Consumer study “Wearables: Advances in Health and Safety” evaluates the current scope of the wearables market, looking at new advances in health and personal safety

Parks Associates’ latest consumer study, Wearables: Advances in Health and Safety, finds consumer demand for health-related features on wearable devices continues to increase. Nearly 50% of US internet households own and use a wearable, with recent growth driven by smart watches and new form factors, including smart rings.

Smart watch adoption is setting the stage for further growth of attached services, ranging from cellular connectivity to user safety monitoring to advanced health coaching. The firm’s latest study of 8,000 US internet households reveals that 32% of wearable owners have an attached subscription and 92% of purchase intenders are willing to pay extra for a device with at least one health-related feature tested in the survey. Consumer interest is highest in blood pressure monitoring, which is a metric of interest to many consumers given the prevalence of hypertension and other blood-pressure related conditions.

“Purchase intentions for wearables reached an all-time high during the COVID-19 pandemic and declined as the emergency waned, with their perceived value still tied to healthcare considerations,” said Kristen Hanich, Research Director, Parks Associates. “The value of wearables increases as consumers add more functions, dramatically raising satisfaction. Consumer satisfaction is markedly higher among those with attached services.”

The study finds that the wearables market has an enormous opportunity for growth in services and subscriptions, as consumers look to add new use cases to their devices. The research addresses brand adoption, interest in and willingness to pay for specific features, adoption of premium services, key use cases, and personal safety and emergency monitoring.

“Success for these devices is not tied solely to a product sale,” Hanich said. “The connection between owners and wearables strengthens with each new service tied to the device.”

This research is available for purchase.

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com

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