Blokes Adopt a DIY Approach To It Support

Blokes Adopt a 'Do-it-yourself' Approach To It Support

Kiwi blokes like to be self-reliant when it comes to IT support, according to recent research undertaken looking at how New Zealanders use technology.

The research was carried out as part of the Xtra and HP Connected Lives programme where 25 households have been selected to take part in a four month programme to find out how New Zealanders use technology to enrich their lives. The 8,000 New Zealanders who registered to be part of the programme were all surveyed about their current technology use.

Almost 20% of the research respondents said they worked through any IT questions they had themselves, and the overwhelming majority of these were male.

The research also found that two-thirds of technology questions were answered within the household and that males in the household were most often asked for help. Thirty percent of respondents turned to their husbands/boyfriends, sons, sons-in-laws and fathers for assistance with IT questions compared with 15% who asked the female members of their household.

Michael Lucas, from research company Conversa Global, says 91% of those surveyed indicated they accessed the internet everyday.

"The home was the most popular place of access (94%), followed by work (57%) but interestingly 7% said they accessed the internet at local internet cafés and 2% using WiFi hotspots. This suggests that people are increasingly accessing the internet while they're out and about," he says.

The majority of respondents also found technology extremely helpful with managing their everyday life, with eight out of ten respondents stating that technology is important to help manage their finances. Respondents also found technology handy in managing work (72%), travel (64%), social life (63%) and family activities (44%).

"We know that organising travel arrangements online has been increasing over the past couple of years, but it's interesting to see such a large number of New Zealanders using technology to manage their finances," says Chris Thompson, Head of Xtra.

Andrew Seerden, Head of Consumer and Director Imaging and Printing Group at HP agrees and says he's pleased to see that a significant number of New Zealanders are using technology to help organise and enjoy their lives more.

"We're also pleased to see that New Zealanders aren't afraid to ask others for help in using technology, enabling them to further develop their skills and confidence," he says.

ENDS

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