WEBTV USER SURVEY RESULTS
Introduction
During the summer of 2005, I became curious about how the many WebTV/MSNTV users regard that little black box. I conducted a survey on WebTV usage, how people utilized the box's features, and what those users think of WebTV's overall performance and customer service. The response was tremendous: More than 500 "webbies" answered my questions, and those responses provided were quite interesting.
Now, in light of the MSNTV's current problems – slow performance, status board no longer working, failure to load pages properly and quickly, inability to access certain sites, and an increasingly non-caring customer service – I felt this was a good time to get those figures tallied up and report my findings.
This article is organized as follows:
- Restatement of survey's purpose
- Total respondents and breakdown of each question's responses by percentages
- Brief interpretation of those responses
- Wrap-up
Survey Purpose
As a member of several WEBTV/MSNTV mailing lists, I've noticed the myriad ways our community uses that little black box. I became curious in exactly how much we rely on our Internet appliance and how we use it. Last summer, I conducted a brief survey, and the response was overwhelming. What people had to say about the LBB (little black box) was quite revealing.
Total Respondents
A total of 563 respondents completed the survey. The average age of respondents fell into the 45-60 group. This constituted the majority – more than 67% of the total. The other age groups: 27% fell into the 60-and over group; a small minority of respondents (less than 5%) fell into the 18-25 category.
From these figures, I concluded the average MSNTV user to be about 45 to 55 years old, the very consumer marketing experts interpret as having the strongest brand loyalty.
MSN, are you listening?
Breakdown of the Responses – Question by Question
I asked five questions on the following:
- How long have you been on MSNTV?
- Do you own a PC?
- If you own a PC, do you use both computer and MSNTV?
- What specific tasks do you perform on MSNTV?
- Of the various tasks, which is more important to you?
Of the question on "tasks performed", I broke it down into individual tasks: Email, chat, page building, making email signatures, shopping, accessing government/civic sites, games. I also asked whether users perform school and/or work-related tasks, participated in newsgroups and/or email lists/groups.
On the next page is a complete breakdown of responses on each question. Please go to Survey Results Page 2