"The telecommuting innovation opportunity" by Jacques Chevron and
Margaret Primeau, PhD, in the Journal
of Consumer Marketing vol.13 iss.4
"Ice is civilization!" claimed the hero of Paul Theroux's "Mosquito Coast." Indeed, philosophers have argued that "the most significant invention in modern civilization is the control of cold."1 Their point was that only by learning to control cold was man able to preserve food long enough so that it could be transported far away from the production area, yet keep good taste and nutritional value. This made it possible to build large cities where people could congregate to work on things other than feeding themselves. Cold-control made farming a profession rather than the required way of life. In short, cold-control disrupted the equilibrium of agrarian society. It destroyed some jobs, and created others.
Now, imagine for a minute that you had had, at that time, a wonderful insight into the profound changes that would result from cold-control and that you had been looking for new product opportunities. You could have used the new technology to solve some problems, like food conservation or excessive air temperature and you could have been Clarence Birdseye2 or Willis Haviland Carrier.3 Or you could have looked for the new problems resulting from use of the technology, and invented ways to resolve them like the elevator. Your name could have been Elisha Graves Otis.
4 The insight of hindsight allows us to clearly see the problems that the new technology resolved or created, and the great opportunities that resulted for the savvy inventor. The question for today is: What is the next invention that will disrupt the balance of society and create opportunities for those who can find ways to resolve the problems it will cause?
This new revolution could well be here in the form of the "Transmission of Digitized Information." It is what enables us to send a text, a picture, a sound or an entire symphony over any distance, to one or to millions of recipients, all in a relatively short period of time. This invention affects the majority of today's workers. According to the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, 73.3 million of the 129 million civilians in the workforce are in information jobs, slightly more than 55% of all jobs.5 As electronic information exchange increases, and workers are no longer subject to the imperative of congregating in order to work effectively, the face of society will no doubt change. The face of our cities will change too! Skyscrapers are losing their reason for being. As a consultant puts it: "[Digitized information is] a solvent that decomposes building types."6
To a New Product Development professional,7 these issues are tantalizing. A standard approach to new product development is to first uncover existing consumer problems before thinking of creative ways to resolve them. In this case, we are faced with the daunting task of anticipating the problems that the use of Transmission of Digitized Information technologies will create.
The survey reported in this article is an attempt to gain some understanding of the human behaviors and attitudes associated with the adoption of the Transmission of Digitized Information technologies. We also make a modest attempt at identifying some of the problem areas for its users and for those who are currently catering to their needs. One of the difficulties in evaluating how a new technology affects behavior comes from the fact that behavior takes some time to change. By the time the behavior changes become apparent, the technology is old news. To overcome this difficulty, we surveyed early adopters of the technology. The survey was conducted on the Internet between August and November, 1995, by recruiting for Telecommuters and non-Telecommuters on several mailing lists addressing topics such as Telecommuting,8 Marketing,9 and other lists with a professional bent. These lists require that a person subscribe to the list to be allowed to read the postings and answer them. We felt that this would guarantee that all the people in our sample had a minimum of experience with computer communication to begin with. We screened out respondents with less than full time employment.
We
also divided the sample between Telecommuters10
and Non- Telecommuters. Note that our definition of "Telecommuter"
is broader than the usual definition in that it includes not only those
who are telecommuting while working for a company, but those who are self
employed, providing that they do the majority of their work and co-worker
interaction over telephone lines. Our assumption was that the increased
isolation of the Telecommuter would be associated with different behavior.
We were also interested in comparing some of the basic work habits of these
two kinds of electronically savvy workers.
Telecommuters are a very experienced group of professionals but the telecommuting experience still is new to them: While this conclusion seems to be common sense, we were surprised at the figures: Our Telecommuters averaged 17 years of work experience compared to 11 1/2 years for the office workers. They have telecommuted an average of 4 years, probably as a result of the relatively new technology.
They work long hours, but take long breaks. Their work day starts around 8:15 am, only 6 minutes earlier than that of the office worker. It ends 11 hours later at 7:15pm, a full 20 minutes after the Non-telecommuter. During the workday, however, the Telecommuter is able to take longer breaks totaling 2 hours and 20 minutes, while his office-working counterpart takes only 1 hour and 15 minutes in breaks.
A lot of the Telecommuter's work is done on the computer:
They report working about 7 1/2 hours each work day with their computer
(vs. approximately 6 1/4 hours for their office working counterparts).
