Canadians And Their Photocopiers And Printers

Toronto, ONTARIO - According to an Ipsos-Reid/Hewlett Packard poll release today, 12% of the workforce who have a photocopier in the workplace have become so frustrated with it that they have kicked or hit the machine, with another 30% indicating that they have come close, but have decided not to go through with it. Further, the survey shows that when extrapolated over a year, the average distance that Canadian workers report walking back and forth to their photocopiers and printers is almost 40km.

The survey also talked to business decision makers in companies with more than 50 employees who are involved in the final decision about which products, services and suppliers to use for their company's photocopiers and printers. The survey identified that 44% of these businesses currently have a combined printing and photocoping unit, another 23% indicate they will implement combined printer - photocopier units in their company over the next 2 years, while 34% have no plans to do so.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Hewlett Packard poll conducted between January 22 and January 24, 2002 with the 1,000 randomly selected adults Canadians 18 and older; and between February 21st and March 5th, 2002 with 400 business decision makers. With a sample of this size, the results for the general public are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The results for the business decision-makers poll are considered accurate to within +5.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 1996 Census data.

12% have kicked machine and another 30% have come close . . .

Twelve percent of the Canadian work force have become so frustrated with the photocopier that they have actually kicked or hit it, with another 30% seriously wanting to do so. Fifty-eight percent say that they have not wanted to do either. The number of men (13%) and women (12%) who have kicked or hit the machine are virtually the same - it is the regions of the country that are more pronounced, with Alberta (17%), Atlantic Canada (15%), British Columbia (14%) and Ontario (13%) leading the way with lesser enthusiasts Quebec (10%) and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (6%) just behind. Those who are more affluent (14%) are more likely to have taken on the machine than those earning under $30,000 per year (8%). And those with post-secondary or a university education (13%) are more likely to have actually kicked or hit their machine, compared to those with a high school education (10%).

As for those who have come close but kept their powder dry (30%) Ontario (36%), Saskatchewan and Manitoba (35%), Alberta (34%), and British Columbia (32%) have all exercised significant restraint followed by Atlantic Canada (27%) and Quebec (17%). Those with a university (34%) or other post-secondary education (31%) are more likely to have held off their frustration than those with high school (23%) or less education (18%). Men (24%) have been less likely than women (36%) to have these dark thoughts.

All told, 37% of men have either kicked or hit a photocopier (13%) or wanted to (24%) out of frustration versus women (48%) who have wanted to kick or hit it (12%) or wanted to (36%).

So, who is least frustrated with their machines and have not or have not intended to cause damage to the machine? Quebec workers (72%), men (63%) and those earning less than $30,000 a year (69%).

Walking a Kilometre in their shoes . . .

The survey also tried to calculate the distance that workers had to go to a printer (average 27.6 feet) or a photocopier (average 64.9 feet). In a typical week workers indicated that they travelled more than 21 times (mean 21.3) to their printer while on average they travelled approximately 51 times (mean 50.8) in an average week to their photocopier.

When converted and extrapolated over a year, the average distance that Canadian workers report walking back and forth to their photocopier and printers was approximately 40 km.

Now, on to the business of printers and photocoping . . .

The survey also talked to a separate group of 400 final decision makers for companies with more than 50 employees (average 202 employees) about which products, services and supplier to use. The survey identified that 44% of these businesses currently have a combined printing and photocopying unit, another 23% indicate they will implement combined printer - photocopier units in their company over the next 2 years, while 34% have no plans to do so.

For those who plan to implement the combined units within the next 24 months, they have a word for the wise with respondents indicating that they agree strongly that . . .

• Printer-photocopiers must be designed for the network and manageable across the network. (78%)
• I expect a printer-copier environment to be more efficient for end-users than a traditional printer and photocopier environment. (68%)
• I expect cost and time-savings over traditional printer and photocopier environments from a printer-copier. (63%)
• Access to original equipment toner and supplies is important. (59%)
• Dedicated printer drivers should be installed for the printer-copier, they should be third-party utilities. (59%)
• I test every device that is attached to the network prior to device purchase. (51%)
• I consider potential costs due to device down time in my purchase decision. (47%)
• I value on-line remote device management functionality. (43%)
• Scanning functionality is important in a printer-copier. (30%)
• The amount of traffic on my company's network is too heavy for a printer-copier.(5%)

To view the complete release and tables, please download the attached PDF files.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
Chris Martyn
Senior Vice-President
Public Affairs
Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900