Wireless headsets have been available for more than a decade, and are strongest among two age and gender groups. These hearables-active groups are also have above-average shares of VR Headset early adopters.
The strongest segments for active hearables use include younger males – age 18-44 and youngish females – age 25-34. Penetration is above one in four among males 25-34 (27%) and among males age 35-44 (26%). Among females, hearables usage peaks among females age 25-34, at 15%.
Looking ahead, we expect these same age & gender groups to continue as the strongest users of hearables, and don’t expect other segments to be as keen on hearables.
These age & gender segments are in some of the most-active life stages, with the highest levels of presence of children, full-time employment and household income. These sociological factors correlate strongly with higher demand for home entertainment, game-playing, and streaming music listening. Also, they are the strongest age & gender segments in tech spending for devices and services.
These age & gender segments are also above-average in their use of voice assistants such as Apple Siri or Microsoft Cortana, and hearables help to use these with the greatest of convenience.
In other words, many of these youngish adults are looking for a way to listen to what they choose to listen to, and for a way to be heard, if not by friends or associates, at least by their own digital assistants.
Source
This is based on our most recent research among 7,336 US adults as part of the Technology User Profile (TUP) 2016 survey.
This MetaFAQs research result addresses one of the many questions profiling active technology users.
Many other related research answers are part of the TUP service, available to paid subscribers. The TUP sections with the most information about hearables and age skews are the TUP 2016 Wearable Technology Section in the Consumer Electronics Chapter, and Age Ranges Section in the User Profile Chapter.
These MetaFAQs are brought to you by MetaFacts, based on research results from their most-recent wave of Technology User Profile (TUP).
For more information about MetaFacts and subscribing to TUP, please contact MetaFacts.
Related Resources
- Chapter D – Devices
- Section D2–DEV_PRIM/Primary and Secondary Devices
- Chapter I – Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking
- Section I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity
- Section I3-VOICEASST/Voice Assistance
- Chapter A – User Profile
- Section A4-AGE/Age Ranges
- Section A5-EMPSIZE/Employer Size
- Chapter L – Activities
- Section L3-ACTCOMM/Communications
- Chapter: M Consumer Electronics
- Section MU-MUSIC/Music Players, Services, or Listening
Related MetaFAQs
| MetaFAQ_Num | Question | Cross-Reference |
| mq0038 | Who uses their Smartphone as their primary connected device? | Chapter: D Devices Section: D2-DEV_PRIM/Primary and Secondary Devices Tables: [120 DRxDEV_PRIM] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0047 | Is there an age skew for using VR Headsets? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A4-AGE/Age Ranges Tables: [480 CExAGE] Consumer Electronics |
| mq0054 | What is the profile of the most active users of communication activities? | Chapter: L Activities Section: L3-ACTCOMM/Communications Tables: [120 DRxACTCOMM] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0058 | What are the major Smartphone listening activities? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [700 ACT_SPxHEAR] Smartphone Activities |
| mq0099 | How many Connected Adults use any Hearables devices, such as Wireless Bluetooth Headsets or VR Goggles? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [120 DRxHEAR] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0101 | Are Hearables users much younger than the average Connected Adult? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [120 DRxHEAR] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0103 | How much are Hearables part of a Mobile lifestyle? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxHEAR] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0106 | Are hearables used more often than average by those using Game Consoles? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [405 GAMExHEAR] Game Consoles |
| mq0107 | Are those using Hearables especially active using their Connected Devices for communication activities? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [570 ACT_COMMxHEAR] Communication Activities |
| mq0108 | Which communication activities are used more than average among Bluetooth headset users? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [570 ACT_COMMxHEAR] Communication Activities |
| mq0110 | Do wireless Bluetooth Headset wearers spend much more than the average Connected Adult on tech devices? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [790 SPENDxHEAR] Tech Spending |
| mq0111 | Do wireless Bluetooth Headset wearers spend much more than the average Connected Adult on music and other content for their digital devices? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I2-HEAR/Hearables and Listening Activity Tables: [790 SPENDxHEAR] Tech Spending |
| mq0211 | How many employees use voice assistants such as Apple Siri or Microsoft Cortana with their Smartphones? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A5-EMPSIZE/Employer Size Tables: [600 ACT_SRCHxEMPSIZE] Information/Search Activities |
| mq0231 | What are employees’ communication activities with their Smartphones? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A5-EMPSIZE/Employer Size Tables: [700 ACT_SPxEMPSIZE] Smartphone Activities |
| mq0304 | Is there an age gap between those who communicate primarily with their Smartphones, Tower Desktops, Notebooks, and Tablets? | Chapter: L Activities Section: L3-ACTCOMM/Communications Tables: [120 DRxACTCOMM] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0449 | Is there an age skew for Mobile computing devices? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A4-AGE/Age Ranges Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxAGE] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0460 | Is there an age or gender skew to connected music listening? | Chapter: M Consumer Electronics Section: MU-MUSIC/Music Players, Services, or Listening Tables: [120 DRxMUSIC] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0521 | Do users of music services spend much more on digital content (including music) than the average Connected Adult? | Chapter: M Consumer Electronics Section: MU-MUSIC/Music Players, Services, or Listening Tables: [790 SPENDxMUSIC] Tech Spending |
| mq0689 | Is there an age skew for Voice Assistant users? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I3-VOICEASST/Voice Assistance Tables: [120 DRxVOICEASST] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0703 | Do users of VR headsets use voice assistants at a higher than average rate? | Chapter: I Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking Section: I3-VOICEASST/Voice Assistance Tables: [480 CExVOICEASST] Consumer Electronics |
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