When Harris Interactive asks respondents about their likelihood to purchase these same technologies but includes current pricing information, percentages who say they are likely to purchase in the next year are somewhat lower. Likelihood to purchase a high-definition television set that costs between $1,500 and $5,000 is 19 percent while likelihood of purchasing a next generation DVD player that costs between $250 and $1,000 is 16 percent.

These are the results of a survey conducted online by Harris Interactive among a nationwide sample of 2,630 U.S. adults between March 8 and 14, 2005. A list of home electronic devices without price ranges was presented to 1,341 adults, while a list that included price ranges was presented to a separate group of 1,289 adults.

The differences between consumer responses before and after pricing information is disclosed illustrate the degree to which cost continues to inhibit the proliferation of HDTV and may threaten to inhibit the introduction of next-generation DVD players in the U.S. By comparison, the results show there is no significant difference between the percentages of American adults likely to buy a basic television set that costs between $100 and $500, a toaster that costs between $15 and $75, or TiVo or another digital video recorder that costs between $100 and $500, plus $20 per month and the percentages likely to buy when the prices of the devices are omitted.

Basic DVD players and VCRs, on the other hand, actually post higher levels of purchase interest when price ranges are included in the question. Only 19 percent of adults are interested in buying a basic DVD player, while a basic DVD player that costs between $40 and $150 has a net purchase interest of 25 percent. Likewise, 12 percent of adults say they are likely to buy a VCR in the next year, compared to 17 percent interested in buying a VCR that costs between $30 and $120.