Today Facebook will address the changing environment for consumers to communicate, including the introduction of AI, VR, social sharing models, and more, at its F8 Developer Conference. Companies in connected CE, smart home, mobile, and entertainment IoT spaces are watching the emergence of these new technologies and business models to determine their impact on device development, content creation, and consumer engagement.

Companies need to continue to expand consumer familiarity and comfort with use of these connected devices and new technologies. The key to wider adoption is for people to experience these technologies first hand; research from Parks Associates addresses current use and perceptions of content and new communication tools to help companies understand new opportunities to reach consumers. Below, find new research from Parks Associates consumer surveys on digital media, virtual reality, and more.

Consumers and Use of Social Media: 

• 29% of consumers get most of their news from social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
• 15% of broadband consumers feel online video is more authentic than television and nearly 30% of consumers ages 18-24 believe online video is more authentic than television.
• Still, the majority of broadband consumers (52% of U.S. broadband households) feel that television is more authentic than online video.
• 30% of consumers ages 18-24 watch content from video sharing sites an average of 13 days per month. Consumers in the 35-44 age group watch seven days/month, and ages 25-34 watch 10 days/month.
   

Consumers and Messaging/SoLoMo:

• Facebook Messenger is by far the most popular messaging app, used by 73% of U.S. smartphone owners who use at least one messaging app.
• iMessage is a distant second at 32% and Snapchat ranks at 28% among smartphone messaging app users.
• Snapchat has the highest percentage of users in the under-35 age group, followed by WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Nearly 75% of Snapchat users are under 35, compared to 58% of WhatsApp users and 47% of Facebook Messenger users.
• While WhatsApp users are mostly male, nearly 60% of Facebook Messenger and Snapchat users are female.

Virtual Reality:

• 15% of consumers who try a virtual reality headset enjoy the experience and then buy a headset.
• 3.5% of U.S. broadband households, or roughly 3.4 million households, own a virtual reality headset.
• More than 60% of U.S. broadband households claim to know little or nothing about virtual reality.
• The top use cases for VR include gaming, healthcare, live events such as concerts or sporting events, social interaction, marketing, and education.

Further Reading:

• 55% of U.S. broadband households find it appealing to control entertainment and smart home devices through voice commands
• Sharing Economy Apps Disrupting Traditional Markets
• Virtual Reality – Disrupting the Entertainment Experience