Frazzled Consumers Invest In Convenience

Consumers are stocking up on more items of convenience - like microwaves, VCRs, home computers and car phones - that help make their busy lives a little easier, The Conference Board said Tuesday.

Despite times of extreme weakness in the economy over the last six years, more Americans bought practical electronic goods during that period, the New York-based business-research group found in a nationwide survey of 5,000 homes.

Eighty-five percent of those surveyed had microwave ovens, compared with 75 percent in 1990. VCRs were found in 85 percent of the homes surveyed, up from 68 percent in 1990. Forty percent have at least two VCRs.

The percentage of families owning computers climbed to 40 percent, from 22 percent six years ago, and 27 percent own car phones, compared with 3 percent in 1990.