Online MR Magazine May Edition 2016 Issue 1 | Page 52

Not too surprisingly, respondents who reported an annual household income of $100K+ before taxes in 2014 were significantly more likely to currently own and use a wearable device, which seems to be a trend we can expect to see continue for some time (Figure 4). Which of the following describes you in in regards to wearable devices ( e. g. , fitbit, jawbone, Misfit, etc. ) that communicate with an app on a smartphone? Under $50K $50 k < $100k $100k+ I own but don’t currently use a wearable device 7% 9% 9% I own and use a wearable device 11% 19% 28% I plan to purchase a wearable device in the next year 17% 24% 27% 66% 48% 35% None of the above Perhaps the most interesting data point is the across-the-board willingness to partake in a one-question survey via a mobile device regardless of gender, age, education or income (Figure 5). Results show that, regardless of attribute, a very high percentage of the population is willing to take a one-question survey on a wearable device, and virtually no one indicates that they are “very” or “somewhat unlikely” to do so. This indicates that there will be a broad opportunity to engage with the wearables consumer. How likely would you be to answere a one-question survey on a wearable device app if it was relevant to your current location / situation? Age 18-34 Very Likely 18-34% Somewhat Likely Gender 35+ Male Education Income Bachelor ’s deg ree/gradu ate / Under Under $50K Female Degree Degree $100K $100K+ 72.73% 82.61% 73.47% 72.97% 80.00% 93.75% 80.00% 66.67% 14.29% 25.00% 13.04% 24.49% 21.62% 20.00% 6.25% 16.67% 33.33% Neither likely nor unlikely 3.57% 2.27% 4.35% 2.04% 5.41% 0.00% 0.00% 3.33% 0.00% Somewhat unLikely 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% Very unlikely 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% Summary- As wearables continue to gain popularity they offer the potential to engage with consumers in an unobtrusive way by eliminating the need to reach for their phone. Since wearables are billed as being unobtrusive and convenient the way market research uses them must be the same. General demographic information can be collected once or even obtained from data collected passively through app registration and ongoing usage. Then, when it’s appropriate to obtain feedback a one-question survey can be quickly presented at the ideal time to engage the respondent. Even sending a single question from a much longer survey can still provide valuable results as these questions will randomly be sent to a large pool still returning unbiased and meaningful data. Overall, the results of a survey given in this manner has the potential to provide data of significant importance about the individual shopping experience, the products purchased or consumed, and other metrics. This is an area that warrants further research however, if consumers are ready to take the wearable plunge, then market research must be prepared to do the same.