A multi-country study, released today by Lightspeed Research, an online market research company, is said to show the increasingly prominent role mobile phones are taking in our lives. According to Lightspeed, with ownership of mobile phones so high and so many different functions now available, it is increasingly important to understand how people are using their mobile phones and what future opportunities there might be for new applications.
Of the four countries surveyed (the UK, France, Germany and the US) it was Americans (49%) and Britons (30%) who were most likely to agree that their mobile phone was now an essential part of their daily life and they'd be lost without it. Almost half of people in Britain (46%) stated they carried their phones with them most of the time – with the 55-64 year olds most likely to do so.
Younger respondents (18-34) who were more likely to feel their mobile was an essential part of their daily life and they would be "lost without it". And underlining this finding is the fact that two thirds (67%) of Brits leave their mobiles on at night – and only 14% of those switch it to silent.
An interesting result in the survey is that in some markets there are users who never make phone calls from their mobile. In the UK 11% of respondents never make calls; that figure is higher in the US at 13%. 33% of UK and 18% of US respondents make no more than two calls a week. Texting is hugely popular in the UK with half (49%) sending at least one SMS per day and 2% sending a picture or video message (MMS) daily. Women like to send more text messages than men – with 56% compared to 42% sending at least one text per day; men make more daily voice calls – 41% compared to 32% of women.
Mobile phones have evolved with new features such as cameras, games, internet access and music now commonplace on basic handsets whilst smart phones offer even more sophisticated applications such as video. Whilst some people may feel these are unnecessary add-ons, the results show that in fact these functions are becoming increasingly popular. In the UK the most popular daily function is browsing the web at 9%, whilst on a weekly basis it's taking photos (38% of respondents), followed jointly by browsing the web and playing games (22%) and sending a photo or video (18%).
Respondents were also asked about a number of new functions that they might like on their phone. In all countries a satellite navigation system was the top choice, with 49% of French, 44% of German, 43% of British and 38% of American respondents choosing that option. Being able to locate friends, family and children in real time through GPS functionality was the second preference in all markets except for Germany, where concerns over privacy prevailed. However it seems that the Japanese system of using the mobile phone handset to pay for public transport (like an Oyster card) isn't a popular option – this failed to generate interest everywhere except Germany. Amongst the reasons given for rejecting this function included worries about making the phone a target for theft, concerns about cost, and fears of giving too much data to the phone company.
Commenting on the results, David Day, CEO of Lightspeed Research said: "There is no question that the mobile phone is an important tool for daily life for many of the people we surveyed, and that many people use the additional phone applications such as photos, video, music and the internet. However when we look at take up of some of the current functions, as well as those we may have in the future, consumers do express some concerns. There is real fear around data security and the increased risk of theft and this is something the industry as a whole will need to address to encourage consumers to try new functionality such as mobile commerce."