As much as we enjoy our video toys, it appears that we shrink from the process of shopping for them. Most customers seem to be in a hurry to get it over with.
A study of video-equipment buying habits conducted last year for the Electronic Industries Association turned up a surprising statistic. On average, people who are looking for a TV set, a VCR, a camcorder or a big-screen TV shop for the items in fewer than two stores. (The idea of visiting more than one store but less than two is amusing to everyone except statisticians.)
Camcorder shoppers exhibited the most caution, visiting 1.7 stores on average. A VCR required a visit to 1.62 stores, and big-screen TV (30 inches and up) was comparison-shopped at 1.48 stores. The old standby, color TV
(perhaps the least mystifying product), was snapped up after the buyer hit just 1.35 stores.
A related statistic reinforces the image of the hasty shopper. Of people who bought a television set last year, half took less than one week to make the purchase after deciding to buy.
Again, camcorder buyers were a little less precipitous; 22 percent made their purchases in less than a week, while 23 percent took four months or more. As for big-screen TVs and VCRs, more than a third of the buyers made their choices in less than a week.
Comments Bill Matthies, a partner in the Verity Group, which conducted the study: ”With dual-income households, time has become a precious commodity. People don`t enjoy the process of going out and purchasing, in that it takes too much time.”
