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USERS YEARN FOR A
MOBILE WEB, BUT ADVERTISING INVADES PERSONAL SPACE
Lancaster, June 28th 2002 –
Mobile phone users in the UK are prepared to ditch
their handsets annually in search of greater functionality
and true web access according to the findings
of a new report by the international research
and consultancy firm, Teleconomy.
Yet the report, Consumers and the Mobile
Web – Challenges, Opportunities and
Change in Mobile Media Usage and Consumer Perceptions
– found that untargeted advertising was regarded
as an invasion of personal space and extremely
intrusive.
“Our research found that the mobile phone
represents a very private device” commented
Sue Peters, Principal Consultant at Teleconomy,
“and works on a number of levels, empowering
the user and radically altering both their behaviour
and use of different mediums.
Based on over 500 interviews the research sought
to discover current mobile user behaviour and
how the mobile is changing consumer attitudes
to other devices.
In what is a warning to mobile focused marketers,
the report found that the privacy associated with
the mobile phone meant that only a limited number
of companies will be privileged enough to share
the consumers’ own space. Consequently, the
report suggests the importance of this space in
developing long-term customer relationships cannot
be underestimated and only a few brands will win.
Disappointment with mobile Internet capabilities
suggests that consumers are yearning for a much
higher level of services and contributes to the
high churn in handsets each year, which are also
regarded as disposable items because of the rate
of theft.
The report also revealed
that mobile is an important factor in reaffirming
or redefining people’s identities, particularly
teenagers, a key target market for mobile companies.
Indeed, the future role of the PC is questionable
amongst particular groups. The research indicates
that in the age group 18 to 25, home computer
use was typically regarded as being outside their
normal range of behaviours, preferring to use
other mediums to pick up information. SMS messaging,
for example, proved popular partly because it
was quicker and easier than booting up a PC
The report is available from Teleconomy at
price £1295.00 (hard copy) and £1495.00 (CDRom
or pdf) contact enquiry@teleconomy.com
Editors
For further information please contact enquiry@teleconomy.com
Teleconomy Group Plc
Research House
Caton Road
Lancaster
LA1 3PE
Tel: 01524 382000
Teleconomy seek to understand and comment
on organisational and consumer behaviours. Central
to our approach is the understanding of evolving
behaviours to inform future-oriented forecasting.
Teleconomy employ a multi-disciplinary approach
to our research, interpretations and consultancy.
This approach combines insights and theory from
academic fields including sociology, anthropology,
psychology, management science, business research,
literary theory and philosophy with empirical
data collection/studies and practical understandings
of the commercial issues and challenges facing
organisations.
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