The news: Despite inflation and higher electronics prices, consumer demand for personal technology remains resilient. More than half (51%) of US adults plan to buy an electronic device in the next three months, per CivicScience, with younger consumers and early adopters driving purchases.

• Smartphones, TVs, laptops, and tablets top purchase plans, with millennials leading demand for smartwatches, gaming hardware, and smart home devices.
• Gen Zers lead interest in desktop computer purchases, consistent with separate CivicScience data that shows a growing share of Gen Z adults play PC games.
• Social media is a large factor in purchase decisions, with 69% of consumers who will buy a tech device in the next three months saying it holds at least some influence.

Zooming out: Macroeconomic pressures are creating uncertainty across retail categories, while tech industry constraints like AI-driven chip shortages have led companies like Apple to drive up prices. Still, brands can rely on a sizable group of high-intent buyers who upgrade frequently and are highly influenced by social media.

Declared purchase interest and first-party behavioral data are becoming more valuable for reaching consumers who are still willing to spend on discretionary electronics. That suggests marketers should prioritize precision targeting over mass marketing as consumer electronics spending concentrates among early adopters.

Social media’s role as a primary purchase influencer also reinforces creator content and retail media as valuable discovery channels.

Recommendations for device marketers: Combine first-party data with creator-led social commerce to improve conversions and reduce reliance on broad awareness campaigns.

• Prioritize intent signals over demographic reach and identify consumers already in-market.
• Pair creator partnerships with shoppable content and retail media to shorten the path to purchase.
• Use AI-powered predictive audience modeling to improve targeting and media allocation among high-intent consumers.

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