Has the Internet Changed How we Listen to Music?

Data suggests people who listen to music on portable devices or through online media own more music and listen longer.

A recent study on the FGI SmartPanel suggests that using online media and portable devices to listen to music correlates with listening to more music overall. With 43% of respondents saying that they use an iPod or similar mp3 player, that’s a lot of listening. Nevertheless, the same survey indicates that older media, like CDs and radio, retain their edge: 81% of respondents listen to music on the radio, and 61% say they listen to music on CDs. Then again, the data seems to show that those who use portable devices or online media to listen to their music buy more music and consume more hours of audio media per week.

Another Way to Watch TV

53% of consumers have watched TV by streaming content online. FGI delves deeper into their behavior and motivations.

In a survey fielded through SmartPanel™, over half of U.S. consumers said that they had gone online to watch television programming, of one type or another, in the last three months. Over a quarter of these online viewers said that they had watched TV using a web-enabled mobile device. These trends correspond to data that FGI collected on Google Trends, which indicates that the search term “watch tv online,” and related variations, has seen a steady increase in frequency since 2005.

As Internet infrastructure grows and technological capabilities advance, web-users have gained access to an increasing volume and variety of media. This diversified diet of content seems to be breeding a new type of media consumer. However, it bears mentioning that one of the most common reasons why consumers said they watched television content online was because they had missed an episode of a show they usually followed on the TV (70% ...

"Loyal" Customers Still Wary of Store-Issued Credit

77% of shoppers report holding some kind of customer loyalty card, but only 40% report using store-issued credit cards. FGI Research asks: why the discrepancy?

We have all had the experience of checking out at the grocery store, pharmacy, or bookstore, and having the cashier ask whether we are part of the store’s customer rewards program. If we answer “no,” the next question is, inevitably, whether we want to join. New data from an FGI Research study indicate that over three-quarters of consumers say “yes” to this second question: that’s how many respondents report that they hold some kind of customer loyalty card, whether or not they also use a store-issued credit card.

And it’s no wonder that so many do. More and more companies offer rewards for customer loyalty. Not only retail outlets but hotels, restaurants and airlines use rewards as a way of promoting business and retaining customers. There are even online applications, like SCVNGR, which encourage consumers to build their own rewards programs.

Going Green, Saving Green

FGI Research study suggests consumers are willing to use smart-grid technology to reduce energy consumption, but some have lingering doubts.

As companies worldwide endeavor to rebrand themselves as “environmentally friendly,” and stories about “going green” pervade the news, the cultural emphasis on sustainable living is becoming indisputable. Wal-Mart has announced an initiative to make its outlets “greener” by 2015. Other companies are capitalizing on the green trend by using clean energy sources in their production processes, creating eco-friendly products (like Clorox GreenWorks), or incorporating recycled materials in their designs. In a new study, FGI Research focuses on the question of saving energy from the consumer’s perspective. In it, we find that 9 in 10 respondents think reducing home energy consumption is “somewhat” or “very important.”

Print Media Declines, but is it Dead?

Online content is gaining ground, aided by the release of e-readers like the iPad, and it has hurt some print publications; but others are going strong, and three-quarters of consumers say they don’t want print media to disappear entirely.

Most media leaders concur that print media is floundering. Trends in technology, communication and markets reflect that fact (Steve Jobs just ushered in the next wave of online content readers with Apple’s iPad). An entire genre of journalism seems to have emerged just to cover the decline, not only in print but online. According to the New York Times, sixty-two percent of journalists think the Internet has forever altered their profession’s principles, eroding the standards of good journalism and the relevance of print publications alike. Still, new data from FGI Research indicates that print may yet have an audience. While 67% of consumers surveyed say they see a decline in the use of print versus other types of media to stay informed, 74% say they “would not prefer that online publications eventually replace print publications ...