The first spin-off information from Nielsen’s HomeScan consumer purchase panel is available.
In mid-November last year, Nielsen Marketing Research took 58 questions about home computers to its 7,250-member HomeScan panel.
The purpose of the survey was to uncover the members’ perceptions of computers and buying intentions.
Keith Barber, manager of Nielsen’s Computer Product index, says for the first time marketers of software and hardware will have access to reliable information.
Most computer vendors have a good idea how to compete in the commercial computer market, says Barber, but the home market has been a more difficult read.
HomeScan began last summer. Using a Telxon scanner, once a week panel members scan in their household purchases then transmit the data to a Nielsen computer. Panel members used the same technology to respond to Nielsen’s computer survey, providing a representation of a 10-million household market.
Nielsen says a little over 40% of the HomeScan households that responded to the survey indicated they had a personal computer in their home.
Other information collected in the survey includes demographic profiles, perceptions of vendors and buying intentions.
