How do you use your phone?

The sight of a man walking down the street with his ear glued to his cellphone, or a woman texting while on the bus has become a part of the backdrop of today’s constant communication.  Finding out how people invest time and money through phone usage can yield insights into how instantaneous updates can affect consumer habits and purchases. According to a recent study conducted on FGI Research’s SmartPanel™, 52% of respondents have increased the amount they access the internet through a mobile device in the past twelve months. So how does having internet access on a mobile device impact consumers’ time and spending habits?

Using the internet has become one of the easiest ways to find the services and products consumers want, which is no doubt why 69% of respondents are committed to using the internet on their personal computers just as much in the next twelve months as they do now. Nineteen percent of respondents expect to access the internet via personal computers even more in the coming months.  The continual use of the internet bleeds over into accessing the web on mobile devices.  Over half of respondents say they will continue connecting to the internet through mobile devices in the next twelve months just as much as they do now, while 31% believe they will increase their mobile device internet use.

Take a look around – nearly everyone you know owns a mobile device of some kind.  But which ones can access the internet, and who uses them? Our respondents favored two brands of Smartphones in particular, with 23% owning an iPhone, and 14% owning a Blackberry.  Other popular choices included Motorola, Samsung, and HTC among others. Surprisingly, Androids were not in the top three of most-used Smartphones.  The LG brand was the third most-used Smartphone identified in our research with 14% of respondents choosing that option.

When considering how people use phones, there’s a definite trend towards relying on Smartphones. Thirty-one percent of respondents only use a Smartphone as their form of communication, while 34% combine the use of Smartphones and a landline.  While the majority of Smartphone owners use a combination of phone options including landlines and cell phones, relying solely on Smartphones seems to be choice many people are willing to make. Of course, personal annual income makes a difference when people choose how they use phones.  Over 60% of respondents making $20,000-$29,999 only use Smartphones.  Concerning Smartphone owners making $100,000 or more a year, only 16% choose to use a combination of Smartphones, cell phones as well as a landline to communicate.

Insights about Access
How many people do you know who leave their Smartphones at home while they go about their day? How about none!  Given the nature of their functionality, people take their Smartphones wherever they go.  Convenience and ease-of-use are two major factors in determining what kind of activities people use their phones for.  Tapping into the growing number of Smartphone users is simply good business sense.  Despite the hours of time people invest on their Smartphones, a shocking 60% say they never use them to learn about products.   On the other hand, 59% of respondents spend an average of an hour or less dealing with personal email every day. That’s noteworthy majority of people who can potentially be attracted to new products and services through emails that offer relevant and money saving options.

Eyeing the bottom line
No matter what the size of your paycheck is, saving money is important to nearly everyone.  That’s why we took the time to find out where people find the coupons they use, as well as how they implement different methods of price comparison.

Seventy-nine percent of people still get their coupons from a newspaper, despite being inundated with advertising and special offers online.  Even though thirty-nine percent of respondents spend an hour or less on social media sites every day, research shows that consumers are skeptical of online advertisements.  Well-regarded online options, however, tend towards more personalized, well-branded sites. Sixty-three percent of respondents get their coupons from a store’s website, while 24% head to the store’s Facebook page to check out deals.

What’s interesting is that while respondents are clearly interested in saving money, directly comparing prices while in the store via the internet is something only eight percent of people are very likely to do. In fact, 23% of people say it would be very unlikely for them to use a mobile device to compare prices of products while in a store. It’s true that this might occur for a variety of reasons, but planning ahead is definitely one of them! Thirty percent of all respondents are likely to compare the prices of products on their personal computers before going to a store. Older generations of shoppers are also taking advantage of new technology, with 27% of respondents aged 34-54 being very likely to use the internet on their personal computers to make smart shopping choices like comparing product prices.

Actionable Insights
The widespread use of mobile devices with access to the internet gives buying power to a significant group of people. Whether it’s talking, texting, or browsing the web, people have constant access to their mobile devices and use them for a variety of purposes. The key is finding out how to increase their use of online resources concerning retail and product research.  Analyzing the buying power of consumers with Smartphones can enable companies to design online offerings specifically geared to fit their needs. Convenience in taking surveys, looking up deals and coupons, and following different companies online are all options you can offer your consumers.  More importantly, mobile devices with internet access offer people yet another way to explore the market and find the best products and services.

Mobile devices with internet access are the new frontier where companies can rapidly improve.  Looking ahead to even greater internet use both on personal computers and on mobile devices is vital, and companies need to learn how to incorporate this area of access into their business strategies.  Whether that means doing market research to learn what segments of consumers access information about you via the web, or simply improving how your internet resources look in terms of aesthetics and availability, learning how to connect with internet users is a great way to strengthen your relationship with your clients.

Next Steps You Can Take

• Contact FGI Research: click here or call us at (919) 929-7759

• Explore FGI Research’s market research solutions, including custom panels, full service research, and our online sample (SmartPanel™).

• Join FGI Research’s online panel to participate in future studies.

Survey Methods
Respondents: 191
Date of Survey: 5-27-11
Sample Source: FGI SmartPanel™

This nationally-representative sample consists of adults aged 18 and up and is balanced to the US population using recent census data. One can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.