1. Unit 1 – Assignment 2
How Consumers Use Technology
& It’s Impacts on Their Lives.
By Kaunain M Lakha
2. Introduction
Since the beginning, the internet has been constantly changing and
adapting to consumer needs by making it easier to use and more
convenient as a way of finding solutions and queries in which the users
would have. From research conducted, on a daily average there are a
total of 3.5 billion web searches. Some of the most popular web
browsers include: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Bing, Firefox &
more.
(internetlivestats, 2019)
Figure 1 -
(paulirish, 2010) – this image highlights the different web browsers
in which are available for consumers
3. Time Line of The Internet & How it all started
1837 – The internet wasn’t available back in the 1800’s but it had started off from computers. During
the mid 1800’s the first computer had been invented by Charles Babbage.
1985 – Up until 1985, the first domain had been created. A domain is a weblink in which can be
accessed through a computer which would allow the user to enter a web page.
1999 – In the year 1999, Wi-Fi becomes a term which is where computers would be able to access the
internet wirelessly.
2004 – Mozilla Firefox launches to compete with Internet Explorer which was the most dominant web
browser. In addition to this Facebook had launched too which was beneficial for businesses of all sizes
as it allowed them to promote their goods on their pages and attract multiple customers to buy from
them as it allowed them to target a specific market.
2005 – YouTube is introduced where creators are able to share their videos. Many of these are either
for entertainment purposes, work or tutorial videos and much more.
2007 – the iPhone was introduced which had access to many different features and the internet could
be accessed right at the consumers fingertips.
Livescience, 2017
4. Access to the Internet
From sources, there are on average 80,000 web searches, 2 million emails and 90,000 YouTube
views every second. This shows how many people would be using the internet.
Usually, the more devices connected to the same Wi-Fi may cause an issue. This is because there
may be some interruptions or lag in which the user would experience. Many service providers are
looking to improve this by having constant maintenances and updates. They are also looking to
introduce a new 5G service which would allow extremely fast internet speeds to be reached.
Finally, over 4 Billion people have access to the internet and majority of the people would use it
everyday in order to either shop online (e-commerce) or to have access to entertainment (gaming
or video) or for work related research purposes.
- Figure 2 shows a picture of which countries have the most access to the internet (seps1816 wordpress, 2009)
(internetlivestats, 2019)
5. Digital devices used by audiences
• Figure 3 – this shows the percentage
of users in which would use different
devices in which would have access
to the internet.
• There are also many other devices
and consoles in which consumers
would use in order to get access to
the internet. However from the
image shown Mobile Phones are the
most used device in which would be
used by audiences.
• (Treffikseo, 2020)
6. How customers search for information
There are 3 main ways of searching for information. The first is Navigational, which is to get to a place, the second is
transactional which is when the consumer is about to purchase something from the web and the third is
informational which is for research purposes etc.
The ways in which customers would be searching for information has constantly changing and improving making it
easier and more convenient for the consumers.
- Before the internet, people would use resources such as encyclopaedias, articles and more to find answers and
solutions to their needs.
- When the internet had been released they would enter their problem or question into a search bar and it would
load many pages in which would be relevant to what they had typed in.
- Today, customers would be able to search for information just from their voice. This is because company’s like Apple,
Samsung, Amazon, Microsoft and more have developed voice recognition devices and software’s in which would
allow the customer to speak to their device and get an answer back in a split second.
Figure 4 & 5 demonstrate
the leap and
enhancements in
technology (iMore, 2020
& Stuff.co.nz, 2017)
7. Figure 6 shows the increase in the use of voice search (search engine watch, 2018)
8. What consumers buy online
There are many different websites in which would allow it’s users to be able to buy, sell and
trade items with other users. Below is a chart in which would show what the most purchased
items in different industries in which would show the trends in demand for certain items. In
addition to this, customers book for holidays and more by using price comparison websites
which would allow them to save their money as it may be cheaper due to the fact of there
being many places to buy holiday packages from.
Figure 7 These are the most popular
industries in which customers would use
for when it comes to online shopping at
eBay & Amazon. it is clear Electronics
and Accessories are the most popular
fields.
(Medium, 2018)
9. What Consumers Buy Online (continued)
Due to the internet becoming a place to shop for customers, the most sold items would be clothing. This is
because, it has become easier for customers to get access to multiple shops and find clothes in which they are
looking for.
The advantages of shopping for clothes online include there being a size guide, discounts being available at
checkout, being able to subscribe to a mailing list so that customers are able to be updated on new releases
and much more.
However, the disadvantages would include there being delivery fees and that they may need to wait 3-5
working days to receive their packages. In addition to this, if one were to establish a new e-commerce business
on clothing, there will be a lot of competition which will mean that it is a very crowded market as the industry
alone is worth over £26Bn (British Council)
Figure 8 – Shows a screen shot from ASOS’ site which will show
how easy it is to be directed to the section the customer is looking
for (ASOS, 2020)
10. Online video consumption
Figure 9 - This graph demonstrates the
amount of revenue in which YouTube
would be making. In correlation, the
higher the figure the more online video
consumption there would be from the
users. This is because there would be
more users watching videos from various
creators in different types of field. On
YouTube, there are different categories of
videos ranging from: Music,
entertainment, sport, news, gaming,
learning, fashion and more. This way, it
would increase the video consumption
from it’s users.
In addition to this, every minute 300
hours of video watch time is added and
over 5 billion videos are watched
everyday.
