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Rich PC, Poor PC–They Lead (Somewhat) Different Lives |
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By
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 7, 2004 |
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The rich are
different from you and me—they order a lot more photo prints online. The
upper crust (well, those who make above $50,000 yearly) are also far
more likely to purchase consumer services, perform video editing, work
with numbers, and use financial services. But the other half (i.e.,
those who make less than $50,000) are more likely to use their PCs for
VoIP, and to watch DVDs.
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Why is this important?
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It misses the mark
to assume that only the highest-income households are early adopters,
simply because they have more disposable income. Saving money is a key
driving factor for some products among those with less to spend. At the
same time, assuming that money-saving benefits will cross the income
divide to attract those with higher-incomes also misses the mark.
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These are other
insights came to light when 10,418 households—broken down by
income—responded to the Technology User Profile survey from MetaFacts,
Inc., about what activities they regularly use their PCs for. The
result: rich or poor, nearly everyone (averaging 89 percent) uses their
PC for e-mail, and hardly anyone (averaging only 3.3 percent) uses their
PC to watch TV. But between those two extremes, there are some important
differences and interesting wrinkles.
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In terms of how
the high-end PC users differ from the low end, the big differentiator is
the practice of obtaining prints from online photo services—15.5 percent
of the upper crust do it, compared to 8.6 percent of the low end.
Evidently the rich are not only more likely to own and use digital
cameras, but they want glossy hardcopies to show around.
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Meanwhile, using the PC to purchase consumer services
online is more popular with people with more money, but
involves a divide that is not quite as steep: 28.1
percent of the upper crust does it, as opposed to 16.5
percent of the lower crust. The same holds true for
using the PC to work with numbers, with 32.1 percent of
the high-end doing it as opposed to 19.5 percent of the
low end. Apparently the rich have more numbers to
crunch—but the poor have some, too. The situation was
similar when it came to accessing financial services,
with 37.6 percent of the high end doing it compared to
25.5 percent of the low end.
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As
for video editing, the rich/poor divide was stark—but
hard to get excited about because the total numbers are
so small. Only 5.4 percent of the high-end use their PCs
for video editing, compared to 3.3 percent of the low
end. Those who said that people were not going to spend
their days at the office working at a PC in order to
rush home to spend the evening at a PC editing family
videos were correct.
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There are, meanwhile, areas where low end users outshine
high-end users. When it comes to using the PC to make
phone calls via Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP),
those with less money employ this money-saving
technology 9 percent of the time, compared to 6.6
percent of high-end users. And when it comes to using
their PCs to watch movies on DVD (and thus avoid buying
a separate DVD player) 12.7 percent of the low-end users
report doing it, compared to 11.2 percent of the
high-end users. While these are not huge figures, they
do indicate that early adopters can be found at all
economic strata. And, since the percentages cover the
national user base, the figures should not be
dismissed—if nine percent of low-end households are
making use of VoIP, that’s almost five million
households that have found a way to use their available
technology to side-step the phone company and save some
money.
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If
case you were wondering, there are instances where the
high-end and low-end uses exactly coincide. When it
comes to hobbies, about 35 percent of both strata use
their PC. When it comes to calendar management, 17.5
percent use it on both sides of the divide. Differences
are statistically insignificant when it comes to
educational activities for adults (averaging 20.1
percent) and for children (averaging 20.8 percent) and
for downloading music (averaging 30.2 percent.) If it’s
true that there are things that money can’t buy, it also
appears to be true that there are activities that money
has little impact on.
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Online & Offline
Activities
Selected Activities
(% of Home PCs)
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Selected PC Activities |
$50,000 Income or Higher |
Less than $50,000 Income |
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Use financial services |
37.6 |
25.5 |
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Working with numbers |
32.1 |
19.5 |
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Purchase consumer services |
28.1 |
16.5 |
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Obtain prints of digital photos from
online photo service |
15.5 |
8.6 |
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Watch DVD movies |
11.2 |
12.7 |
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Make VoIP calls |
6.6 |
9.0 |
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Video editing |
5.4 |
3.3 |
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Source: MetaFacts,
Inc. – Technology User Profile – 2004 Annual
Edition |
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Background & Methodology |
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Factual, decision-making information like this is
only found in one place, the Technology User Profile from MetaFacts. The
Technology User Profile market research information service is based on
extensive primary research selected and balanced to represent the American
population - including technology users and non-technology users. Drawn from
more than 30,000 surveys per year reporting on over 250 questions, it is the
longest-running, most comprehensive total market technology study available. TUPdates are brief
summaries of information contained in the Technology User Profile. |
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