CEA: Consumers Comfortable With Unfamiliar Brands
Staff -- TWICE, 7/12/2004
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF.— While consumers say that finding a familiar brand name is important when shopping for consumer electronics vs. other categories, slightly more than half have bought an unfamiliar brand in the past.
That was one of the main findings in a study released by Todd Thibodeaux, industry relations VP of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), during the recent CEA CEO Summit, here. (For further information on the CEA CEO Summit, see story and pictures, p. 60.)
In a study called "Consumer Acceptance and Attitudes Toward Unfamiliar Brand Names in the CE Market," which is based on results from a representative sample of 1,200 online households, 62 percent of the survey participants said that buying a CE product from a major brand name is important. That is better than appliances, food and clothing, but six percentage points lower than cars. (See chart.)
However 52 percent of those polled said that they have bought CE from an unfamiliar brand in the recent past.
When it comes to buying an unfamiliar brand, DVD leads the way with 40 percent, with TV a close second at 32 percent. Consumers were overwhelmingly satisfied with the performance of unfamiliar brands, with 31 percent saying that they were "completely satisfied" and 47 percent being "mostly satisfied."
The study also shows as the price of an item from an unfamiliar brand goes down, the likelihood of consumer purchase goes up. The relative acceptance of unfamiliar brands in this survey is probably good news for new Chinese and other new emerging Asian manufacturers.
| Percentage of consumers saying finding a familiar brand name is important when shopping for various items | ||||
| Type of adopter | ||||
| All | Early | Mid | Late | |
| Consumer Electronics | 62% | 66% | 66% | 55% |
| Clothing | 26% | 31% | 27% | 19% |
| Food | 39% | 42% | 41% | 34% |
| Cars | 68% | 70% | 68% | 69% |
| Appliances | 57% | 57% | 57% | 58% |
| Percentage of consumers purchasing an unfamiliar brand, by product category | ||||
| Type of adopter | ||||
| All | Early | Mid | Late | |
| TV | 32% | 38% | 27% | 31% |
| DVD player | 40% | 47% | 42% | 31% |
| Wireless phone | 18% | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Computer | 29% | 38% | 24% | 28% |
| Car stereo | 10% | 11% | 11% | 7% |
| Home stereo | 13% | 11% | 14% | 14% |
| Portable music player | 14% | 19% | 14% | 10% |
| Digital camera or camcorder | 13% | 15% | 12% | 10% |
| Percentage of consumers saying they were satisfied with the performance of the unfamiliar brand they purchased | ||||
| Type of adopter | ||||
| All | Early | Mid | Late | |
| Completely satisfied | 31% | 34% | 28% | 31% |
| Mostly satisfied | 47% | 42% | 49% | 47% |
| Some good, some bad | 13% | 12% | 14% | 13% |
| Mostly unsatisfied | 6% | 6% | 7% | 5% |
| Completely unsatisfied | 3% | 6% | 2% | 3% |
| Percentage of discount where consumer begins to consider an unknown brand in the purchase decision | ||||
| Type of adopter | ||||
| All | Early | Mid | Late | |
| Unfamiliar brand is 10% less | 3% | 4% | 4% | 3% |
| Unfamiliar brand is 20% less | 16% | 18% | 19% | 13% |
| Unfamiliar brand is 30% less | 47% | 44% | 52% | 45% |
| Unfamiliar brand is 40% less | 64% | 61% | 68% | 62% |
| Unfamiliar brand is 50% less | 86% | 86% | 89% | 83% |
| Unfamiliar brand same or more | 13% | 13% | 11% | 17% |
| Source: Consumer Electronics Association, Arlington, Va. ©TWICE 2004 |
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