Formerly the Consumer Electronics Association, CTA's study, Consumers Journey to Purchase: Health and Fitness, found that consumer purchase intent in the health and fitness technology category is highest for smart watches, followed by fitness-related apps (30 percent), dedicated wearable fitness activity trackers (27 percent), smart apparel (27 percent) and devices that track sleep patterns (23 percent).

Led by the popularity of activity tracking devices, CTA’s U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts projects sales of health and fitness devices will reach $1.8bn in revenue in 2015 (an 18 percent growth year-over-year), before increasing another 10 percent in 2016. Among online U.S. adults, consumer’s reported their top reason for buying a health and fitness device was to improve their health, followed by a recommendation from a friend, good reviews and having the right features for their lifestyle.

“The Consumer Technology Association’s qualitative and quantitative research distinctly shows health and fitness devices help consumers feel they’re more successful in setting personal fitness and health goals and tracking progress, and that their lives are improved by these devices,” said Steve Koenig, senior director of market research, CTA. “Consumers’ planned purchases within this emerging category are emblematic of robust segmentation, as the industry strives to address multiple needs of ‘the quantified self.’”

Source: CTA