Student Attitudes on Dictaphones

Survey ResultsJanuary 2012

Gain a deeper understanding of the attitudes and opinions of students on dictaphones and derive relevant marketing recommendations for decision-makers.

Research Objective

AGENDA

1. Data Collection2. Key insights:

Information SourcesUse & OwnershipPerceived PracticabilityFeaturesPurchase IntentionAlternativesAwareness (Brands & Price)

3. The Big Picture4. Conclusions

1. Data Collection

Initial sample: 450 RespondentsPaperc& Pencil Questionnaire Oct. – Nov. 2011Final sample (after cleaning): 427 Students

Demographic Profile

57% female, 43% male56% Austrians, 44% Non-Austrians

7% are employed88% live in urban areas

less than 650 EUR51%

650 - 1.349 EUR42%

over 1.350 EUR7%

Net income / month

un-der 21 y20%

22-25 y57%

over 26 y23%

Age Distribution

2. Key insights

Information Sources

Q1. „Have you informed yourself about dictaphones before?“ (N=427)

1 in 4 students has informed him/herself on dictaphones prior to this survey.

Internet

Friends/Family/Colleagues

Specialised Shop/IT Shop

Others

0% 100%

* Open question

60%

30%

20%

5%

Q 1.1 „Where have you informed yourself?“*

% of students who have informed themselves (N=109)

Information Sources

The Internet is significantly more important than all other sources of information.**

unimportant to low importance* neutral

important to highly important

Internet

Friends/Family/Colleagues

Specialised Shop/IT Shop

Specialised magazines

Catalogue for office supplies

6% 10% 84%

19% 12% 69%

23% 13% 64%

47% 15% 38%

71% 13% 16%

Q 2. „How important are these information sources to you?“ (N=427)

* On a a scale from 1 to 7 where 1-3= unimportant to low importance, 4=neutral, 5-7=important to highly important ** Statistical method: Repeated measures ANOVA

% of entire sample

Internet Sources

Out of the various internet information sources, Google and other search engines have a significantly higher importance to students than other sources. *

Google and other search engines

Price comparison sites

Forums and independent sites

Amazon and other online retailers

Producer homepage

unimportant to low importance neutral

important to highly important

90%

72%

68%

60%

50%

% of students who have rated the internet important to highly important

Q 3. „How important are these internet information sources to you?“

* Statistical method: Repeated measures ANOVA

About 1 in 2 students has used a dictaphone before.

85% of users have used it 1 x month or less frequent in the past year (70% of owners).

43% of users have used a dictaphone for their studies.% of entire sample

Use & Ownership

85 % do not own one

Q 4. „Have you ever used a dictaphone prior to this survey ?“

Q 4.2 . „How often did you use a dictaphone in the past year ?“

Q 4.2.1. „In which situation have you used your dictaphone?“

Q 4.1. „Do you own a dictaphone?“

15% own one

Use & Ownership

prefer written records

lack of knowledge

too time consuming

too expensive

0% 100%

56%

26%

13%

12%

„…often forbidden in class…“

„…no speech recognition software…“

Q 4.3 „ Why have you not used a dictaphone before?“*

* Multiple answers possible

% of students who have not used a dictaphone before (N=233)

Perceived Practicability

are easy to use

optimize workflow

are time-saving

have high recording quality

are modern

are prestige objects

low* neutral moderate to high

73%18%9%

65%22%13%

55%20%25%

44%40%16%

38%28%34%

18%37%45%

Most students perceive dictaphone as easy to use devices which optimize workflow but are moderatly modern and carry low prestige.

Q 5. „What is your preception of dictaphones?“ (N=427)

* On a a scale from 1 to 7 where 1-3= low, 4=neutral, 5-7= moderate to high

Users

Non-users

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

optimize workflow

Users

Non-users

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

are easy to use

Perceived Practicability

Women and men have a similar perceived practicability of dictaphones.****

Dictaphone users have a higher overall perceived practicability then non-users.***

5,88**

5,00

5,36

Dictaphone users have a significantly higher perceived practicability across the dimensions: „are easy to use“ and „optimize workflows“ than non-users.*

4,78

Q 5. „What is your preception of dictaphones?“ (N=427) - Continuation

* Statistical method: Independent t-test *** Statistical method: Independent t-test** Mean average, on a scale from 1 to 7 **** Statistical method: Independent t-test

Quality of recording

Battery lifespan

Storage capacity

UBS plug-in

Easy usage

Filter for background noises

Compatibility with other applications

Speech recognition software

Digital processing option

Battery charge time

Fits good in the hand

Design

1.00 7.00

Device Features

Q 6. „How important are the following features to you?“

6,27

6,19

6,18

3,71

6,41*

* Mean average, on a scale from 1=unimportant to 7=important

Purchase Intention

Q 7. „It‘s highly probable that I will purchase a dictaphone.“ (N=427)

