It is with this in mind that researchers at Experian Simmons developed the new Technology Adoption consumer segmentation system, now available to all NCS/NHCS clients. Through sophisticated statistical analysis of dozens of attitudes, behaviors and lifestyle drivers, we uncovered four distinct segments of technology consumers: Wizards, Journeymen, Apprentices and Novices. These segments are defined by their usage of and attitudes towards technology. This report will examine, in extensive detail, the attitudes, brand preferences, lifestyles and media behaviors of these four powerful segments.

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Using Experian Simmons DataStream, we were able to track the market share of T-Mobile versus AT&T and Verizon, which 24/7 Wall St. identifies as the only “two really successful firms.” Simmons DataStream confirms that for the past two years, T-Mobile’s market share has remained stagnant at less than half of AT&T’s or Verizon’s market share. As of May 17, 2010, 9.6% of the adult population were T-Mobile wireless subscribers, up slightly from 2008, but virtually unchanged in the last year. By comparison AT&T claims 22.4% of U.S. adults as their customers and Verizon collects subscriber fees from 25.7% of the nation’s adult population. Sprint-Nextel, a company that presents T-Mobile with more even competition, has the advantage of being ahead of T-Mobile in offering its customers speedier service.

24/7 Wall St. mentions talks of a merger between T-Mobile and Sprint-Nextel, which combined would have a customer base on par with AT&T and Verizon. Even if the merger takes place and Deutsche Telekom becomse the owner of the combined operation, T-Mobile, 24/7 Wall St. reports, “has little brand equity in the U.S.,” suggesting the parent company may not object to disconnecting from the T-Mobile brand.

According to AdAge, McDonald’s will be the first marketer to take advantage of location-based status updates by building an application that will allow users to post featured products from specific restaurants. Experian Simmons DataStream substantiates this marketing decision as McDonald’s customers are increasingly likely to be facebook.com visitors who access the Internet from their cell phones. The same holds true, however, for Starbucks customers. As a matter of fact, Starbucks customers are twice as likely as McDonald’s customers to be facebook.com visitors who access the Internet from their cell phones.

Experian Simmons will continue to monitor this and other important consumer trends and share those findings here. To be the first to know when new insights from Experian Simmons DataStream are available request an alert here.

*Addendum: On May 7, 2010 there were 7,084,599 Facebook users who liked Starbucks and 2,209,919 Facebook users who liked McDonald’s. McDonald’s offers free wi-fi at more than 11,500 participating restaurants and both McDonald’s and Starbucks feature prominent links to Facebook and Twitter on their homepages.

The following slides leverage data from Experian Simmons’ National Consumer Study and New Media Study to provide insights into the behaviors and attitudes of American electronic consumers.

In both 2009 and 2006, approximately 20% of American households bought a new TV. Last year only 18% of new TV households reported their most recently purchased TV was of the traditional tube sort, down from 2006 when fully 70% of new TVs were traditional tube sets. Seventy-one percent of new TV buyers in 2009 reported purchasing either an LCD or Plasma TV, more than double the rate in 2006 when just 25% of new TV buyers purchased LCDs or Plasmas.

Compared to three years earlier, TV buyers in 2009 reported buying bigger sets and spending more money. Nearly half of new TV buyers reported the screen size of their most recent purchase was 40 inches or larger. In 2006, fewer than one in five new TVs were as large. While the average price of big screens has dropped over the years, consumers are still paying more today for new TVs than they did in 2006. Fully 40% of 2009 new TV buyers dropped a grand or more on their set, compared with only 23% who spent as much in 2006.

Consumers’ shift to digital continued over the past three years. Between 2006 and 2009, ownership of VCRs among U.S. households dropped 13% to 79%. Meanwhile, DVR ownership doubled, with 40% of households in 2009 reporting owning a DVR. While over 90% of U.S. households in both 2006 and 2009 reported owning a DVD player, Experian Simmons observed that in 2009 55% of homes owned 2 or more DVD players, compared with only 39% who owned multiple players in 2006.

Nearly 9 in 10 American adults now have mobile phones up from 7 in 10 in 2006, an increase of 26%. The rise in mobile phone use among teens in recent years has been even more dramatic, as ownership rates rose nearly 36% between 2006 and 2009. Even kids as young as 6 are getting in the game with 1 in 5 kids ages 6 to 11 reporting that they have a mobile phone.

The most popular mobile function today—aside from talking—is taking pictures, which 70% of mobile phone owners do each month. Nearly a third of mobile phone owners (31%) use their phone to check personal email vs. 21% who check work mail. Nearly a third also go online from their phone, which allows them to do things like check their Facebook status, download apps and even watch streaming video…features that are certain to gain traction as smartphones and “super” phones find their way into more consumers’ hands.

In 2009, over 153 million adults, teenagers and kids said they owned or played video games up from 140.4 million just two years earlier. Video gaming among adults grew a relative 9% between 2007 and 2009 with almost half of all adults now saying they own or play games.  Gaming growth among kids ages 6 to 11 rose 8% to 92% in 2009 and teen gaming grew just 2% with 9 out of every 10 teenagers now saying they get their game on.

