Tech products infuse nearly every aspect of consumers' daily lives—whether they're working remotely from a laptop, cooking with recipes from a smart speaker, crushing a workout with noise-canceling headphones, or unwinding at the end of the day on a gaming console.

For every activity, there's a device to keep consumers connected to the information and people that matter most to them. But with so many options out there, how do people discover the technology brands that meet their needs? And how can tech advertisers reach them throughout the purchase journey?

New research from Spotify Advertising found that digital audio ads can help.¹ According to the Consumer Decision Journey report, digital audio plays a vital role throughout the entire path to purchase.² The study surveyed nearly 20,000 audio listeners between the ages of 18 and 65 across multiple buying categories—including the tech vertical.

— Sam Fermont
Category Development Officer, Tech & Telco, Spotify

The path to a tech purchase

Here's a quick recap of the five stages of the path to purchase, as outlined by the Consumer Decision Journey report:

1. The BE stage, when people are going about their everyday lives, before the trigger for a purchase.
   

2. The DREAM stage, when people are exploring and gathering information about the different options out there.
   

3. The CHOOSE stage, when customers are actually making a choice about a brand, product, or service.
   

4. The BUY stage, when consumers are focused on making the purchase.
   

5. The USE stage, after the purchase of a product or service, when customers are evaluating their decisions.

Between 68 and 70% of tech consumers say Spotify meets their key needs at each stage of this journey.³ Interestingly, they find Spotify particularly helpful during the “Dream" and “Choose" stages. This is when tech consumers are most likely to first consider the brand they eventually buy from. In fact, 87% have considered this brand by the “Choose" stage.⁴

Tech buyers are also relatively confident throughout the buyer journey, with confidence increasing as they move to the “Buy" and “Use" stages.⁵ Still, it's important to note that more than half (62%) still have multiple brands in mind by the “Buy" stage.⁶

— Sam Fermont
Category Development Officer, Tech & Telco, Spotify

Key takeaways for tech brands and advertisers

Tech advertisers have an opportunity to boost discovery during the early stages of the customer journey and solidify buyer confidence during the later stages. As the study found, only 18% of tech consumers make such purchases on impulse.⁷ For brands, this means it's especially important to share messaging that builds personal connections and creates a sense of familiarity.

Specifically, tech consumers over-index on three explicit reasons for making a purchase, compared to the overall average across vertical categories:

1. Functionality (50% vs. 36% baseline)
2. Buying from a quality brand (42% vs. 38% baseline)
3. Buying from a trusted brand (40% vs. 38% baseline)⁸

In fact, brand loyalty and familiarity seem to override price. Only 26% of respondents said they bought from a brand because it offered a promotion, but 39% said they made a purchase because it was from their preferred brand. And 29% said it was a brand for "people like them."⁹

— Sam Fermont
Category Development Officer, Tech & Telco, Spotify

How Spotify can help

Digital audio can be a strong influencer of inspiration, culture, and trends—both at the early stages of the purchase journey to generate awareness and at the "Choose" and "Buy" stages to build confidence. The intimate nature of audio streaming can help build a personal connection, both on an emotional level and a more functional level, with deals and comparisons.

At the lower-funnel stages, the research showed digital audio to have:

• 1.8X higher than media touchpoint average for influence

• +10pt more than online video

• +6pt more than radio ads

• +5pt more than social media ads¹¹

Digital audio can help amplify the impact and effectiveness of brands' presence on other channels, too—for example, many people can relate to listening to music or a podcast as they are online shopping.

What's more, 63% of participants in our previous Sonic Science research said that Spotify is an important part of their daily routines.¹² And one in five look up a brand or product online after hearing about it on Spotify.¹³

— Sam Fermont
Category Development Officer, Tech & Telco, Spotify

Spotify can help provide the connection that tech advertisers need to meet people throughout the customer journey and power their purchasing decisions. Whether consumers are discovering new products in the “Dream" stage or learning more about their preferred brand in the “Use" stage, digital audio can keep them plugged in every step of the way.