(Business Of Apps, 2019)
11. Consumer trends
• Figure 10 demonstrates the changes in technology
since 2012. (grandviewresearch, 2020)
As the results show, there has been an increase on
usage for Smartphones, tablets & laptops.
However, there has been a rapid decrease on the usage
of digital cameras. This is because now days,
consumers would just use their cameras which are
installed on their phones. This is because this all
includes wide lenses which cover more than what a
digital camera would cover and it would be easier to
use as photos can also be backed up and shared across
devices.
• In addition to this there has been a decrease on
desktops this year as there have been an increase in
notebooks and laptops. This is because desktops are
not wireless and there has been an increase in demand
for products in which don’t require wires hence the
increase number of tablet users and laptop users.
• Lastly, there has also been an increase in VR usage.
This is where consumers would apply a headset to
make it feel they are in a different surrounding.
12. Consumer Trends (Continued)
In addition to this, there has been an increase within the amount of social media platforms which
would allow people to communicate and connect online. From statistics, 3.8 Billion people are
registered to at least one social media platform (we are Social, 2020). This has not just only
benefited friends and families and it has also been beneficial for marketers and entrepreneurs. This
is because it has allowed them to make a page in which would allow customers to be able to access
and see what they have to offer. It is very cheap to set up an e-commerce business and to also
promote them on social media. This is because the price ranges vary on different reasons, for
example the market they target, the geographical location of who they’re targeting and for how
long they aim to provide the advert.
Figure 11 shows how many users are in the
most popular social media platforms as of
January 2020. (We are social, 2020)
13. Summary
• Summarising, it is clear that the changes and enhancements in technology have made a
difference to our everyday lives in many ways. For example, during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic,
the use of technology has managed to save millions of jobs across the world. This is because by
being able to use remote connected desktops, it has allowed the consumers to complete tasks in
which would be set by their work.
• The internet has also had many changes and is easy to use for all demographics. This is because
they would each have different needs which would be easy to be met. For example a middle aged
adult would need to access their emails, a student would need to complete their homework or a
child would go on YouTube to find education videos suitable for their age range. These are a few
examples of many different opportunities in which the internet brings.
Figure 12 shows a graph of the different
demographics in which would use the internet
(Office of National Statistics, 2017)
14. Reference List
• Live Internet Stats. 2020. Google Search Statistics. [online] Available at: https://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/#sources [Accessed 25 July 2020].
• Zimmermann, K., 2020. History Of Computers: A Brief Timeline. [online] livescience.com. Available at: https://www.livescience.com/20718-computer-history.html
[Accessed 25 July 2020].
• Figure 1: Irish, P., 2010. Logos Of Different Internet Browsers. [image] Available at: https://www.paulirish.com/2010/high-res-browser-icons/ [Accessed 29 July 2020].
• Figure 2: seps1816, 2020. Internet Users By World Map. [image] Available at: https://seps1816.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/finland-becomes-first-country-to-make-
internet-access-a-legal-right/ [Accessed 26 July 2020].
• Figure 3: 2020. Online & Multi-Screen UK: What Digital Devices The British Use Most?. [image] Available at: http://treffikseo.com/seo/online-multi-screen-uk-what-
digital-devices-the-british-use-most/ [Accessed 26 July 2020].
• Figure 4: Wolfe, B., 2020. Siri Makes It Easy To Get Directions To Where You Want To Go — Here's How!. [online] iMore. Available at: https://www.imore.com/how-
use-siri-get-directions-maps-iphone-and-ipad [Accessed 4 August 2020].
• Figure 5: Stuff. 2020. Books Competing With TV, Internet For Our Attention. [online] Available at: https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/95298389/books-
competing-with-tv-internet-for-our-attention [Accessed 4 August 2020].
• Figure 6: Sentance, R., 2018. The Rise Of Answer Engine Optimization: Why Voice Search Matters - Search Engine Watch. [online] Search Engine Watch. Available at:
https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2018/02/07/the-rise-of-answer-engine-optimization-why-voice-search-matters/ [Accessed 16 August 2020].
• Figure 7: Medium. 2020. These Were 2018’S Top Selling Product Categories At Amazon And Ebay. [online] Available at: https://medium.com/edison-discovers/these-
were-2018s-top-selling-product-categories-at-amazon-and-ebay-1c8a5c62d49c [Accessed 30 July 2020].
• Figure 8: ASOS. 2020. ASOS | Online Shopping For The Latest Clothes & Fashion. [online] Available at: https://www.asos.com/ [Accessed 7 August 2020].
• Figure 9: Business of Apps. 2020. Youtube Revenue And Usage Statistics (2020). [online] Available at: https://www.businessofapps.com/data/youtube-statistics/
[Accessed 4 August 2020].
• Figure 11: Grandviewresearch.com. 2020. Consumer Electronics Market | Personal Electronics Industry, 2020. [online] Available at:
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/personal-consumer-electronics-market [Accessed 5 August 2020].
• Figure 12: Kemp, S., 2020. Digital 2020: 3.8 Billion People Use Social Media - We Are Social. [online] We Are Social. Available at:
https://wearesocial.com/blog/2020/01/digital-2020-3-8-billion-people-use-social-media [Accessed 6 August 2020].
• Figure 13: Ons.gov.uk. 2020. Internet Users In The UK - Office For National Statistics. [online] Available at:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/itandinternetindustry/bulletins/internetusers/2017 [Accessed 7 August 2020].
15. Link to Task 2 & 3
• Task 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF8XiZNyoCM
• Task 3: https://applemarketingmix.wordpress.com/2020/08/11/how-
the-internet-has-impacted-on-consumer-lives/