Telecommuters work out of their homes and are likely to have a family member nearby: 87% telecommute from home though 47% have access to an office. 62% say that there is another person nearby, who is not a co-worker.
Telecommuters have pets, mostly cats. (Table 1) While pet ownership in our total sample was 62.7%, and similar to the US average (63%), Telecommuters are more likely to own cats than average (47% incidence vs. 30% in our non-telecommuting sample and 25.5% US average in cat ownership) and to own larger numbers of cats than do office workers (2.7 cats vs. 1.8 cats). Table 1
| Own any pets | Cats | Cats | Dogs | Dogs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (%) | Penetration (%) | # of cats | Penetration (%) | # of dogs | |
| US Average | 63% | 26% | N.A. | 38% | N.A. |
| Telecommuters | 69 | 47 | 2.7 | 36 | 1.6 |
| Non-Telecommuters | 53 | 30 | 1.8 | 27 | 1.3 |
Telecommuters have the same number of phone or electronic contacts
during the workday as their non-telecommuting counterparts have, but
have a significantly lower number of in-person contacts. (Table 2) Telecommuters
interact face- to-face with only 5 persons per day, compared to the electronically
wired office worker's 14 daily in-person interactions.
Table 2:
| Telephone | Electronic | In-person | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telecommuter | 10 | 16 | 5 |
| Non-telecommuter | 10 | 14 | 14 |
Both telecommuters and non-telecommuters have similar activities during
the average month with the notable exception of the telecommuter's frequent
absences from his place of work during the day. (Table 3) Table 3
The analysis of attitudinal statements (Table 4) indicates that: -
In fact, the lack of social interaction was the most frequently mentioned reason why they'd prefer not-to telecommute ("Every once in a while, I have a lonely day.") . Many respondents regretted the loss of the office co-worker social interaction. As one complains: "Less social life (mine was based on people at work)". They do not, however, express the desire to have more frequent social contacts (see Table 4). This could reflect a frustration related not to the number of contacts (which is very similar to that of office workers) but to their quality. Many respondents complained about the absence of body language, and one even philosophized that "Man is a social animal." In addition, we should keep in mind that Telecommuters do take many breaks during which that are likely to "bump into people." These contacts, while frequent, may not be of the quality which relieves loneliness. -
Telecommuters and early adopters of the "information-age" technology have very similar wishes about the tasks they want to do in person and those they would prefer to do on- line. (Table 5)
Making travel reservations, banking, and ordering a video are three areas which could readily be done on-line as far as everyone is concerned. Several respondents are already able to bank and do travel reservations on-line.
Buying groceries is still something that is moderately preferred as an in-person activity. Interestingly, full time telecommuters prefer to shop for groceries in-person, more so than office workers. This finding is consistent with that already discussed in Table 4. Note that several respondents already have access to an on-line grocery shopping service.
Having a conversation is seen more as an in-person activity particularly by non-telecommuters. (Let's keep in mind that the respondents were all recruited on the Internet lists where such `on-line conversations' are the norm.)
Of the other `in-person' activities, the low interest in on-line car shopping is a surprise. We were expecting that more respondents would have opted to forego the stressful process of buying a car in person.
Table
5 
1. The "Information Highway" creates immediate opportunities for several categories of businesses where the technology gives an immediate advantage to its user. The easiest to identify are:
The travel industry as a whole, and not just airlines which have for many years given access to their online reservation systems (e.g. SABRE), should further survey the "wired" community to understand how to design a new, user-friendly and low-cost way to make travel reservations. There is an opportunity for setting industry standards in this area.
Some large Banks and Financial Institutions already allow banking by computer. First Chicago Bank, for instance allows its clients to review their account online, transfer money to a savings account, pay bills, etc. Medium sized and smaller banks do not offer these services. Yet they must!
2. The Groceries Retail Trade also seems to be affected by the advent of on-line shopping. The conversations we witnessed on this subject were very polarized. Some respondents were totally sold on the concept, and used it already. Others had no interest or would reject it outright. The enthusiasm of the "adopters" impressed us, though. We think that on-line grocery shopping will likely become a significant factor fueled by the growth in two income families and the aging of the population.
