Mobile phones have become an essential part of everyday life with nine in ten U.S. adults today using at least one mobile device and 35 percent of mobile phone users now paying $100 a month or more for service. Experian Simmons provides marketers with the much needed insight into the rapidly evolving behaviors and attitudes of mobile consumers with the release of the Mobile Consumer segmentation solution and three new mobile psychographic scales. These new systems are available now with the release of the Fall 2009 National Consumer Study/National Hispanic Consumer Study.
This week’s Consumer Insights report examines American consumers’ usage of mobile phones including an in-depth analysis of the behaviors and attitudes of the five Mobile Consumer segments and three psychographic scales. This report also leverages Experian Simmons DataStreamSM to illustrate ways to track weekly consumer trends and Experian Micromarketer Generation3 to geo-target mobile consumers.
Fully 87% of all American adults now have mobile phones up from 69% in 2006, an increase of 26%. Adults under 50 are the most likely to be mobile users with 93% owning a mobile phone today. But even a vast majority (78%) of adults over 60 are now mobile.
The most popular mobile function today—aside from talking—is taking pictures, which 70% of mobile phone owners do each month. Email is also common with 31% of mobile phone owners checking personal email on their phone and 21% checking work email. Nearly a third also go online from their phone allowing them to do things like check their Facebook status, download apps and watch videos. As smartphones and “super” phones find their way into more consumers’ hands, activities like these are certain to gain even greater traction.
When it comes to using mobile phones, fully half of cell phone users simultaneously engage with some other medium while on their mobile. TV is the most common media distraction with 21% of mobile phone owners watching TV while using the phone.
Through an extensive evaluation of the National Consumer Survey measures targeting the behaviors and attitudes that consumers have toward mobile phones, Experian Simmons uncovered five distinct segments of mobile consumers and three psychographic scales. Descriptions of the five segment now available are below.
- Mobirati: (19% of mobile phone owners) They represent the mobile generation having grown up with cell phones and can not imagine life without them. Cell phone devices are a central part of their everyday lives.
- Social Connectors: (22% of mobile phone owners) For them communication is central in their lives and cell phones allow them to keep up to date with friends and social events. The mobile device is the bridge to their social world.
- Pragmatic Adopters: (22% of mobile phone owners) Cell phones came to being during their adult years. They are now learning that there are other things they can do with mobile phones beyond just saying “Hello.” Cell phones are more a part of their everyday life than ever before, but still more functional than entertaining to them.
- Mobile Professionals: (17% of mobile phone owners) Mobile phones help them keep up with their professional life in addition to their personal life. More likely to own a smart phone. Their phone has become their all-in-one device for all communication and information needs. Features are important and used.
- Basic Planners: (20% of mobile phone owners) They are not into cell phones or the world of technology. Use cell phones just for the basics. The cell phone is just another communication device for these consumers.
For more information about the Mobile Consumer segmentation click here.
To better understand the mindset of the Mobile Consumer segments, we'll examine the top indexing statements related to mobile phones for each segment. Index to all mobile phone owners is shown in parenthesis after the statement.
The typical mobile phone brands, plan types, services subscribed to and the amount of last month's mobile phone bill are shown in the chart below for each of the five Mobile Consumer segments.
In our extensive evaluation of the National Consumer Study measures targeting the behaviors and attitudes that consumers have toward mobile phones, Experian Simmons also revealed three psychographic scales measuring mobile consumers mindset on the following issues:
- Switching Propensity: This factor measures mobile consumers’ willingness to switch service providers for a variety of reasons including improved quality, plan selection or technology.
- Feature Focus: This factor measures the propensity of mobile consumers to place value on mobile features and technology versus traditional calling features.
- Traditional Use: Mobile consumers who score above average on this scale would prefer to use a landline phone over their mobile and also lean toward having only a basic calling plan.
For more information about the Mobile Consumer segmentation click here.
Examining the Switching Propensity psychographic scale developed by Experian Simmons, we find that the Mobile Consumer segment Pragmatic Adopters switch service providers more than all other groups. They switched to their current provider for a better plan, but if the quality of service is disappointing, they will switch to a new provider as soon as they can.
Users can also examine the Switching Propensity scale by the service provider currently used. Boost Mobile, Alltel and Sprint Nextel users are more prone to switching service providers while Tracfone and Virgin Mobile users are unlikely to switch.
Examining the Traditional Use psychographic scale by service provider currently used, Tracfone and Virgin Mobile users score above average for attitudes that include preferring to use a landline phone over mobile and subscribing to only a basic calling plan.
Boost Mobile, T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel users index above average on the Feature Focus psychographic scale indicating they value other features on their phones over the traditional calling features.
Experian Simmons DataStream provides nationally-representative updates of approximately 40,000 elements of consumer behavior and attitude every week allowing users to track market share of the leading mobile service providers week-by-week.
Experian Simmons DataStream also shows impact of real world events such as the release of the iPhone 3GS in June 2008 which resulted in a clear increase in the share of AT&T customers spending $100-$299 per month on their phone bill.
Using Experian’s Micromarketer Generation3 (MMG3), a sophisticated geographical analysis tool, we are able to locate U.S. ZIP codes in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-area with high concentrations of Social Connectors, for whom mobile phones are the bridge to friends and family.
Experian MMG3 also provides a list of the top ZIP codes for high concentrations of Mobile Social Connectors including the total adult population and the number of Social Connectors in each ZIP code (EMS Count).
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