••• technology research
DIY a growing force in smart-home products
In recent GfK research, more than half (52 percent) of consumers said they prefer to install their own smart home products, up from 43 percent in 2015. And 57 percent say they want to maintain these devices themselves, compared to 51 percent three years ago.
In both cases, nearly all of the study-to-study increase has been driven by consumers who have a strong preference for DIY. The growth of a DIY preference for smart home installs is also largely associated with age; among younger consumers (up to age 44), the desire to install their own devices and services has grown between 10 and 19 percentage points.
This increasing DIY preference among smart-home consumers also raises the stakes for manufacturers and service providers. Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of those surveyed in 2018 said they expect devices from different vendors to be able to communicate with each other, with the highest levels among the 25-to-34 (68 percent) and 35-to-44 (72 percent) age groups.
“Device makers and service providers alike need to work harder to collaborate and pave the way for seamless installation and service,” says Tom Neri, commercial director for tech and durables at GfK. “Reflexive siloed behavior will only drag down acceptance and yield poor word of mouth from amateur technicians. That said, there does exist a segment of consumers, skewing older, that would be responsive to an install and maintenance service support offering for smart home products.”
••• entertainment
Cord-cutters seeking value
Wired and satellite television providers trying to counter the burgeoning cord-cutting phenomenon should offer the same original programming, choice and value that viewers receive from streaming video content sources, a new Invoke LIVE Big Qual research study indicates.
“Sixty-six percent of participants said that ‘quality, original programming’ is crucial in considering a cable/fiber/satellite service – roughly the same number who expect that level of quality from a streaming on-demand service,” says Peter Mackey, Invoke Solutions’ chief research officer. “Our research shows that viewers who are seriously considering abandoning their pay TV service want more value from that service: quality original content on a par with Netflix or Amazon Prime, flexibility from à la carte channel menus and innovative offerings that improve the TV viewing experience.”
Twenty percent of the participants had already cut the cord and dropped their pay service. Tellingly, 100 percent of them said they were completely satisfied with their decision because they get more value for less money from streaming services.