Don’t Mess With AM/FM Radio in Cars and Give Me Physical Buttons!

March 9 2015, 03:00
While consumers increasingly use new music streaming services, they also want AM/FM radio to remain the same. According to a new research by Ipsos Research, over 9 in 10 want the way they operate their car radio to remain unchanged, and would not want it changed into a dashboard app. The research also found that, in the car, CD usage is over three times that of any other digital music service.
 

The research study conducted by the independent market research company, Ipsos, makes it clear that AM/FM radio remains the overwhelmingly preferred audio entertainment option in the car.
“This study shows that the consumer isn’t replacing existing services and products with new ones; instead, they want them all — making the car even more music-enabled with a number of choices at any given time.”

While consumers use new streaming services, virtually all consumers – 99% — are comfortable with the current AM/FM in-car radio operation. And 91% of consumers say they prefer physical AM/FM radio buttons and controls built into the car dashboard, rather than AM/FM being an app that appears in the car’s electronic interface (with only 9% saying they would want it changed into a dashboard app).
 

An additional eye-opening finding was that while AM/FM radio remains paramount in the car, consumers use their in-car CD player three and a half times as much as they use any digital music service.

The survey also detailed other facts highlighting the unparalleled importance to consumers of AM/FM radio in the car; the demand for digital services is increasing, but they are still behind AM/FM radio, the CD player and satellite radio.

AM/FM radio still dominates in-car listening as the top platform used, with 84% of consumers using it in the car, followed by CD players at 64% — but radio still maintains a huge leadership position over the next closest service choice, Sirius/XM – which had 22%. Pandora was 18%; iHeartRadio was 8%; HD Radio 7%; and Spotify was 7%.

80% of consumers chose AM/FM car radio as the top option for their car’s entertainment system, followed by the CD player at 68%, satellite radio at 45%, and a streaming music service at 34%.
 

“Overall, this study makes it clear that in spite of consumers’ love of apps and new digital products, they have a great attachment to their AM/FM radio and an overwhelming desire to keep its operation and function as it is,” said Thomas Spinelli, Vice President of Ipsos MediaCT. “The in-car AM/FM radio is still a universally known audio platform – and its ease of use, convenience, features and familiarity continue to make it a top consumer choice for in-car audio.”

Spinelli added, “This study shows that the consumer isn’t replacing existing services and products with new ones; instead, they want them all — making the car even more music-enabled with a number of choices at any given time.”

The study, conducted by Ipsos for iHeartMedia in January 2015, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1036 adults 18+.
www.ipsos.com
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