Various PlayStation- and Nintendo-branded gaming devices are the top gaming platforms among adults, teenagers and kids. While the two gaming giants enjoy relatively equal usage among adults and teens, kids are 27% more likely to play Nintendo-branded platforms than PlayStation ones. Teenagers and kids play every branded gaming device, including computer games at rates at least twice that observed among adults.

Adult and teenage gamers are increasingly playing games that connect to the Internet. In 2009, a third of teens who own or play games and 19% of adult gamers played video games connected to the Internet, up from 23% and 12%, respectively, in 2007. Growth in connected gaming was not observed among kids however suggesting a continued level of discomfort among parents of young children playing games online.

Connected gaming devices like Xbox and PlayStation offer users the ability to log into a rich media environment offering game downloads, but also movie and TV program streaming, social networking and more. Over half of Xbox or Xbox 360 owners log into those device’s Xbox Live at least once a month. Twenty-three percent of PlayStation 3 or PSP owners log into those device’s PlayStation network at least once a month.

Consumers are continually adopting new media devices, some demonstrating greater success than others. Today, nearly a third of online adults say they have made a phone call through a computer with a program like Skype in the last 30 days, over a quarter say they watch TV programs or movies online and 17% say they listen to Internet radio. Use or virtual experience sites and TV redirectors like Slingbox remain at the lower end of the adoption spectrum.

The following slides leverage data from Experian Simmons’ National Consumer Study and New Media Study to provide insights into the behaviors and attitudes of Super Bowl viewers.

It’s no surprise that football fans watch the Super Bowl, but even Americans who don’t watch professional football watch the final game. Nearly 85% of frequent NFL regular season viewers tune into the Super Bowl as do almost 62% of occasional viewers. Furthermore, 13% of non-NFL viewers ultimately say they watch the Super Bowl…if only for the ads. Five out of every six Super Bowl viewers (84%) will watch the game in their own home.

Everyone knows the game experience is really all about the set. And a majority of at-home Super Bowl viewers will be getting the full effect this year. Fully 58% of viewers report having at least one LCD, plasma or big screen projection TV on which they could watch the Super Bowl compared with only 48% of non-viewers. Non-viewers are more likely to be traditional tube-only households with 45% saying that a traditional set is the only type of TV they own; only 38% of game viewers say they have nothing but a traditional tube set.

Super Bowl viewers of legal drinking age are 50% more likely than non-viewers to drink beer. Certainly beer companies have recognized the natural link between football and brew, but other beverages pair as well, if not better, with football: Super Bowl viewers age 21 and older are 147% more likely than non-viewers to drink Irish Whiskey. On the non-alcoholic beverage side, all adult viewers are 35% more likely to drink thirst quenchers like Gatorade.

Football stadiums and broadcast games are full of product placement and sponsors and Super Bowl viewers are likely to pick up on those brands. Using Experian Simmons TV Product Placement segmentation tool, we see that Super Bowl viewers are more likely than non-viewers to be “Noticers” who pay attention to branded goods placed within TV shows and less likely to be either “Indifferents” who are neutral, or “Rejecters” who actually have a negative reaction when seeing product placement.

Super Bowl viewers are well connected. The Experian Simmons Spring 2009 New Media Study finds that while Super Bowl viewers are no more or less likely to own a wireless phone, they are 25% more likely than non-viewers to personally use two or more devices. What’s more, they are active phone users and a prime audience for features like streaming mobile video…of sports, of course.

To date, more than 21 million users have the ability to check their email on Apple’s iPhone, but how do these emails render? Here are some iPhone specific guidelines to consider the next time you’re designing an email with a mobile slant.

With a comparatively larger screen than most other mobile devices, the viewable area is still only 480 x 320 pixels in size. Compare this to a normal monitor, which measures at least 1280 x 1024, and suddenly your design has a lot less room to present itself. Since most emails are designed at a width of 700 pixels, the iPhone will automatically shrink the email down by 200% to display the content. This means that your hard-earned email creative has now been reduced to tiny colored dots. Of course, through a choreographed two-finger gesture all of your design can be seen up close, but do you really want your users to take that extra step?

When designing for the iPhone consider the following:

• Set the width of the email to anywhere between 320 and 510 pixels wide. This will ensure your content is clear enough to still be viewed without having to zoom in. If the campaign is geared specifically for iPhone users (e.g. where a new app is available for download), keep the width closer to 320 pixels.
• The above-the-fold area is the part of the email the user will see before having to scroll. On the iPhone, this space is measured at 240 pixels in height. As always, keep the messaging simple and direct with a clear call-to-action.
• Because the iPhone is a wireless device, the download time may vary. More often than not, the user will be inclined to scroll impatiently to the bottom of a current email only to realize it has yet to fully download. To ensure your email will be received in it’s entirety, without delay, consider keeping the graphics to a minimum and use HTML text when possible.