How People Use Cell Phones, a new study from
Knowledge Networks shows:
- Three in five (60%) mobile phone owners say they carry their phones at all
times, even inside the home -- up 50% since a 2002 KN analysis; - 32% say
they call friends or family "all the time" or "often" when making shopping
decisions, a figure that jumps to 45% among those ages 18 to 34. - When asked
an open-ended question about what they dislike about their cell phones,
respondents most often (15%) said, "Nothing."
Younger users want more features
Enthusiasm for a variety of mobile phone applications, such as watching
video or using GPS-type functions, is noticeably higher among younger
generations. KN found that 61% of "Gen Y" consumers, or "Millennials," say
"the more features the better" on a cell phone, compared with 27% of Boomers.
The study also shows that, among mobile phone owners:
- Members of Generation Y (ages 13 to 29) send an average of 20 text
messages daily, compared to just 2 for Generation X (30-43) and less than one
for Baby Boomers (44 to 64) - Teens are four times as likely to report having watched TV or video on
their phones as adults (8% versus 2%)
Other data from Knowledge Networks -- its MultiMedia Mentor media
planning resource, which includes single-source data on consumers' media
use -- affirms a connection between use of some advanced mobile phone features
and heavy use of other media. For example, consumers (ages 18 to 64) who use
cell phone video spend 27% more time per week with media (over 2 hours more
per day) compared to all mobile phone owners; this includes 60% more time on
the Internet, and almost triple the amount of time with videogames.
How People Use Cell Phones shows that monthly use of the Internet via
mobile phones is limited to 13% of all cell phone owners -- a small but
growing group that may be pointing the way toward the future.
The new HPU findings are produced as part of The Home Technology
Monitor, the definitive source of information on consumers' ownership and
use of new and established media technologies, from DVRs to iPhones. The
study consisted of
Iinterviews with 765 members (ages 13 to 64) of KnowledgePane, the
only online panel that represents the full U.S. population, and an in-depth ethnographic study of cellular phone use by consumers in
different households.
Selected benchmark trends versus a KN study of cellular phone use in 2002
are also included.