A ChannelNews research study of consumer electronics retailers reveals that most retailers 87% believe that 3D TV marketing has not worked in Australia. Several claimed that the initial hype drove consumers into stores but “very few” consumers made a TV purchase because of perceived problems with 3D glasses.
They also claimed that the recent FIFA World Cup was “a total failure” for consumer electronics retailers and that the idea of using “big sporting events” to drive TV sales was “now over”.
Several retailers said that content and IPTV services were set to drive sales in the last quarter along with demand for a second or third TV.
Retailers believe that there several obstacles in the way of 3D TVs, the biggest being the need to use 3D glasses.
Recently consumer research company Nielsen, conducted a major study of TV consumers.
The project titled “focusing on the 3DTV experience,” saw the research group bring together 425 randomly selected people.
In a town house set up in a TV studio that imitated the home viewing environment, subjects watched a 30-minute compilation video, then answered questions about the experience.
Most of them liked it. Nearly 57% said it made them feel “part of the action” and 48% said it made them feel more engaged. Another 47% said 3DTV would induce them to watch programs that normally wouldn’t interest them. Though 77% said 3D is better suited to movies or sports than to everyday viewing, it still enhanced a wide variety of programming, also including action/adventure, nature/animals, travel, sci-fi, and concerts.
Despite the demonstration, the desire to actually buy a 3DTV within the next year “decreased after seeing a demonstration of the technology, experiencing the glasses, and learning more about product costs,” said Nielsen’s Frank Stagliano.
Those reporting turnoffs included 68% for the set’s cost, 57% for having to wear the glasses, another 45% for discomfort while wearing the glasses, and 44% for not enough 3D programming.”While costs and content availability will be addressed over time, the purchase hurdle for the glasses could be a longer term barrier,” the study said.
In what was a surprise for retailers 89% of respondents said the glasses prevented them from multitasking. Given that this survey was done in a home-like environment, as opposed to retail a retail store, this may be a significant discovery say researchers.
