Commentary
Half of Smartphone Owners Say "It's My Life!"
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, June 7, 2011
As mobile technology continues to evolve, says the report, a majority of smartphone users are fully integrating their devices into every aspect of their daily lives. According to the survey 52.9% say they utilize all of the functions of their smartphones, 30.4% say they use the basic functions of their smartphones and 16.7% only use their smartphones for calling, texting and emailing
Smartphone Use by Respondents | |
Use of Smartphone | % of Respondents |
I use my smartphone for basic functions (call, text, email) | 16.7% |
I use my smartphone for basic functions and some applications (weather, GPS, social media) | 30.4% |
I use my smartphone for all the functions... it's my life. | 52.9% |
Source: Prosper Mobile Insights Smartphone Survey, May 2011 | |
With all the unique features of smartphones, texting, Internet, and email are the top functions smartphone users say they cannot live without. Calling features, GPS, and Facebook are also necessities to some.
The One Function Of Your Smartphone That You Cannot Live Without | |
Function | % of Respondents |
Texting | 21.6% |
15.7% | |
Internet | 16.7% |
Call | 7.8% |
5.9% | |
GPS | 6.9% |
Calendar | 1.0% |
Apps | 4.9% |
News | 2.0% |
Bluetooth | 2.0% |
Alarm | 1.0% |
Weather | 1.0% |
Social Media | 1.0% |
Games | 1.0% |
Other | 0.0% |
No Preference | 11.8% |
Total | 100.0% |
Source: Prosper Mobile Insights Smartphone Survey, May 2011 | |
With new technology, however, comes new concerns, and the top privacy issue among smartphone users is location tracking, followed closely by unauthorized access to personal information:
Top Privacy/Security Concerns Among Smartphone Users | |
Concern | % of Respondents |
Location being tracked | 35.3% |
Someone accessing personal information | 31.4% |
Someone accessing financial data | 21.6% |
Online behavior being tracked | 11.8% |
Source: Prosper Mobile Insights Smartphone Survey, May 2011 | |
Despite these concerns, 55.9% of smartphone users say they prefer using their smartphone to access the Internet over using a computer (35.3% prefer to use a computer while 8.8% aren't sure).
The vast majority of smartphone users say they use their smartphone to browse for products or services. Three quarters use their smartphone to locate stores or look for store hours. Reading reviews and researching specific products are also top smartphone activities, and half say they have made a purchase via their smartphone device:
Smartphone Shopping Behaviors | |
Behavior | % of Respondents |
Browsing or looking for a product/service | 81.4% |
Locating a store or store hours | 77.5% |
Reading customer reviews | 57.8% |
Researching specific products | 57.8% |
Receiving text messages with special offers | 53.9% |
Making a purchase | 50.0% |
Scanning a QR code | 34.3% |
Writing a customer review | 20.6% |
None of the above | 5.9% |
Source: Prosper Mobile Insights Smartphone Survey, May 2011 | |
Gary Drenik, President & CEO, Prosper Business Development, concludes that "... consumers are integrating mobile devices into all aspects of their daily lives... are more engaged with online content... are more influenced by digital advertising."
For additional information and access to the PDF chart file, please visit here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
This is a classic misreporting of a double-barreled question. Respondents to the survey did not have the opportunity to choose either or both of the statements "I use all the features" and "It's my life" which would have been two questions. Instead, the items were combined, preventing anyone from saying "Yes, I use all the features, but, no, it's not my life" thus choosing a nuanced response. So we get a misleading headline and over-reporting of users' affinity for cell phones. It makes me wonder about what else is wrong with the study.
I can see it now, instead of telling someone to "Get a life!" we can tell it like it is and say: "Get a smart phone!"
Is this a good thing?
Interesting given that we found only 21% of users connect their phones to their vehicles via Bluetooth (http://bit.ly/j3xlVU), suggests a high demand for better connectivity