Americans to shun consoles for Web during recession- study
- Added:
- Jan 06, 2009
Americans are more likely to spend money on Internet and mobile services than handheld video game players and satellite radio amid an economic recession, according to new research.
The Forrester Research survey found that 51 percent of North America consumers surveyed said they planned to curtail technology spending in the coming year, due to the economy.
Forrester quizzed more than 5,000 consumers in North America during November 2008.
Areas expected to take the greatest hit include handheld video game players, followed by satellite radio, smart phones, video game consoles, and portable GPS devices.
New devices such as satellite radios and handheld video game players are the most likely to be struck off spending lists.
Two thirds of consumers said that they are less likely to purchase these two devices in a recession, while only 3 percent said that they are more likely.
High-definition TVs were more resilient, with only half of those surveyed saying they were less likely to purchase an HDTV in the coming year. 7 percent of survey respondents even noted they were more likely to buy an HDTV.
Internet, as well as mobile, services fared far better. Among Internet users, 83 percent of survey respondents noted they have no plans to change their service and 2 percent indicated plans to increase their service.
As for mobile phone users, 70 percent said planned to keep the status quo, with 2 percent noting plans to increase their service, according to Forrester.
Premium cable services and landline phone services, for example, were deemed less essential to survey respondents, with 14 percent of those users cumulatively noting they may cancel or reduce their service.