Strongly disagree to disagree* neutralagree to strongly agree

82% 9% 10%

Total

Men

Women

1 7 Female students have a statistically significant higher purchase intention then male students.***

Overall purchase intention

3,2**

2,9

3,4

Purchase intention increases with perceived practicability.****

* On a scale from 1 to 7 where 1-3=strongly disagree to disagree, 4=neutral, 5-7= agree to strongly agree

** Mean average*** Statistical method: Independent t-test **** Statistical method: Simple regression

Alternatives

Smartphone

Notebook

Mp3 Player

Digital usage & processingdon‘t know* worse equal better

35% 21% 11% 33%

22% 15% 9% 54%

36% 27% 17% 20%

Smartphone

Notebook

Mp3 Player

Storage capacity

30% 21% 14% 35%

19% 13% 7% 61%

32% 23% 17% 28%

Q 8. „How do you rate the following features of alternatives compared to those of dictaphones?“ (N=427)

* On a scale from 0 to 7 where 0=don‘t know, 1-3=worse, 4=equal, 5-7=better

Alternatives

Smartphone

Notebook

Mp3 Player

Recording Qualitydon‘t know worse equal better

30% 28% 12% 30%

30% 16% 17% 37%

33% 37% 9% 21%

Smartphone

Notebook

Mp3 Player

Price

35% 30% 12% 24%

28% 40% 10% 20%

35% 18% 19% 28%

Q 8. „How do you rate the following features of alternatives compared to those of dictaphones?“ (N=427) - Continuation

Brand and Price Awareness

Philips20%

Sony32%Others**

21%

Olympus7%

Panasonic9%

Samsung11%

Olympus12%

Philips19%

Sony44%

Samsung8%

Others17%

„top of mind“

% of all responses (N=483)

% of first brand mentioned (N=213)

42%40% 18%

15-50 EUR 51-100 EUR 100-400 EUR

* Open question, multiple answers possible** Grundig, LG, Toshiba, Siemens, etc. *** Open question

% of entire sample

Q 9. „Which dictaphone manufacturers do you know?“*

Q 10. „How much does a dictaphone cost?***

3. The Big Picture

Recommendations:

• Increase and strengthen online presence through Search Engine Marketing (SEM);

• Create a Google AdWords campaign with relevant keywords like „dictaphone course“ or „dictaphone studies“ goal: to appear on the first result page;

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for the Philips Speech Processing Website.

Students look for information on dictaphones primarily online, on Google and other search engines.1

Recommendations:

• Create the „Philips Student Interactive Homepage“, which resembles a typical student room and displays the full range of Philips products, e.g. speakers, alarm clocks, bags, accessories and dictaphones create a unique product and brand experience for the consumer on the homepage;

• Increase webpage usability (navigation paths, assortment structure) goal: bring the user quickly to the „Purchase“ option (where can I buy/find that?).

1 in 2 students considers the product website an important source of information.2

Recommendations:

• Inform users about the different ways to use dictaphones, new product features, upgrades, etc. through: newsletters, reminders via SMS, on blogs and forums;

• Conduct a further consumer survey on product and software usability.

Students have used dictaphones 1 x month or less frequent in the last year (users & owners).3

Recommendations:

• start the dialogue on dictaphone - Philips Dictaphone Ambassadors (a group of 100 students from all Viennese universities to be given dictaphones and a short product training – the devices should be used in class to demonstrate practicability and easy usage);

• Educate the consumer about product features and added value (in shop, on forums, online, through traditional advertising, on social media platforms like Facebook & Co., etc.).

Students lack the knowledge of how dictaphone can benefit them in their work/studies. They do not know what the products can do and their advantages compared to alternatives.4

Recommendations:

• Move away from the category name „dictaphones“ to a more appealing name, e.g. „voice recorder“;

• Focus communication on lifestyle values, testimonials, emphasize „cooleness“ of the products;

• Turn dictaphones into trendy lifestyle objects: use different colours and patterns for dictaphones and accessories;

• Create new features like: „Plug n‘ Play“ (easy connection with car sound system) and „Plug n‘ Storage“ (direct file transferring to memory stick) to optimize consumers‘ work flow.

Students perceive dictaphones as rather old-fashioned devices which carry low prestige. Product design is not important to students. The quality of recording, storage capacity, battery lifespan and USB plug-in are. 5

4. Conclusions

Key actions required:

• Be where your consumers are• Educate the consumer• Improve the image of dictaphones• Start the dialogue on dictaphones

Students show a moderate interest in dictaphones. They are uneducated in terms of what dictaphones can do for them. Students prefer devices which integrate more than one function (eg. smartphones).

Marketers need to make considerable efforts to approch and successfully address this target group.

Thank you for your attention !