As more US adults choose cell phones over home phones, they are demonstrating unique attitudes and behaviors toward their cell phones, according to a study by Ingenio Inc., a mobile pay-per-call advertising provider.
These behaviors include feeling a personal connection toward their cell phones, adoption of mobile services other than just calling, a preference for text over e-mail, a movement from landlines to cell phones and openness to mobile advertising.
The study highlights that mobile advertising holds many opportunities for advertisers since mobile users are so connected to their phones.
Sixty-three percent of mobile-phone users agree that their phones are personal to them, and 44 percent believe their phones have strengthened their personal relationships.
Women are slightly more likely than men to say that their phones are personal to them (66 percent vs. 60 percent), and younger mobile phone owners are likely to feel their phones have strengthened their personal relationships (60 percent of those age 18-34 vs. 37 percent of those age 35 and older).
Slightly more women say they drop everything they’re doing when their mobile phone rings (39 percent of women vs. 33 percent of men). Men on the other hand are more likely than women to agree that their phones have made them too accessible (55 percent of men vs. 50 percent of women).
About half of mobile-phone owners use their phones for more than just making and receiving calls. In the next three years, 57 percent of mobile-phone owners expect to use their phones for more than just making and receiving phone calls.
Women were more likely than men (38 percent vs. 33 percent) to admit they use their phones to send or receive text messages and to take, send or receive photos (27 percent vs. 21 percent), the study found.
The study also found men are more likely than women (12 percent vs. 7 percent) to use their phones to check e-mail, access the Internet for something other than search and download (11 percent of men vs. 5 percent of women) and find information using an Internet search engine (9 percent men vs. 6 percent women).
Overall, consumers are choosing mobile phones over landlines. In fact, four out of five U.S. adults (85 percent) own a mobile phone, compared to about only seven in 10 who have a home phone.
The younger generation is more likely to have a cell phone over a landline. Among adults age 18-34, 89 percent own a mobile phone, while only 57 percent have a home phone.
