The majority of heavy voice assistant users are between the ages of 25 and 49 according to a recent report put out by PwC, which also states that users between the ages of 18 and 24 are adopting the voice assistant technology at a more rapid pace than other, older users but aren’t actually using it as much. While that might seem to be a bit odd considering that more users in the younger age group are picking up devices which have the voice assistant technology built into them, PwC also notes that during a recent study it found that three out of four users who interact with a voice assistant are doing so in the home with a device like a smart speaker. Though not necessarily the only reason, the report suggests that a good possibility for why younger users aren’t exactly interacting with voice assistants as often is because users in this age group tend to spend more time outside and away from the home.
Building on that the study asked consumers that were part of the focus group a series of questions about whether or not they interact with the voice assistant from a smart speaker or their mobile device during certain activities. For example, users were asked which device they use when doing things like watching TV, cooking, multitasking, laying in bed, and other activities, and the majority noted that they use a standalone smart smart speaker to interact. Some participants also stated that using it in public “just looks weird,” suggesting that a number of users feel uncomfortable to some degree interacting with a digital assistant while in public and around other people.
Age groups aside the report also looks at what kinds of tasks people are using smart digital assistants for. Based on the questions asked a majority of people are using smart assistants to search for stuff and ask questions. The data from the report shows that 32-percent of the users asked are searching for stuff daily with a digital assistant while 57-percent are doing the same thing monthly. By comparison, 56-percent of the same users said that they never use digital assistants for controlling other smart devices, while 50-percent said they never use them to buy or order products from online like you can do with the Alexa-powered Echo. The data suggests that at the moment most people are still using smart digital assistants for more basic tasks, even though the assistants are gaining more and more capabilities.
