Wirefly released the results of its
recently completed behavioral survey on consumer text messaging.
Compiled through a survey of thousands of U.S.-based cell phone users
(survey details below), the Wirefly.com research confirmed the rapid
growth in text messaging usage, with 36% of respondents classifying
themselves as heavy users - sending anywhere
from one a day to hundreds per month. An additional 29% send fewer than
25 text messages a month, and the other 35% saying they never take
advantage of text messaging capabilities.
Within the top-third heavy user category, the majority of respondents
said that they send more than 100 text messages a month:
- 37% sent between 25-100 text messages a month;
- 23% sent 101-250;
- 20% sent 251-500; and,
- 20% sent more than 500.
The Wirefly.com survey shows that the growth of text messaging continues
to be fueled by personal and non-professional uses. Of the 65% of
customers who do send text messages, a huge majority use them only to
contact friends, spouses or significant others. Just 8% of text message
users report sending a 'text'
to a co-worker or for professional reasons.
According to the survey, Wirefly.com discovered that texting takes place
only within a small social circle:
- 48% - send messages to just 2-5 people;
- 21% - expand that pool to 6-10; and,
- 20% - spread their messages around to more than 10 recipients.
“It certainly appears as though our customers overwhelmingly use text
messages to convey personal messages to a relatively intimate group of
close friends,” said Scott Ableman, Wirefly’s Senior Vice President of
Marketing. “While we did find a small subset who send a tremendous
number of texts to large groups of people, the typical user clearly
restricts texting to a manageable group of close friends or family
members.”
In addition and perhaps most interesting, the Wirefly.com data seems to
refute the wide-spread notion that text messaging is generally a medium
for brief, choppy communication. A full 35% of those who do send text
messages reported a typical message length of “several sentences.” This
option beat out “one word” (4%), “several words” (33%), and “one
sentence” (28%).
Motives for text messaging range from simply “responding to a received
message” (59%), to “as a substitute for a phone call” (49%) or “a quick
hello” (48%). And nearly a fifth of all text messagers (17%) claimed to
have flirted via text or for romantic purposes.
Finally, the primary reason for choosing to send a text message rather
than placing a call highlights the flexibility and convenience of
texting:
-
52% - text instead of calling when “the situation makes talking on the
phone difficult”; - 23% - involved “lack of time” for a call;
- 15% - simply “prefer text messaging to talking”; and,
- 10% - attempting to avoid speaking with a specific person.
“The one result that did raise eyebrows involved ‘breaking up with a
boyfriend, girlfriend or romantic involvement via text message,’” said
Ableman. “We’re glad that 96% of our survey respondents report not
having done so, but we were all intrigued, amused and concerned that 1
in every 25 respondents say they have.”
About the Survey
The recently completed U.S.-based online survey was conducted from an
opt-in pool of customers who had purchased new wireless phones and new
service plans from Wirefly.com. The sample of 2,377 respondents was 55%
female and 45% male. 36% of respondents were between the ages of 31-44,
34% were 45 and above, 17% were between the ages of 25-30, and 13% were
18-24. The margin of error was 2 percentage points at a 95% confidence
level.