3. Retail may find new opportunities if it learns to address new social needs: The most obvious is the need created by the "loneliness effect" from having fewer in- person contacts or interactions during the work day. This may be the "hook" which will help retail remain in business in the face of competition from computer-based services. Retail must learn to satisfy more of the socialization cravings of its clientele. A model similar to the "Souk" may be part of the solution. A souk is an Arab market. It is usually composed of a maze of small and narrow pedestrian alleyways. One goes to the souk not just to purchase goods, but for the pleasure of a conversation, to learn the latest gossip of the town.
A store with a merchandising style close to what we have in mind is Manhattan's Bloomingdale's. Rather than being organized in a logical manner, the store is a maze with similar goods located in various parts of the store. New York's Bloomingdale's shoppers often display some pride about knowing where to find what in the store's maze. We feel that this pride is close to a "sense of belonging" and that the store's merchandising style satisfies a deep socializing need.
11 Some retailers already are successful at combining selling with an opportunity to socialize. Some combination bookstores/coffee shops or Laundromat/pizza parlor have capitalized on the opportunity.
4. Telecommuters have more flexible days than office workers. This means that they have time during the day for activities that office workers do only off-hours. This may create opportunities for expanding service hours or for promotions that aim at increasing traffic during off-peak hours, providing that the services in question remain consistent with the Telecommuter's strong yearning for efficiency.
5. Telecommuters are more typically pet owners than people with regular office jobs. This could be an excellent opportunity for a series of on-line stores or service providers which would cater to the needs of cats and dogs and of their telecommuting owners. If nothing else, the opportunity is one of communication: we know how and where to reach these pet owners efficiently. We can communicate with them at very low cost, take orders, hear their complaints, and do the interactive marketing of which many speak, but few have experienced.
The above survey unveils the tip of a very large iceberg that is on a collision course with our status quo. Change creates opportunities, particularly for those individuals or companies who are able to anticipate the problems that change brings, and who can devise solutions which address them.
Are you one of those individuals?
Jacques Chevron, Margaret Primeau, PhD. Chicago, 1/30/96
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1 The ice-making machine was invented in 1830 by Jacob Perkins (Return to text)
2 Invented quick frozen food in 1925 ( Return to text)
3 Invented the air conditioner in 1911 (Return
to text)
4 Invented the modern elevator in 1852 (Return
to text)
5 Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, July 15, 1994. Report:
Saving Energy in U.S. Transportation. (Return
to text)
6 David Birch as reported in the Chicago Tribune 11/26/1995 "Back
Down to Earth." (Return to
text)
7 The primary author is a management consultant based in La Grange, Illinois.
(Return to text)
8 Telecommuter List: -- REMOTE WORK -- This lists specializes in telecommuting
issues. Send email to: remote-work-request@unify.com (Return
to text)
9 Marketing lists:
-- GINLIST -- GINLIST stands for Global Interact Network mailing LIST and focuses on discussion of international business and marketing issues. The list owner is Tunga Kiyak (ciber@ibm.msu.edu). Send email to: listserv@msu.edu
-- GLOBMKT -- This list is for global marketing issues. The list owners are Doug Tvedt (aecarm@ukcc.uky.edu) and Bob Crovo (crovo@ukcc.uky.edu). Send email to: listserv@ukcc.uky.edu
-- MARKET-L -- A very active list for general marketing discussions (It generates close to 100 messages every day!) The list owner is Charlie Hofacker (chofack@nsns.com). Send email to: listproc@mailer.fsu.edu
-- NEWPROD -- This list discusses the new product development process for both products and services. The list owner is Bob Klein (vocalyst@world.std.com). Send email to: majordomo@world.std.com
-- PRODUCT_DEV -- The Product_Dev list is for discussing new product development. The list owner is Gene Wright (wright@picard.msoe.edu). Send email to: product_dev-request@msoe.edu
-- MT-L -- This list may not be operating as of this writing: Listserv@ uhccvm.uhcc.hawaii.edu
For a list marketing oriented discussion lists of commands you may also
consult the Market-L FAQ, available at: http://nsns.com/MouseTracks/Market-L.html
(Return to text)
10 Telecommuters are defined as: "A person whose full-time work and
co-worker interaction is done mostly via electronic means of communication
(Telephone, computer/modem)." Non-Telecommuters were all other respondents
with a full time employment. (Return
to text)
11 For a more detailed description of "Souk" marketing, please
contact Jacques Chevron
Mail: Please click here for our e-mail and snail-mail addresses (Return to text)