The Great British public is all hung up

Citation

(2000), "The Great British public is all hung up", Work Study, Vol. 49 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2000.07949eaf.002

The Great British public is all hung up

Keywords Mobile communications, Telecommunications, Customer surveys

A survey carried out by Philips Consumer Communications has established that the British consider the mobile phone a necessity not a luxury.

PCC, a leading company in pre-pay mobile phone technology with one of the UK's best selling handsets, asked customers across all regions of the UK their opinions on current issues and developments for mobile phones and what their expectations and needs are for the future.

The survey covered everything from serious to anecdotal issues, from why people buy a mobile phone to the most embarrassing place they have used it. The results have been analysed independently both demographically and geographically.

Perhaps surprisingly, in this age of high technology, the most important qualities that a consumer looks for when buying a phone remain very simple: quality of reception and price were vital to nearly 40 per cent of the population.

Almost half of all phones (44 per cent) are purchased for safety or use in an emergency situation like breaking down. This is more important for females (61 per cent) and the over 65 year age group (over 70 per cent). Parents are also buying phones for their children for security reasons with over 3,000 phones being purchased for the younger age group each week.

Use of the mobile phone, once purchased, is split two parts social, one part business, and the yuppie image of people wandering down the street with their phone clamped firmly to their ear is just not true. Six out of ten people spend less than an hour per week on their phone.

When we do use them, the great British reserve seems to be breaking down. The survey showed 68 per cent (over 15.5 million) of users are not embarrassed to use a mobile phone in public.

Conversely, over six out of ten are in favour of mobile free zones, ideally in places like cinemas, churches and public transport.

And the health issue may all be a bit of media hype with 54 per cent of the population not concerned about the supposed health risk of mobile phones, this figure rises to 71 per cent in Wales.

From British reserve to cash reserve, contrary to what we are led to believe by the media, a majority of the British population believes that it is getting good value from the mobile phone manufacturers, apart from in the Central region where 68 per cent consider it to be too expensive.

People are finding more and more uses for their phones. The younger age group in particular are keen to explore the limits of what a phone can do, they enjoy sending messages in text from one mobile to another, and often include emotion icons like a smiley face or heart.

Where does the mobile go from here? Of the owners, 40 per cent are interested in receiving other services like e-mail messages and ticket booking facilities, which are only just becoming available via a mobile phone.

The challenge facing the mobile phone industry is to help educate all consumers that these services are becoming possible. Whether it is via the Internet or other means, consumers are sending a clear message that they are interested in new features and benefits, not in the technology or medium which delivers them.

And with mobile phone purchasing still rising and 15 per cent of people using their mobiles more than their home phones this is a challenge that needs to be addressed now.

On a light hearted note, PCC asked whom people would most like to receive a call from. While Prime Minister Tony Blair got a seemingly dismal 3 per cent of the votes, Tory leader William Hague, Margaret Thatcher and Geri Halliwell got a monumental zero. Denise Van Outen came in top of the celebrities with an astonishing 15 per cent, but the person who came top with 9.5 million votes was - aaahhh! - Mum or a member of the family.