Forrester Research: Americans Continue to Adopt Digital Lifestyle

Americans of all ages continue to adopt a digital lifestyle according to an annual survey of consumers' technology adoption and attitudes by Forrester Research, Inc.

"The State Of Consumers And Technology: Benchmark 2009, US" is a graphical analysis of Forrester's North American Technographics Benchmark Survey, (US, Canada) of nearly 48,000 respondents. A rich data asset for Consumer Market Research professionals' product planning and go-to-market strategy assessments, the survey includes more than 1,400 data points and data on 378 US brands. It is the largest ongoing survey in the world to explore consumer attitudes, ownership, and use of technology.

As described by the group, highlights of the report include:

- Devices. High-definition televisions (HDTVs) and home networks were two of the fastest-growing consumer technologies in 2008. Over the next five years, nearly 39 million US households will get their first high-definition set and more than 30 million homes will add network connectivity. Forty-four percent of US households have a laptop, and the average American family owns two personal computers.

- Media consumption. While media consumption among all Americans is split evenly between new and traditional media, on average, consumers younger than 40 spend almost 2 hours a week more with new media than they do with traditional media.

- Mobile. Four in five US households now have a mobile phone; families with older children have nearly three mobile phones per household, the most of any age segment. Eight percent of consumers own a smartphone.

"US consumers are making an inexorable transition to an all-digital, Internet-powered world," said Forrester Research Principal Analyst Charles S. Golvin. "The Internet pervades all aspects of Americans' lives, from how we shop and buy, how we communicate, how we entertain ourselves, and how we seek out information to how we manage our personal relationships. While today these digital activities are constrained to the home and the office, in the next several years consumers will increasingly rely on a ubiquitous Net that is instantaneously accessible on a wide variety of devices, from mobile phones to laptops to new form factors such as eReaders."

This is the 12th annual Consumer Technographics Benchmark mail survey. This year, Forrester performed a life stage analysis of the data that looks at technology adoption of singles and families, both young and old.

"The breadth of the survey, in conjunction with its sample sizes, allows Consumer Market Research professionals to examine and trend the behaviors and attitudes of even the most niche target markets," said Forrester Research Consumer Insights Analyst Jackie Anderson.

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