The Panasonic Digital Entertainment Study studied the digital entertainment consumption habits of more than 500 respondents from around Australia. The study took in a wide range of participants including different ages, genders, locations and socio-economic backgrounds.

The study found only 21% of the total weekly digital entertainment brought into the home was streamed, while 35% was captured for later viewing/listening and 30% was stored indefinitely.

Overall the average Australian respondent was consuming up to 7GB of digital entertainment weekly from a wide variety of sources including internet content, movies, music, gaming, eBooks, cable television and self-created content.

Currently 52% of respondents were downloading entertainment at least once per week (up from 41% last year) and this is predicted to rise to 59% next year.

Panasonic Australia AV group marketing manager Sophie Barton says the results were surprising.

“There is definitely a trend towards streaming-based entertainment but right now there is a strong preference for physical ownership of content,” Sophie says.

“In some categories it’s understandable, for example where the content is self-made – like a home movie – but it’s harder to explain in others. There does seem to be some connection between the substantiveness of the entertainment like longer movies or e-books, and preservation, however we would need to do further investigation in this area.”

Inversely, mobile devices such as smartphones were being used more often with 40% using their smartphone at least once a day to download entertainment. Apps accounted for the majority of content downloaded on smartphones with 67% of respondents downloading at least one app in the past week, followed by games at 39%, music 38% and YouTube clips 36%.

The top types of content that is frequently downloaded across devices include;

Photos are the most downloaded content at 78%.

This is followed by music and YouTube clips at 64% equal second.

TV shows was the third most downloaded entertainment at 60%.

Movies were the fourth most downloaded at 53%.

Barton said the constantly changing consumer behaviour would be challenging for manufacturers.

“The lines are increasingly being blurred by consumers as to where and how they want their digital entertainment, as well as what they do with it afterwards,” Sophie says.

“What’s clear is that this behaviour is being driven by the consumers not the manufacturers. We have to keep in touch with the market and be as responsive as we can with product design and functionality.”