• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, January 28, 2005

Style & Status Important to Male Cell Phone Users; Females Want Security

A recently completed IDC study confirms that mobile users perceive they derive one of the following sets of benefits from using mobile phones; safety and security, productivity and convenience, or style and status. Thus, while some people relish the increased productivity and convenience of having a mobile phone, others are merely satisfied with their heightened sense of safety and security when carrying these devices.

Fortunately for mobile phone vendors and wireless service providers offering emerging value-added feature sets and services, a full constituency of mobile users thrive on the style and status associated with owning the latest full-featured phones.

The study also reveals a number of other corollaries about mobile phone users' perceptions about their phones, such as:

• Overall, productivity and convenience benefits are paramount to more users compared to other fundamental benefits, such as safety and security or style and status.
• Style- and status-conscious mobile phone users are more numerous than other types of users. Overall, style and status seekers want the latest devices with new features and services.
• Safety and security seekers are more typically price-conscious users who prefer easy-to-use phones with few enhancements.
• Males, more than females, rate style and status as important mobile phone benefits while females regard safety and security as more valuable.

Dana Thorat, senior research analyst in IDC's Mobile User program, says "To capitalize on market voids, mobile phone vendors and wireless service providers must sustain technological innovations and creative marketing programs."

You can find out more here.