Smart Speaker Uses: Listening And Shopping

New data available from NPR and Edison Research reveals nearly half of Amazon Alexa device or Google Home owners agree having the device has helped them spend more time with people in their household, and more than half have begun using the device to make purchases.

These findings, announced during Advertising Week New York today, come from the second round of data released this year from the "The Smart Audio Report from NPR and Edison Research," a study on the 7% of Americans 12+ who own a Smart Speaker and how the devices are changing behaviors in the home. Get The Smart Audio Report, including this latest data, at www.npr.org/smartaudio.

"For the past decade, a lot of our attention has been on listening through earbuds, which is a very individual experience," noted Edison Research VP Tom Webster. "The content that goes with headphones is personalized through one's own music, digital services or podcasts. Smart Speakers are changing our focus to the group again. Families are sitting around listening together to audio in a way they haven't done since the 1940s. This has enormous ramifications on the types of content that can be produced for Smart Speaker consumption and provides other opportunities to reach people in their homes."

Based on an 800-person survey and in-home interviews with Amazon Alexa device and Google Home owners, part one of the Report found 65% of Smart Speaker owners would not want to go back to their lives before getting one of these devices. Part two goes further to examine what kind of role these devices actually serve in the home.

"In some homes, we observed that the Smart Speaker was more than just a piece of technology to these owners – it instead took on a role as an extended family member. Some participants joked that Alexa was a 'girlfriend' or 'granddaughter,'" said Edison Director of Research Megan Lazovick. "Why did we see such affection for the device? They like how it makes it easier to do everyday tasks."

Another behavior observed is the adoption of new purchasing habits. According to the survey, 57% of owners have ordered an item through their Smart Speaker. Households with children are even more likely to have purchased through the device.

Of those who ordered an item through their Smart Speaker:

• 65% said they added a product to their shopping cart to review later
• 58% bought something they previously had not purchased
• 49% reordered an item they had bought before
• 24% spent $100-$199 on a single purchase, and 30% spent $50-$99 on a single purchase

"Smart speakers are contributing to audio's resurgence in today's media landscape, and it is thrilling to see how insight from the Smart Audio Report has already enhanced listening on this new platform as we roll-out new formats and programming with it in mind," explained NPR's Chief Marketing Officer Meg Goldthwaite. "NPR sees this emerging technology as a place for us to build upon our audio legacy – a perfect avenue for us to continue leading the way as we make NPR available everywhere people listen."