Logged in: gadget enthusiasts go online to Net best products

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New Delhi, Feb 1: Internet has become Asia’s number one source of information on electronics, with most gadget enthusiasts in India going online to do a research on their next electronics purchase, according to a survey.

The survey, conducted by Synovate for Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions across 10 Asian markets, found that about 83% people in India use Internet as the most-used resource for purchasing consumer electronics, followed by newspapers (56%).

Most consumers prefer to browse through the Internet as they can find the latest available models (67%) and compare product features (65%), can compare prices (62%) and because they can do it any time (61%). Interestingly, quality (61%) and price (61%) were the key criteria for purchasing consumer electronics rather than the brand

name (37%).

“Today, instead of making a trip to the mall for product guidance, or settling for a product choice based on limited reviews from family and friends--smarter consumers are conducting research on their own online, where a multitude of product comparisons, reviews and recommendations are freely available,” said Celia Fan, regional media analyst, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, Asia Pacific, Greater China & Japan.

Most-researched products on the Internet include mobile phones, laptop computers and digital cameras, whereas laptop, mobile phones and MP3 players are among the top three preferred products bought online. On the Internet, portals (55%) are the second most used resources followed by search engines (44%) and product review websites (41%).

“The online medium empowers a lot of consumers in research and guidance for their purchases. Consumers in India by nature generally prefer to go by recommendations and today they have access to a lot more people and communities on the Internet for advice,” said Vineet Gupta, India marketing manager, Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions.