VR Entertainment Survey: Sony Named Most Popular Brand Among Potential Buyers

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Posted Nov 16, 2016

Virtual reality is a growing sector of the tech world. And it could have a pretty large impact on a number of different industries, including entertainment. In fact, a recent report from UploadVR suggests that VR can have an even bigger impact on the film industry than other trends like 3D. So what do consumers think about the idea of VR entertainment? We asked 1,000 respondents about their thoughts on virtual reality and how it might impact the way they view entertainment.

vr entertainment

Virtual Reality

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 35% of respondents said that they are at least somewhat interested in virtual reality. Of those respondents, 60% said that they are interested in using virtual reality for gaming purposes. 55% are interested in viewing TV or movies in virtual reality. 35% are interested in using VR for things like tours. 19% are interested in VR sports. And 13% are unsure.

Current Users

Currently, just 7% of overall respondents said that they already own VR headsets or similar devices. Samsung was the most popular brand mentioned by those respondents. But Sony and Google were also mentioned. In addition, those who currently own VR devices were slightly more likely to say that they’re interested in using VR for TV and movies, though the results were just directional due to the sample size of 65 respondents.

Future Users

Looking forward, 22% of overall respondents said that they are at least somewhat likely to purchase virtual reality headsets or other devices within the next two years. Among those respondents, Sony was the most popular brand, followed by Samsung, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Oculus and Playstation. And of those who are actually likely to purchase VR devices, 66% said that they are interested in using VR for watching TV and movies, making it more popular than any other VR purpose.

Key Takeaways

VR entertainment is a pretty popular idea among those who already own or are likely to own VR devices in the near future. So for companies like Sony, Samsung and Google that want to market VR devices, highlighting entertainment features in marketing materials is likely to continue to be a good strategy. However, there’s still just a fairly small amount of people interested in owning those devices. But if people could try out the VR experience without the commitment of actually buying new devices, like through VR movie events, it’s possible that VR companies could get even more people into the idea of VR entertainment. And then more people might even be interested in buying their own devices down the line.You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: Woman Using a Samsung VR Headset at SXSW by Nan Palmero under CC BY 2.0What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on November 10-15 via AYTM’s online survey panel.