iPod Creates Mac 'Halo Effect'

A report by Morgan Stanley analyst Rebecca Runkle has determined that Apple's iPod digital music player has inspired brand switching away from the PC to Macs. In her report, Runkle wrote that the conversation rate among owners of the iPod was approximately 20 percent with the possibility of gaining another 5 percent in the near future

This creates what is referred to as an iPod "halo effect" on purchase behavior. A survey that measured the attitude of iPod users versus a control group of non-users found that 43 percent would consider purchasing a Mac as their next computer compared with 15 percent in the control group.