Well-heeled, tech-savvy consumers say they are planning to spend more money on CE over the next three months than they did a year ago, but less than on home durables including majaps.
That’s the word from ChangeWave Research, here, which identifies and quantifies “change” in industries by surveying a network of thousands of senior technology and business executives in over 20 sectors, including telecom, semiconductors, data storage and biotechnology.
According to the latest ChangeWave report, conducted last month with 1,809 respondents, nearly half (47 percent) said they will spend more over the next 90 days overall compared to one year ago, while only 20 percent said they would spend less. The 47 percent figure is a net 6-point improvement over ChangeWave’s last survey, conducted in March, and represents the highest level of consumer spending since it first began posing the question in August 2004.
Specifically, 34 percent of respondents said they will spend more money on CE products over the next three months, compared to 30 percent who said they would do so when asked in August 2004. CE came in third in higher intended expenditures, trailing only household repairs/improvements and travel/vacations (see chart).
Conversely, 27 percent of respondents said they will spend less on CE over the next 90 days, matching the response from last August.
Results were also static for those planning to spend more money on durable goods for the home. Some 22 percent of those queried last month said they would up their outlays over the next 90 days, compared to 21 percent of those asked last August. However, 27 percent said they planned to spend less on home durables — the same as last August — representing a 5-point negative net difference between those spending more and those spending less, second only to automobile purchase intentions, which earned a negative 17 score.
Separately, Best Buy remained the overwhelming destination of choice for respondents looking to buy home entertainment products and home networking gear. Fully 52 percent of respondents said they and their families most preferred to shop there, up from 50 percent in August.
Circuit City, with a 21 percent share, remained a distant second, but gained three points since August.
Costco showed the sharpest gain, up 4 points since August, while Dell slipped 3 points during the period and Amazon.com and Fry’s Electronics remained flat..
Consumer Spending This Quarter*
Favorite Venues For Buying Home Entertainment/ Networking Products
