Rent-to-own News - Aaron's survey finds nearly half of Americans would choose computer or TV over bed

According to the results of a recent survey sponsored by Aaron's, Inc., a large percentage of Americans, 42 percent, responded that they would give up their bed before giving up their computer or television. While the majority, 58 percent, would still choose a good night's sleep over entertainment, the findings are indicative of Americans' growing dependency on home electronics as a household necessity.

In the online survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs, 1,006 adults ages 18 and older were asked, "Which would you give up last: Your bed, your computer or your TV?" Fifty-eight percent said they would give up their bed last, 28 percent said they would give up their computer last, while 14 percent chose their TV over a bed and a computer.

Across all age categories, the majority of respondents chose giving up their bed last, but of adults under 35 years old, 35 percent said they would choose their computer over their TV or bed. Among seniors aged 55 and over, 21 percent were least willing to part with their computer. Also partial to their computers were non-married men and women -- 34 percent of non-married people chose to give up their computer last, while only 23 percent of married men and women would do the same.

"While we hope that no one ever has to make this difficult choice, the reality is that many are struggling in these economic times to afford each of these basic household items," said Mark Rudnick, Aaron's Vice President of Marketing. "One might think that a computer and a TV isn't a necessity, but for children in school, access to computers is a must, and for the average household making under $50,000 a year, a TV is the major source of entertainment."

Aaron's conducted the survey this month as part of the Company's ongoing efforts to know and understand its customers and their preferences. According to Rudnick, this commitment to customer satisfaction has led to rapid growth for Aaron's in 2010. The Company is opening a new store approximately every 3.5 days on average and celebrated the opening of its 1,800th store this month. Aaron's offers customers the ability to own quality, brand-name furniture, electronics, appliances and computers through Aaron's lease ownership plan without the need for credit.

Ipsos Public Affairs conducted the online poll from November 12-16, 2010. For the survey, a national sample of 1,006 adults aged 18 and older from Ipsos' U.S. online panel were interviewed online.

Quota sampling and weighting were employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the actual U.S. adult population according to U.S. Census data and to provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. An unweighted probability sample of 1,006 respondents, with a 100 percent response rate, would have an estimated margin of error of +/-3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.