MRI data reveal differences between Google Home, Amazon Echo households

With its just-released Product Data, GfK MRI began measuring ownership of top-selling digital home assistants, including Google Home and Amazon Echo. Enriching this data with MRI’s unmatched attitudinal and behavioral database, we found that average Home and Echo households sometimes have very different profiles.

The two DHAs both attract users who consider themselves early tech adopters. Almost half (45%) of Google Home households report that they are “among the first to try” new gadgets and services; Amazon homes are just slightly lower, at 43% -- with the national average being 30%.

But people living in Google Home households are younger overall than those in Echo homes, with a median age of 37 (versus Echo’s 43). They are also more self-conscious, with half (51%) saying they “like to live a lifestyle that impresses others”; people in Echo homes scored just 36% on the same question.

We also found that people in Google Home households see themselves as tech experts and advisors; 57% say they give others advice on tech purchases (versus 48% for Amazon).

Echo homes, on the other hand, are much more likely to have high-end jobs. People who live in Echo homes are more likely to be employed in a professional or managerial occupation (40%, versus 25% for Google Home.) They also are more likely to say that they will pay higher prices for top-quality electronics (72% Amazon versus 58% Google).

In addition, Echo households seem more drawn to practical digital applications, like online banking. Eight in ten (81%) say they would be happy to carry out day-to-day banking transactions online, compared to 70% for Google Home.

How people in Google Home vs. Amazon Echo HHs see themselves