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3 Must-Know Consumer Behavior Predictions for Hot Tech Summer

Technology has helped us feel more at ease with the staying in lifestyle. Now Summer is here and we are all looking forward to making up for lost time with family and friends. Think about the technology habits you’ve adapted:

  • Talking to connected devices that talk back
  • Click-and-collect from big-box retailers
  • Using a food delivery app

The way we use technology in our lives has changed.

To better understand new consumer electronic trends, we tapped into first-party data via Soundboard—our proprietary panel of 75,000 listeners—to get real-time responses from the consumers marketers are trying to reach.

Pandora listeners 18-plus are highly connected, owning on average nine tech devices. It may seem like a lot but take a look around. In addition to your mobile phone, you might have a laptop, a smart speaker, wireless earbuds, noise-canceling headphones, an extra monitor, a tablet—not to mention kids’ tech products, too. Parents with children under 18 are highly connected, owning on average 11 tech devices per parent. That’s 22 tech products in a household with two parents.

Here are my three consumer tech behavior predictions for Hot Tech Summer, plus suggested actions for marketers to take.

1. Portable smart speakers will spike in sales

Almost half of Pandora listeners surveyed own at least one smart speaker, and one in three surveyed are considering buying a new one. It’s the boombox of the ‘80s but smarter, lighter and wire-free.

Marketer response: Start working on a strategy to reach consumers with audio when screenless and on the go. Use a dynamic audio product to speak to the moment they are in.

2. Wearables will go mainstream  

Smart watches and health wearables have been on the brink of going mainstream for a couple of years. I think Summer will be when it happens. When asked if they were considering purchasing a new fitness tracker or smart watch, our Soundboard study results show that Black and Hispanic audiences over-index for consideration and intent. People are going on well-deserved vacations and want to log their steps or ditch that pandemic weight for Summer. Wearables help in tracking these goals.

Marketer response: Less time on screens won’t translate into less time spent with audio. Increasing your advertising on audio is your way to stay connected with your target audience while they’re on the move. Literally.

3. Contactless payment is the preferred way to pay  

Technology is about efficiency. Contactless payment was an emerging trend that exploded in use the past year. Most big box stores have the POS technology. I expect to see it everywhere, even your local bodega, by the end of the year.

Marketer response: Just like transacting programmatic or direct IO, make sure you have options for all your consumers, no matter how they want to pay. Who is going to accept crypto as payment first? 

Hot Tech Summer also means Hot Sales Summer for brands, and we’ve already seen an uptick in sales, year over year. Keep an eye on the tech trends that stick, make it easy for consumers and meet them where they are: in the car, at the beach, on the lake or at home.