Cross-platform behavior: sequential or parallel use

[[email protected]]

The authors
of the study identify two types of cross-platform behavior. The first
type is the sequential use of two or more devices to
achieve a single goal. The second type is the parallel use
of several devices to solve one or different tasks. The second type
includes two variations: complementary or multitasking use.
Let's consider each option in more detail.



The authors
of the study found that sequential travel agency email database use of multiple
devices to solve a single task is a typical situation, with
most switching from one device to another
occurring during the day. 90% of respondents used two or
more devices sequentially to solve a single task. Almost
always (98%), a process started on one device is continued on
another device the same day.

What types of activities
are characterized by such behavior? As it turned out, for a variety of activities:
Internet surfing (81%), communication (72%), online shopping (67%),
information search (63%), financial management (46%), travel planning
(43%), watching online videos (43%). In most cases,
the process begins with a smartphone and continues on a PC.

In some
cases, the starting point is often a computer or laptop. This
applies to more complex and time-consuming tasks. For example, when
planning a trip, the process most often begins on a PC (38%) and
continues on a smartphone (31%) or a tablet (7%).
Travel planning, along with online shopping, often begins on
a tablet (15% and 11%, respectively), and continues on a PC (14% and 10%).

As
for the parallel use of several devices, the most
common combination is smartphone + TV (81%), less common is
smartphone + PC/laptop (66%) and PC/laptop + TV (66%). It is quite
predictable that the smartphone is used most often simultaneously with other devices
.

Here are the types of activity for which
simultaneous use of several devices is most typical: working with
e-mail (60%), Internet surfing (44%), communication on social
networks (42%). Much less common are games (25%), search (23%), working with
documents (15%), watching videos (9%).

At the same time, 78%
of simultaneous use of different devices is multitasking.
In other words, using several devices at the same time,
people usually solve a separate task on each device. But about
a fifth (22%) of simultaneous use of different devices is
complementary activity. That is, activity on one device
is associated with activity on another device. The most common
combination of devices in this case is TV + tablet (40%).

The role of television has changed

The role of
television in today's world has changed, the authors of the study emphasize
: television no longer holds our undivided
attention. According to statistics, 77% of TV viewers use other devices
while watching TV. Watching TV programs becomes a background
process, during which people do many other things.

At
the same time, TV shows quite often initiate the process of
Internet search on other devices. Information obtained during
TV viewing initiates 22% of search queries on a smartphone. Another 17%
of such queries are related to TV advertising. For search on
a PC/laptop, these figures are slightly lower: 10% and 6%, respectively.