Three in ten bothered by white goods? beeps

By Ken Y-N ( March 13, 2013 at 00:37) ? Filed under Hardware, Lifestyle, Polls

This is a curious topic for a survey, conducted by goo Research and reported on japan.internet.com, namely home appliance electronic sounds, the beeps and blips that many (most?) white goods make.

Demographics

Between the 25th and 27th of February 2013 1,094 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.6% of the sample were male, 13.7% in their teens, 15.7% in their twenties, 21.6% in their thirties, 17.0% in their forties, 14.6% in their fifties, and 17.4% aged sixty or older.

It?s been so long since I?ve been in the UK, but do western kitchen goods beep much? My microwave has a tone when it finishes, then three quick beeps every two minutes afterwards until you open the door. The rice cooker has an ugly beep when it cooks, the washing machine plays a few bars of Mozart on completion, and the bath plays a tune then announces ?The bath has been drawn!? once it fills itself.

Research results

First of all, 70.5% of the sample, or 771 people, said they had home appliances that beeped. Unfortunately, it is not noted how many did not, and how many did just not know.

Q1: Do you have home appliances that make an electronic sound when they start, finish, signal an error, etc? (Sample size=1,094)

Yes (to SQ1)	70.5%
No	17.6%
Don?t know	12.0%

Q1SQ1: How bothered are you by the electronic sounds from home appliances? (Sample size=771)

Very bothered (to SQ2)	4.7%
A little bothered (to SQ2)	25.6%
About average	26.7%
Not really bothered	31.4%
Not bothered at all	11.7%

When the 233 people who were bothered by beeps were asked what appliances annoyed them, top was microwave over with 35.2%, fridge/freezer with 29.2%, washing machine with 24.9%, bathtub water heater at 19.7%, rice cooker at 16.7%, and heaters and stoves, etc with 13.7%. Furthermore, the same 233 were asked what did not annoy them, and 46.8% said melodies or other musical sequences, 28.8% said all sounds annoyed them, and 27.9% said bird calls and other natural sounds.

Q1SQ2: Are electronic sounds necessary on home appliances? (Sample size=233)

Yes	82.8%
No	7.3%
Don?t know	9.9%

Read more on: beep,goo research,white goods

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WhatJapanThinks/~3/KTALrOCgGxA/

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