Cell phone ownership among children has increased 68% in the past
five years, according to MRI's recently-released American Kids Study.
Twenty percent of U.S. children ages 6-11 currently own a cell phone,
up from 11.9% of children in 2005. The most dramatic increase has been
among 10-11 year olds (+80.5%).
Moreover,
in the past three years there has been a spurt in cell phone ownership
among boys. Cell ownership among boys increased 47.6% since 2007,
compared with a 17.2% increase among girls.
Cell Phone
Owners, Children
Age 6-11
(5-Year Trend)
--------------
Year %
---- ----
2005 11.9
---- ----
2009 20.0
==== ====
Increase 68.0%
Age Breakdown of
----------------
Children Cell Phone Owners
--------------------------
(5-Year Trend)
--------------
Year Age Age Age
---- 6-7 8-9 10-11
---- ---- ----
2005 4.9 10.6 20.0
---- ---- ---- ----
2009 6.5 17.7 36.1
==== ==== ==== ====
Increase 32.7% 67.0% 80.5%
======== ==== ==== ====
Gender Breakdown of
Children Cell Phone Owners
(3-Year Trend)
--------------
% %
Year Boys Girls
---- ---- -----
2007 12.4 18.6
---- ---- ----
2009 18.3 21.8
==== ==== ====
Increase 47.6% 17.2%
Source: MRI American Kids Study 2005, 2007, & 2009
What
are these cell-wielding children doing with their phones? Most use
their cells for basic communication tasks, such as calling their
parents (88.1%), calling friends (68.1%), emergency purposes (55.7%)
and text messaging (54.1%).
Top Cell Phone Activities for Children Age
6-11
------------------------------------------
Activity %
-------- ---
Call my parents 88.1
--------------- ----
Call friends 68.1
------------ ----
Emergency Purposes 55.7
------------------ ----
Text Messaging 54.1
-------------- ----
Play Games 49.0
---------- ----
Take Pictures 47.8
------------- ----
Listen to music 34.4
--------------- ----
Picture messaging 24.2
----------------- ----
Download ringtones 16.5
------------------ ----
Source: MRI American Kids Study 2009
------------------------------------
"This large increase in
cell phone ownership, particularly among boys, comes as more wireless
providers are targeting parents through feature-rich, kid friendly
phones such as Disney Mobile's LG Phone and the Firefly Communications
FlyPhone," said Anne Marie Kelly, SVP, Marketing & Strategic
Planning at MRI. "Preliminary data suggests that boys and girls may use
their phones differently. Girls are more apt to make calls and send
text messages while boys are more likely to instant message, access the
Internet and download games, music and video. It will be interesting to
explore these data over the next few years and see if this trend
continues."
The 2009
American Kids Study, with approximately 5,000 participants from
households included in the Survey of the American Consumer, uses an
innovative child-friendly questionnaire. In addition to surveying
children in the household, MRI asks primary caregivers to fill out a
separate questionnaire detailing the child's purchasing influence and
activities.
About MRI...
Founded
in 1979, MRI interviews approximately 26,000 U.S. adults in their homes
each year, asking about their use of media, their consumption of
products and their lifestyles and attitudes. Because these interviews
are structured as an area probability study, the results are
projectable to the entire U.S. adult population.
MRI
is the country's leading provider of magazine audience and multimedia
research data. The company releases data from its Survey of the
American Consumer (adults 18+) twice yearly, in the spring and fall.
MRI data have become the basic media-planning currency for the majority
of the media plans that are created each year by national advertisers
and their agencies.
MRI Starch, a leader in providing marketing intelligence on print advertising effectiveness, is a division of MRI.
MRI
is part of GfK Group AG, Nuremberg, Germany. The GfK Group is the No. 4
market research organization worldwide. Its activities cover the three
business sectors of Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media.
The Group has 115 companies covering more than 100 countries. Of a
total of approximately 10,000 employees, more than 80% are based
outside Germany.
For more information, please visit www.mediamark.com.