Barna Update Article Barna Update Americans Embrace Technologies that Bring Control to their Lives
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| Americans Embrace Technologies that Bring Control to their Lives |
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April 1, 2003
(Ventura, CA) - For Americans, technology is more than a working compilation of plastic parts, circuit boards, power cords, and digital displays. It also represents a way to provide some semblance of control and order to their harried, demanding lives. In the 1990s, Americans discovered that personal computers could effectively help organize their work and personal lives. In the late Nineties, the Internet introduced consumers to new dimensions of easier access to and control over information, music, travel and retail options. A new study from the Barna Research Group of Ventura, California suggests that since 2000 Americans have gobbled up technologies that help them to shape their entertainment choices and to manage increasingly mobile lifestyles. Technologies such as DVD players, home theater systems, and mobile computers are substantially more common in households across the country than just three years ago. "Home" Box Office Redefined One of the largest tech shifts of recent years is in the realm of personal entertainment. Powered by DVD content, next-generation televisions and surround-sound equipment, many Americans are finding it more desirable to stay home to watch movies than to venture out to a local theater. At the core of that trend toward home-based entertainment is the rise of the DVD, or digital video disks. Since 2000, DVD players have been the most rapidly selling technology in the country, more than tripling in penetration (from 18% to 56%). DVD players are now as common in American households as desktop computers and Internet access. Other home-entertainment technologies have also caught on. One-third of all households claim to have a home theater system (32%). Satellite television programming - with hundreds of channels for consumers to choose from - is used by nearly 50% more households now than three years ago (from 19% in 2000 to 28% in 2003). (In comparison, about seven out of 10 Americans receive television programming via cable.) Now part of mainstream technology, the vast majority of Americans (69%) owns DVD, satellite, or home theater technology. Mobile Technology and Lifestyles Americans' mobile lifestyles have also precipitated new technological gadgets -- or some might argue that new technology has encouraged Americans to become increasingly mobile. Perhaps the most significant shift in mobile technology in the last three years has been the expanded use of mobile computers, which allow Americans increased flexibility in work, play, scheduling, and staying connected. Today, the combined purchases of laptops, notebooks, palmtops, pocket computers and PDAs (personal digital assistant devices) outpace unit sales of desk-bound computers - with many consumers owning multiple portable computing gadgets. Nearly three in ten Americans (28%) own some type of mobile computing device, nearly 50% higher than three years ago (18%). Currently, one-quarter of Americans own a laptop or notebook computer (23%). One in seven have a palmtop, pocket computer, or PDA (14%). In contrast, after experiencing substantial growth throughout the 1990s, home-based desktop computers have leveled off at 57% ownership (just 4% growth since 2000). CD-ROM technology, which is frequently integrated into personal computers, experienced its most significant growth from 1995 to 2000 as Americans bought powerful, multi-function desktop computers. CD-ROM ownership has now stabilized and is currently on par with computer ownership at 58%. Three out of five Americans (61%) personally own a computer, including desktops, laptops, and palmtops. Cell phones have also experienced widespread adoption in the last Nineties. But unlike desktop computers, their growth has continued more steadily - at 12% - in the last three years. Cell phones now constitute one of the most common technological devices in use by Americans, owned by two-thirds of adults (65%). The moderate growth of cell phones recently seems to be due to late adopters of the technology - such as low-income households and Americans in their sixties and older - who finally decided that the convenience of cell phones, along with the bargain rates being offered, was too good to pass up. Perhaps no technology has been as influential to Americans' sense of control as the "create-your-own-adventure" experience of the Internet. More Americans are online now than ever. Nevertheless, the growth of home access has slowed somewhat compared to its rapid expansion in the late nineties. Today, three out of five adults (59%) have home Internet access, up 18% compared to three years ago. Overall, two-thirds of adults (65%) claim to have online access either at home or at some other computer. Another shift since 2000 relates to the way in which many Americans connect to the Internet. Many more Americans are accessing the Internet through high-speed connections these days. One-quarter of online adults (23%) connect via cable and one-seventh (15%) use DSL (digital subscriber line). A slim and dwindling majority of Internet users (55%) relies upon slower dial-up connections. In macro-terms, home Internet access is divided between approximately 68 million dial-up users and about 55 million high-speed users. Although the Internet has altered many aspects of modern life, one element that consumers have yet to use the Internet for is the shaping of their religious input and output. When asked in the Barna survey how likely they were to use the Internet for at least part of their religious experience during the coming five years, there was no apparent change compared to a similar measurement taken in 2001. Overall, 5% said they would definitely use the Internet for personal faith experience and expression, and another 18% indicated they would probably do so. Other Technologies Other new digital technologies also provide American consumers with small-scale control that may have seemed like science fiction just a few decades ago. The study showed that one-third of Americans now owns a digital camera (36%), allowing them to immediately pick and choose the pictures they want to keep and enabling them to email those visual memories to others anywhere on the globe in seconds. Also, one out of 13 adults (8%) now owns a vehicle with GPS - or Global Positioning