65 percent are willing to ditch their current cable provider in favor of other streaming TV and movie services like Hulu and Netflix. Among respondents who claimed they would be unwilling to cancel their cable TV subscription in favor of other services, nearly 40 percent said they prefer to have both cable TV and supplemental streaming services. Either way, streaming media is trending upward with consumers in the coming year.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane... It's The Cloud
While cloud-based technology has been around for decades, consumer application of the technology is still relatively new. Thanks to companies like Amazon, Google and Dropbox, software-as-a-service is now part of daily life, and 65 percent of Americans claim they are very familiar with cloud computing and could comfortably explain the topic. Only 7 percent say they've never heard the term before.

Reckless Abandonment for Data Storage
While most consumers are the diligent, responsible adults they should be and back up their data on a fairly regular basis (88 percent), 10 percent admit they never back up their data on any of their devices, and 11 percent confess they back up once a year or less often. When it comes to personal device security, Americans are more diligent. Over three-quarters claim to scan their devices for spam threats once a month or more often. In addition, 41 percent claim to do this once a week.

The 2014 Personal Technology Study was completed by a nationally U.S. representative source of 9,000 consumer. All respondents were over the age of 18.

About Mindsight
Mindsight is a consumer research and brand strategy firm that helps companies the likes of Fossil, The Gap and ConAgra Foods see inside the minds of their customers so that they know how to grow. They use smart thinking, proven technology tools and a good measure of fun to get there. Made up of former consumer research gurus from major, top tier consumer brands such as Kraft, Clorox, Microsoft, and Kellogg's, Mindsight knows how to find the insight that makes growth happen. For more details, please visit www.mindsightstrategy.com.

About Survey Analytics
Survey Analytics helps companies listen and learn across multiple platforms and channels. Our enterprise grade research platform currently serves over 30 industries in 15 countries. With powerful online and mobile cloud enabled tools, Survey Analytics can help brands collect and segment their feedback in real time and on a global scale. Research deployment options include online, offline, mobile, panel management, sampling and social media. Deliverability is also available through API and SDK for developers. Some customers include companies like Zynga, Motorola, McGraw Hill, CareerBuilder and Agencies of the US Federal Government including the FCC, USPS and the GSA. For more details, please visit www.surveyanalytics.com.

SOURCE Survey Analytics