57 Percent of Back-to-School Shoppers Will Not Buy New Computers, Study Finds

BOISE, Idaho and GLASGOW, Scotland, Aug. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mindful of saving money, more than half of back-to-school shoppers will not purchase computers this year, according to a study by Crucial.com released today. The Crucial.com Back-to-School Shopping Report, which includes responses from 1,000 adults in the U.S., found that 57% of respondents do not plan to purchase laptops, desktops, tablets, or mobile devices for school this year, as a vast majority of consumers are increasingly concerned with becoming more frugal.

The research showed U.S. consumers – and back-to-school shoppers in particular – are seeking ways to cut back where they can. Seventy-three percent of respondents said they were very concerned with saving money, a number that increased to 82% for back-to-school shoppers. In general, 82% of respondents said it was more important to save money than save time, and 81% said they would be most inclined to put money toward savings or paying off bills if given $1,000 to spend.

If given $1,000 to spend, respondents said they would:

Back-to-school shoppers cited several ways they save money, including clipping coupons (82%), do-it-yourself projects (57%), and buying generic brands (57%). Additionally, 61% of back-to-school shoppers said they would try to fix a slow computer themselves to save money, rather than spend money on expensive repairs. Fifty-eight percent said they expected a computer to last at least five years.

"The results of the survey delivered an underlying theme: most Americans seek to be as frugal as possible, but struggle to do so," said Ed Walker, Crucial E-Commerce Marketing Manager. "It's not surprising consumers are seeking to make computers and various mobile devices last as long as possible, given their expense. When back-to-school season arrives, it can make a lot of sense for families to extend the life and performance of their existing computers, rather than spend hundreds of dollars on new ones."

When shopping for the new school year, consumers ranked spending money as the biggest stress factor, ahead of locating particular items and dealing with crowded stores. Only 2% identified themselves as "big spenders" when asked to describe their money-saving mentality. The largest segment of back-to-school shoppers this year is females aged 35 to 44, 53% of whom said they planned to shop or had already.

The Crucial.com Back-to-School Shopping Report is based on an online, quantitative market research study commissioned by Crucial.com and conducted by independent research firm GMI from June 27^th – July 5^th, 2014. Respondents were comprised of 500 men and 500 women in the United States ages 35 and over. For information about the survey, Crucial, or computer memory upgrades visit Crucial.com. 

Research findings are based on a survey fielded in the US between June 27 and July 4, 2014 asking 1,001 adults aged 35-70 about their ownership of personal computers (PCs), with a focus on purchasing memory for their PC.  The survey was completed through GMI's Global Test Market double opted in panelists who have registered to participate in online surveys. Respondents who were invited to participate in this survey were split equally on gender. Differential sampling was done to account for response rate differences by demographics. Quotas were also set in the survey to ensure that over representation of the age and gender groups involved did not occur.

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About Crucial
Crucial is a global brand of Micron Technology, Inc. Crucial products include award-winning solid state drives (SSDs) and DRAM for more than 50,000 desktops, laptops, servers, workstations, and other systems. Crucial products are available worldwide at leading retail and e- tail stores, commercial resellers, and system integrators who can be found at www.crucialproducts.com. For more information or support, visit www.crucial.com.

About Micron
Micron Technology, Inc. is one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions. Through its worldwide operations, Micron manufactures and markets a full range of DRAM, NAND and NOR flash memory, as well as other innovative memory technologies, packaging solutions and semiconductor systems for use in leading-edge computing, consumer, networking, embedded and mobile products. Micron's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ under the MU symbol. To learn more about Micron Technology, Inc., visit www.micron.com.

Media Contact:

Jim Crook, InkHouse for Crucial
1-781-966-4103
[email protected]

SOURCE Crucial.com