Consumers rate energy smart metering and health monitoring as the two most appealing M2M solutions in the marketplace, according to a national study just released by leading research consultancy Market Strategies International.
¡°With 60 percent of consumers viewing these two M2M technologies as ¡°somewhat¡± or ¡°very¡± appealing, smart metering, also known as home energy management, and health monitoring seem to have struck the most positive chord with prospective users,¡± said Keri Christensen, vice president of the telecommunications division at Market Strategies.
According to the study, American consumers ranked the primary M2M concepts by their appeal as follows:
| 1 | Home energy management (tied) | 60% |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Health monitoring (tied) | 60% |
| 2 | Property security | 55% |
| 3 | People/pet security | 49% |
| 4 | Mobile banking/shopping | 46% |
Christensen said the study results indicate providers of M2M solutions now have a significant opportunity to increase awareness and adoption rates of these concepts. She said aggressive consumer education initiatives emphasizing tangible cost savings, convenience and secure technology will be critical to successful M2M commercialization.
¡°Two-fifths of consumers think the benefits of M2M technology exceed potential problems, but they still have a lot of questions about how applications actually work and very high levels of concern about data security and reliability,¡± noted Christensen.
Interestingly, Americans have the least amount of interest in mobile banking and shopping, despite the buzz. This is an important consideration for C-level executives as they decide where to invest their resources, she added.
Other key findings include:
Market Strategies interviewed a national sample of 1,500 consumers aged 18 and older between June 21 and July 1, 2011. Respondents were recruited from an opt-in online panel of US adults and were interviewed online. The data were weighted by age, gender and census region to match the demographics of the US population. Due to its opt-in nature, this online panel (like most others) does not yield a random probability sample of the target population. As such, it is not possible to compute a margin of error or to statistically quantify the accuracy of projections.
