The exclusive breakfast briefing took place at the Charlotte Street Hotel, London, and revealed that the UK are becoming a nation of techies, with 69% considering themselves an expert in at least one area of technology.
The research undertaken in associated with The Source, a bespoke qualitative and quantitative London based research solutions provider, polled over 5000 consumers in the UK and US; with close to 2900 UK responses - half from the general public and the rest from Future’s tech audiences.
Future has segmented the UK technology market into six audience groups reflecting technology confidence, and these sectors need to be communicated to in very different ways. Immersed Leaders, who are the most enthusiastic segment, like to have peer-to-peer conversation, whilst a Confident Pragmatists simply wants to know the benefits of what they are looking to buy. The other segmentation groups are Expert Enthusiasts, Gadget Fashionistas, Traditional Users and Laggards.
Its findings discovered that despite the recession, spending in technology has not curtailed and still remains strong. The ‘Immersed Leaders’ and ‘Expert Enthusiasts’ – core to Future’s tech savvy audience - are the most engaged and are most likely to be early adopters and opinion leaders. These segments of the audience spend the most money, with the ‘Immersed Leaders’ typically spending twice the national average, and influence the buying habits of the less engaged i.e. ‘Gadget Fashionistas’ and ‘Confident Pragmatists’.
The briefing was presented by Future’s Managing Director of Technology and Entertainment Nial Ferguson, Market Research Director Simon Wainwright and Advertising Director Stuart Staves, along with representatives from The Source. It was attended by over 50 of Future’s global technology clients and agency guests across marketing, planning, buying and business development.
According to Future, additional findings include:
• 58% of the UK population are feeling more confident using technology than they did a year ago
• Older audiences are keeping pace with technology: 58% of the over 65s are now finding technology easier to use
• Home Entertainment (Smart TV’s) and Portable Devices (Tablets and 4G Smartphones) will be the key purchase areas for 2013
• Boundaries between work and home are blurring, in particular for the 16 to 35 year olds
• Social networking is more evident now than it was a year ago, with mobile being the primary driver of this
• Technology is becoming too invasive a force in respondents’ lives. However when push came to shove, very few felt they could do without it and saw the benefits of technology connectivity
• The Future audiences are very influential in technology, with 80% stating that people come to them for advice
Simon Wainwright, says, “This has been a comprehensive piece of research to segment the UK and US markets in terms of their attitudes towards, and familiarity with all things tech.
“Through this work, we are seeing the deepening of the relationship between consumers and tech, and how for those that are the most engaged, the recession has had little impact on their planned spend in the next year.
“That's great news for our clients in this space. We've also been able to ascertain how our own audiences attitudes in technology differ in the UK and US, but also in their knowledge, influence and spend. By incorporating the US market into this year’s Techmonitor research, we have gained some great insights of how technology is developing and compares in these two big markets."
Nial Ferguson, says, "As the leading technology publisher in the UK, I believe we have a responsibility to develop and then share our understanding of the UK technology buying market. We need to understand the brands, the platforms and the general trends that are affecting our audiences, and also to better understand the issues that are facing our commercial partners. This will allow us to shape our business accordingly, and ensure that we are responding to our clients needs more effectively."
The 2013 Techmonitor survey leads the field in identifying the latest consumer technology habits and trends in the UK market, says Future. It provides clear direction and comprehensive findings that will benefit organisations who are looking to enhance their understanding of their audiences’ interests and opinions.
