Health and wellness use cases continue to lead wearables adoption 

Parks Associates’ consumer research Wearables: Advances in Health and Safety finds that health and wellness use cases continue to drive adoption of wearables such as smart watches and smart rings. Currently, nearly 50% of US internet households own and use a wearable, with 70% using their wrist wearables for health and wellness reasons. Further, nearly one-third of households with a wearable report purchasing or subscribing to a premium app such as Apple Fitness+ or a service such as cellular data for calls and messaging, streaming music, or location tracking. 

This research evaluates the current scope of the wearables market and new advances in tech to promote health and personal safety. It addresses key questions, including how consumers are evaluating new features and available add-ons, such as fitness subscriptions and cellular connectivity.

“Wearables adoption in the US market is following the pattern laid out by smartphones, coalescing around two major platforms — Apple and Google’s Wear OS — with Garmin a notable third,” said Kristen Hanich, Research Director, Parks Associates. “The most common attached service is cellular connectivity/data plans, over half of which include on-the-go voice calls and messaging. This market remains open for a variety of software and services players.”

Wearables owners with paid apps and services report higher levels of satisfaction than those who have just the device, and they are more willing to recommend products to their friends and family. Fitness and lifestyle subscriptions are likewise associated with high rates of satisfaction for both smart watch and GPS sports watch owners. Fitness tracker satisfaction is highest among those with health coaching services but markedly lower among those with fitness and lifestyle subscriptions. Nonetheless, all tested subscriptions are associated with increased satisfaction among wearables adopters.

“Additional services enhance the value of wearable devices to consumers, raising satisfaction and introducing new revenue opportunities to companies,” Hanich said. “Wearables companies need to focus marketing strategies on the diverse applications of wearables, highlighting first health and wellness features but also emphasizing the increasingly versatile, non-fitness functionalities.”

Parks Associates will host Smart Spaces: Apartments, Hospitality, and Community Living on September 24-25 at the Renaissance Dallas Richardson Hotel. This conference features the session “The Golden Years: Technology in Senior Communities,” which examines the impact of IoT technologies on senior lifestyles, safety, and health, with executives from Care Daily, LifeLoop, and Toi Labs.

To schedule an interview with an analyst or to request specific data or a Smart Spaces press pass, please contact Mindi Sue Sternblitz-Rubenstein at mindi.sue@parksassociates.com or 972-490-1113. 

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

Follow Parks Associates on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.