Satellite service - to provide on-the-road navigation assistance. The Generation Gap Technology, perhaps more than anything else, seems to be one of the core drivers of the generation gap – that is, the behavioral and perceptual divide between people of different ages in America. Not surprisingly, the youngest adult generation - Baby Busters (ages 19 to 37) - is the most technologically enabled generation, being more likely than any of the older trio of generations to own 12 of the 13 technologies assessed in the study. The only exception was GPS-equipped vehicles, which was most commonly owned by Builders (ages 57 and older). Busters are more likely than Boomers (ages 38 to 56) to own cell phones and computers and to have Internet access - but only slightly. The real arena of difference between Busters and Boomers is in home entertainment technologies, a domain that has been driven by Busters. Busters are 50% more likely than are Boomers to own a home theater system (45% to 30%); 27% more likely to own a DVD player (70% to 55%); and 19% more likely to have a satellite dish for television reception (31% to 26%). Staying at the cutting edge of consumer technology products, Busters have also snatched up digital cameras (42% to 36%) and high-speed Internet access (29% to 24%) more quickly than have Boomers. David Kinnaman, Vice President of the Barna Research Group and the director of the study, commented on the technological generation gap: "The revolutions in entertainment and mobile technologies are being powered by the youngest generations. This is not particularly surprising - young people have typically been the technological pioneers - but it is creating even deeper divisions between the young and old as Busters and the up-and-coming Mosaic generation increasingly enjoy high-tech entertainment and staying connected on the go. “Because of young people’s appetite for such devices, we are likely to see an even greater shift toward devices that ‘do it all’ – compact computers equipped for mobile Internet connections, cell phones that receive and transmit real-time visual images, and vast music and movie libraries on portable and home-based technologies. What remains to be seen is in what ways technology will continue to alter the generational personalities of Busters and especially Mosaics. In what ways will technology change self-expression, personal fulfillment, and depth of relationships? And how will their entertainment-driven and mobility-oriented lifestyles modify their spiritual experiences and expectations?" Who Owns What? Besides generational patterns, the study also provides insights into other characteristics of the technological changes afoot in the country. Easily the most significant predictor of technology ownership was socio-economic status, a variable that involves both educational attainment and household income. Not surprisingly, the more educated and more affluent the person, the more likely he or she was to own personal technologies. An unexpected finding of the research is that divorced Americans - perhaps because they make less than do married households - are less likely to own many of the household technologies assessed in this study. This identifies one educational disadvantage that many children of divorce face: they are less likely than others to have access to personal computers and Internet technology from home. Other demographic groups that were particularly likely to embrace technology were men, whites, those who reside in the Western U.S., and singles who have never been married. Matters of Faith While demographics often dictate strong differences in technology use, the study showed that a person’s faith had little to do with the types of technologies they use. Most notably, born again Christians were just as likely to own all 13 of the technologies assessed in this research as were non-born again adults. Kinnaman indicated that even beyond technology ownership, "there is little that distinguishes born again Christians from non-Christians in terms of how they use technology. Both groups appear to be equally influenced by what they are exposed to on the Internet and on television. Both groups spend roughly the same amount of time each week watching television and movies and going online. Christians spend about as much money on entertainment and technology as do non-Christians. The widespread adoption of technology creates new battlegrounds for moral choices to be made - battles that many Christians don’t even realize they’re waging." Kinnaman pointed out that one of the reasons that Christians are indistinguishable from non-Christians is the lack of consistent teaching and leadership regarding the proper role of technology in the life of a Christian. "Technological change is happening all around us. But how often do Christian leaders and teachers specifically address how to anticipate, interpret, and respond to technological innovation? As Americans we are typically focused on the function that technology serves, but as Christians have we sufficiently considered what expectations - both good and bad – technology creates and satisfies among its users? Without such a ‘philosophy of technology’ millions of believers are left defenseless against the tide of technologies that are changing the world in which they live. How much more relevant and healthy would Christians be if they were both adept users of technology and were able to use those tools within the larger framework of their passion to serve Christ and to bless others?" In a seminar tour during 2003, entitled Leading Your Church Forward, company founder George Barna further pointed out that technology is embraced by adherents of the postmodern worldview - which is largely embraced by people under the age of 35 - partially because it provides options, focuses on process more than product and facilitates group identity. How the Research Was Conducted
Household Technology Penetration, by Faith Commitment, 1995-2000
Source: Barna Research Group, Ltd., Ventura, CA
The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) is a private, non-partisan, for-profit organization that conducts primary research on a wide range of issues and products, produces resources pertaining to cultural change, leadership and spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website (www.barna.org). Additional research-based resources, both free and at discounted prices, are also available through that website. © The Barna Group, Ltd, 2009.
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