CNet News survey

[jbcohen]

I saw a survey on CNet News a few months ago talking about tech inclined people such as vistors to these forums. Still as much as we would like it not to be true electronic book readers are still not as mainstream as we would like, such as the MP3 player. Those that have bought and used electronic readers tend to be more tech adept then others.

The CNet News suvey said that tech inclined individuals tend to be more loyal than others to specific companies and their products. How true is this? How many of us forum visitors recognized Amazon or Barns and Nobles or Sony from other dealings with the company and tend to select products because you know their products work and work well. Hence you are more loyal to a particular company? Personally I work for a company's buying office that tends to emphasize cost and open market so I have been trained to care less who makes the product, I want to pay less for the product. I don't have a Kindle or a Nook or a Sony PRS, they weren't willing to sell for my price.

[MrsJoseph]

Do you have a link to the story?

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I agree that most average consumers are less loyal to particular brands; but tech fans, like car aficionados, stereo buffs, and most any other kind of specialized fan, tend to gravitate to their opinion of the best in the business, and will defend their favorite to the end. This often goes beyond a concern for price, and is easily manipulated by emotional promotions.

Business priorities are different than those of fans, and even average consumers. Businesses have to examine the bottom line more closely, make different financial arrangements as they often buy in bulk, and are less likely to make emotional decisions, as multiple people are involved and emotions tend to be filtered out.

Around here you have plenty of people who will tell you they are Kindle fans, Nook fans or Sony fans. Most of them are the kind of consumer that appreciates the ease-of-use of one device, one source. Then you have consumers that appreciate more source choices and aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves a bit more... they will buy from anyone, and use whatever device works best for them. Both points are reasonable... but whichever side you're on, you'll find those around here tend to be adamant that their method is best (which it undoubtedly is, for them).

I'm in the latter group... Go Choice!

[queentess]

Yeah.... no. I wouldn't say I'm particularly "loyal". I judge each product, be it a book or a game or a device, upon it's individual merits. Just because I liked an earlier product doesn't mean I'll like the next one (Stephen King, I'm looking at you).

I do, however, learn to avoid products... if a company consistently makes a crappy product or delivers horrible customer service, I learn to stay far far away.

[queentess]

Out of curiousity, is CNET known for being an Apple fan? I don't follow them, but I Googled "CNET survey" to see if I could find the article mentioned and the first page of hits was all about how people prefer Apple products.... this makes me doubt the objectivity of the site. Unless they're only getting responses from Apple fans, which explains the "people tend to be loyal" opinion.

[elemenoP]

For me, I think that before the internet, I was more loyal to brands. Now it's so easy to research which is the best for my needs, that the brand name doesn't even need to factor in. If it weren't for these boards, my reader choices would have been Kindle and Nook and nothing else, because those were the only ones I had heard of before I started my research.

As far as Apple, I'm big user of their products but not a loyalist. Is that rare? In my professional career I have switched between PCs and Macs many times over the last 20 years. Currently I'm loving my Macbook, just got a Verizon iphone, but I have no interest whatsoever in an ipad.

eP

[elemenoP]

and I have seen just about every tech blog get accused of being an Apple fan.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by queentess

Out of curiousity, is CNET known for being an Apple fan?

I've never noticed a particular bias at CNET towards any brand. Its reporters and reviewers seem generally very balanced... but CNET has occasionally gotten carpet-bombed by loyalists to a product in its reviews sections, and so customer reviews have been known to get skewed (not uncommon on reviews sites, at any rate).

[queentess]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

For me, I think that before the internet, I was more loyal to brands. Now it's so easy to research which is the best for my needs, that the brand name doesn't even need to factor in. If it weren't for these boards, my reader choices would have been Kindle and Nook and nothing else, because those were the only ones I had heard of before I started my research.

That's funny - I was first exposed to the Sony by my grandma and I thought "I WANT THAT", but I was a poor college student and it was a little sluggish, so I figured I'd wait for a future generation of product. I had finally decided to buy a Kindle 1 (despite it's ugliness), but by the time I placed my order Amazon was no longer shipping the K1, so I ended up with a K2. I've had a few different ereaders since then, but all have been Sony or Kindle (so far). I want a PB360 in the worst way.

Originally Posted by elemenoP

As far as Apple, I'm big user of their products but not a loyalist. Is that rare? In my professional career I have switched between PCs and Macs many times over the last 20 years. Currently I'm loving my Macbook, just got a Verizon iphone, but I have no interest whatsoever in an ipad.

I'm not sure how rare it is anymore... I use a Macbook for work. Aside from not having a good version of Excel (or anything remotely comparable), it's a decent enough device. I'd have one for personal use if they weren't so damn expensive. I'll probably end up with a Chrome-based netbook at some point instead.

