Berlin  - Energy consumption is increasingly a factor for consumers deciding on which computers, monitors, printers, and other high-tech products to buy.

The German Association of Information Sciences, Telecommunications, and New Media (BITKOM) in Berlin is touting a survey that claims 41 per cent of Germans regard energy characteristics as an important criterion for making purchasing decisions.

A total of 1,000 persons were polled for the study by the opinion research institute Forsa.

If true, this would mean that energy consumption carries almost as much weight as the device's performance (44 per cent). The most important criterion is user friendliness
(58 per cent), followed by service and guarantee (51 per cent), BITKOM reports. (dpa)