The demo mode is a feature often found in consumer electronics

Consumer electronics

Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...

. A demo mode is usually programmed into the unit's firmware, and is often accessed by the pressing of a combination of keys. Demo mode is usually activated by retail stores on their consumer electronics floor model

Floor model

A floor model is a piece of equipment placed in a retail shop'ssales area for display purposes. Floor models are taken out of their packaging, and plugged in to an electric outlet, cable or satellite television feed, or local area network--especially when the floor model is demonstrating an item...

s. The purpose of a demo mode is twofold:

• It demonstrates the features of the unit in question
• It catches the eye of the consumer with a flashy show of lights, entertaining sound, or both.

The central idea behind a demo mode is in-store advertising.