London, UK – Research from QlikTech, a provider of user-driven business intelligence (BI), has shown that nearly three quarters (73%) of consumers want to be able to analyse their spending habits and health issues in order to lead a better life. According to the research, these are the aspects of our lives we want to track through wearable technology.
The ability to track sleep patterns, energy use and personal fitness data were also considered important by the majority of people surveyed, with nearly two thirds (62%) wanting more information on their slumber, 61% wanting to know more about the way they were consuming energy and 57% eager to find out how many calories they had consumed/burnt off during the day.
The research from QlikTech surveyed over 1,000 people between the ages of 14 and 65+, looking at the ways consumers want to be able to use wearable technology for health, fitness, finances and personal activities. The survey, which included consumers in Germany and France as well, showed surprisingly similar results across Europe.
When the research delved further into the reasons for why we want to track these aspects of their lives, it found 59% thought having quantifiable insights would motivate them to improve their performance, while 55% saw them as a way to help them change their lives.
Breaking the research results down by gender, QlikTech found that men were more likely than women to want to track sports performance (46% to 39%) – especially among men aged 16-24 (69%). Women, however, were more interested in learning about their sleeping habits than men (64% compared to 60%). Again, this was more prevalent in the younger generation, going up to 80% among the 16-24 year olds. When looking at the UK regions, Londoners were particularly interested in personal finances (76%), health (76%) and sleep (70%), while the Scottish prioritised health and energy consumption.
“We’re quickly turning into a society where people want to be able to analyse information about their own lives – not just business data or information on their organisation,” comments Sean Farrington, UK MD & RVP Northern Europe, QlikTech. “Luckily there are a number of wearable apps and devices that give consumers a way to measure their performance in a number of areas. With so much data available on our lives, it’s great that it can be put to such an important use – especially when we see that people want to improve their health, or reduce the amount of money they are spending. Data analysis, when used properly, can truly benefit us in all walks of life.”