I also use my iTouch pretty regularly. But I'm not really inclined to purchase from Apple over any other brand, and walking through their stores makes me feel dirty somehow. Actually, I just realized when I was traveling last week that the iTouch has essentially replaced my Nintendo DSi. It was a very sad revelation for me. Is Dr. Mario available on the App Store? If so, I'm sold

[Yolina]

I have no brand loyalty - whatever suits my needs best gets my money

[MrsJoseph]

Originally Posted by queentess

Out of curiousity, is CNET known for being an Apple fan? I don't follow them, but I Googled "CNET survey" to see if I could find the article mentioned and the first page of hits was all about how people prefer Apple products.... this makes me doubt the objectivity of the site. Unless they're only getting responses from Apple fans, which explains the "people tend to be loyal" opinion.

I would say that CNET is a huge Apple fan - they have several segments dedicated to Apple. They do a "bad Apple" segment, too...but either way it is dedicated Apple time.

[=X=]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

I saw a survey on CNet News a few months ago talking about tech inclined people such as vistors to these forums. Still as much as we would like it not to be true electronic book readers are still not as mainstream as we would like, such as the MP3 player. Those that have bought and used electronic readers tend to be more tech adept then others.

The CNet News suvey said that tech inclined individuals tend to be more loyal than others to specific companies and their products. How true is this? How many of us forum visitors recognized Amazon or Barns and Nobles or Sony from other dealings with the company and tend to select products because you know their products work and work well. Hence you are more loyal to a particular company? Personally I work for a company's buying office that tends to emphasize cost and open market so I have been trained to care less who makes the product, I want to pay less for the product. I don't have a Kindle or a Nook or a Sony PRS, they weren't willing to sell for my price.

I don't think there is any bearing to this survey. I think it's on a personal level not based on what "type" of person you are. It's more human nature, you buy into something you'll tend to favorite that item/technology.

Heck the biggest most rabid fans I know are non-techies Apple users. That also applies to console games.

Me I'm a very techie guy, at my home we have Linux, Windows, Apple products, Playstation, xbox

The only thing I say way from is overpriced closed systems. Okay not entirely we do have an iPad/iTouch

=X=

[wyndslash]

i have both apples and oranges at home. also lots of bananas

[Richey79]

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Personally I work for a company's buying office that tends to emphasize cost and open market so I have been trained to care less who makes the product, I want to pay less for the product.

For myself, I always consider who makes the product, and this can add a good deal to the (monetary) value I percieve that product to have. Take a comparison between Sony, Amazon and a relatively unknown brand of eink reader. I presume from previous knowledge of the first two companies that Sony will use materials that feel stronger and will have a more pleasant form factor. However, I also know - from past experience - that if something goes wrong with the Sony, I will be playing Russian roulette with their customer support. It will also be bundled with poorly engineered software, and Sony will abandon the device (in terms of updates) within a few months. The Amazon product, on the other hand, will have very efficient firmware that will be updated regularly over the period of a year. If I need to replace four Kindles to get a good one, Amazon will allow me to do so without any quibble.

So... taking into account the swings-and-roundabouts of this comparison; for me the Sony and Amazon products are 'worth' about the same, even though the Sony is in reality 1.5 times the cost of the Amazon parallel product. The 'unknown brand' reader can be presumed to be made from shoddier materials and I have to presume that their customer support will be on a similar level to that of Notion. I can pay a third less than for an Amazon product, but would be taking a gamble that I won't receive a duff product, in which case I'd be up the proverbial creek. I am also gambling that they will sell enough products to stay in business and not go bust, otherwise - once again - I may be left with a useless device.

This is where Amazon have a real advantage over the rest of the market: not so much that they have a better product than everyone else. The really important factor is that everyone knows you can try the Kindle for a month and then simply turn round to Amazon and say, 'I don't want this,' and they'll take it back. That's a very powerful selling tool. At the price-point they've achieved, it's pretty much an unstoppable one.

There's a lot of (perceived? - I think some in reality, too) value in buying into a particular manufacturer's product line, disregarding the qualities of the product itself. I think that people who choose to buy time-and-again from a particular manufacturer are often motivated by reason, rather than fanboyism.

I believe the OP uses a RIM smart-phone to read on. You can't go wrong with customer support from RIM, Apple or a number (even a majority) of the Android smart-phone producers these days, so I can see his point of view. All these companies are juggernauts in a highly competitive market, so they have to offer good customer-service / build-quality. The manufacturers of eink devices and tablets are much more of a mixed bag at this stage of proceedings, and I would always go for the manufacturer who has been in the game for longer rather than for a device with marginally more powerful specs, when buying these products.

[Ken Stuart]

Nonsense.

There is no question that tech-savvy people are less loyal to brands, and that Joe Average is more loyal to brands.

(Otherwise, why would companies buy brand names like "Magnavox" and then apply the brand names to products that have nothing in common with the original company ?)