QR codes still fighting to be seen and understood

Thanks to the guys at Creating Result for blogging about research done about QR codes.

A while back I blogged about QR codes and the surge of the little suckers that were appearing like confetti on printed advertising. At time I couldn't see the point of the things, however, over time I have been converted - well changed my mind a bit.

This research appears to show that a high number of US consumers lack any understanding as to what QR codes are or how they work. It would seem that 72% of consumers say they have seen a QR code, but nearly 30% do not know what it is. In addition, nearly one in five consumers who regularly use the internet via mobile phone do not know what a QR code is. Consumers age 18-24 have the highest rate of having seen a QR code (more than 75%), while those age 25-34 and 35-44 both have seen a QR code at a rate almost the same as the overall average. Interestingly, a slightly higher percentage of consumers age 55 and up report having seen a QR code than those 45-54.

I reckon that with in the UK the over-50s the awareness of what a QR code is, how and why to read it, is less than 1%. Pure guesswork but few of my friends, many of whom are tech savvy wouldn't have a clue what to do with them. Dick Stroud