A global study released today by Accenture (NYSE: ACN) shows that
tech-savvy consumers would prefer a single-networking solution to link
all their portable, home and automobile digital devices, which presents
a major challenge — and opportunity —
for communications carriers.
The study, “Telecommunications Competitive
Future Research: A Consumer Perspective,”
examined the opinions of 600 global consumers who are heavy users of
digital devices and services. The study reveals that an overwhelming
majority (87 percent) of those surveyed believe that most personal
digital devices will be networked, with more than four in five (81
percent) of all respondents preferring a single point of
control for all of them.
Moreover, more than half (53 percent) of respondents said that a
single-vendor approach is the best way to provide a centralized control
function. Eighty-five percent of respondents said that customer support
was the most important criterion when selecting a company to manage
multiple devices and services. These tech-savvy consumers also place
high levels of importance on security and privacy standards (selected by
80 percent of respondents) and the ability to support standards across
vendors (78 percent).
“Our research found that consumers who juggle
multiple devices and data services have already identified the need for
a central control function to simplify the management of their personal
technologies,” said Andrew Zimmerman, managing
director of Accenture’s Communications
industry practice. “Given that some industry
projections indicate there will be one trillion digital devices attached
to networks within the next 15 to 20 years, a service that makes
everything work together is both necessary and inevitable.
“But there is no clear front runner in the
race to provide this service,” Zimmerman
added. “However, unified customer support —
a major strength of communications providers —
was overwhelmingly chosen as the most important factor when selecting a
single company to manage multiple devices.”
In terms of specific capabilities, the survey revealed that a vast
majority (93 percent) of consumers believe that energy efficiency, or “green”
controls (lighting, heating/cooling), will be networked in the future.
Other items that respondents believe will be networked in the future
include automobiles (selected by 84 percent), large appliances (81
percent), doors/windows (79 percent) and, to a lesser extent, smaller
appliances (66 percent).
“Several years ago Accenture recognized that ‘user
experience’ in a networked world comes down
to the skilled orchestration of devices, data and controls —
or ‘trivergence,’
as we call this phenomenon,” Zimmerman
said. “This compelling new research confirms
that trivergence is an important technology trend that is already
apparent to tech-savvy consumers. The vast majority understand the
concept, expect it to flourish, and believe that it will improve their
lives.”
Among the survey’s other key findings:
Life Simplification: The greatest areas of interest for
leveraging single-networked capabilities identified were at the
personal technology level. Consumers believe the concept could
simplify their lives by enabling home monitoring and management
(selected by 66 percent of respondents), automobile maintenance and
management (59 percent) and media management (59 percent) on the
network.
Hard Demand for Soft Panel. When given alternate choices for
managing connected devices, the greatest proportion of consumers (49
percent) said they prefer managing all devices from a single website
or “soft panel,”
compared with 32 percent who prefer each device having an associated
widget and 19 percent who prefer a separate website for each device.
Who Consumers Trust to Bring Control. A majority of consumers
(58 percent) said they would trust technology companies –
the designers and manufacturers of their digital devices –
as a single-vendor provider of the control function. Communications
carriers were ranked second as trusted providers, selected by 48
percent of respondents.
Business Impact in Developing World. While tech-forward
consumers in the emerging economies of Brazil, China and India have
the same, if not greater, appetite for networked services as consumers
in developed countries, they were much more likely to view these
services as empowering them economically. Specifically, more than 90
percent of study participants in Brazil and China said they believe
that trivergence will create new business opportunities and help them
in their careers.
Personal Data for a Price. Eighty-three percent of
tech-savvy consumers believe they should share in the proceeds if a
company sells their personal information for advertising purposes.
Moreover, two-thirds (66 percent) of all respondents said they would
be inclined to “opt-in”
to a program that sells their personal data to marketers if they —
the consumer — share in the proceeds and
their full identity is not revealed. Almost half (48 percent) said
they were inclined to “opt-in”
even if their full identity were disclosed as long as they shared in
the proceeds.
Privacy Protections. Although the tech-forward consumers
in the study appear eager to trade limited personal data for a share
of the benefits, that access comes with specific conditions. The vast
majority of respondents (87 percent) said they believe that companies
should be required to obtain their permission before they use personal
data for advertising purposes, and an even greater number (91 percent)
said they believe that companies should be required to state exactly
how they will use consumers’ personal
information.
Methodology
Accenture’s study examined the opinions of
600 technology consumers on their wants, needs and expectations for
technology while also measuring their acceptance of specific brands and
providers in the marketplace. The study, conducted in July 2008,
consisted of 100 self-administered online interviews in each of the
following geographies –Brazil, China, Europe,
India, Japan and the United States.
To qualify as a “tech-forward”
consumer to participate in the study, respondents needed to:
be the joint or sole decision-maker for communications and technology
products in their household;
subscribe to broadband/high-speed Internet service, cable or satellite
television service, and wireless
phone service with a data plan or bundle;
use at least 10 different devices, Internet services or household
technologies to be viewed as an “early
adopter” of tech products.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and
outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive
capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive
research on the world’s most successful
companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become
high-performance businesses and governments. With more than 180,000
people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$19.70
billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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