Smartphones find favor with ‘experience factor’
Three years ago the primary concern of many customers when buying a mobile phone was whether their model of choice had an appealing design and was equipped with the latest technology, such as Wi-Fi, GPS or a high-resolution camera. Today, the “experience factor” may be the most important consideration for smartphone owners, according to a survey by Nuremberg, Germany, research company The GfK Group.
While a compelling telephone design and features at the cutting edge of technology certainly remain popular, in light of the large selection and the relatively minor differences between the offers of various providers, there is a danger that products and brands are becoming increasingly interchangeable, according to GfK’s study, which queried smartphone owners in Germany, Spain, the U.K., China, Brazil and the U.S.
What can set them apart? The experience factor. In other words, the possibilities that the use of a specific smartphone offers them. A decisive aspect of the experience factor is the device’s operating system, but it is also linked to the possibility of surfing the Internet and the ease of installing apps.
Smartphone owners in Germany are significantly more satisfied with their current operating systems, with 41 percent reporting they would like their next phone to have the same OS as their current one. At the international level only one in four smartphones users would like to use the same operating system for their next phone. Owners of smartphones manufactured by Apple seem to be particularly satisfied, with 69 percent of current owners in Germany intending to choose a device with this operating system for their next purchase. For the competitor system Android this figure stands at 54 percent in Germany, and among BlackBerry users the percentage is 41 percent.
However, across all operating systems, the number of those who are keeping their options open for the selection of their next mobile phone is 56 percent internationally. Here smartphone providers have ample potential to find favor with consumers by offering a superior experience factor. In this respect, the quality of the experience factor will increasingly depend on the sphere of experience not being limited to the smartphone in the future.
For 44 percent of respondents, the smooth combination of mobile phone, laptop and tablet PC is the most important consideration when choosing an operating system. Success will therefore be enjoyed by those smartphone providers who offer consumers a world of experience which, in addition to providing access to different apps and services and being user friendly, also presents the opportunity to transfer the experience factor to other devices with larger screens. For more information visit www.gfk.com.
Affluent Americans immersed in technology more than the rest
Ninety-five percent of adults in households earning over $75,000 annually use the Internet and cell phones and are more likely to use the Internet on any given day; own multiple Internet-ready devices; do things involving money online; and get news online, compared to lower-earning households. These are a few of the major ways in which higher-income households differ from other Americans in lower-income households in their tech ownership and use, according to data from Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, Washington, D.C.
Some 95 percent of Americans who live in households earning $75,000+ per year use the Internet at least occasionally, compared with 70 percent of those living in households earning less than $75,000. Even among those who use the Internet, the well-off are more likely than those with less income to use technology. Of that 95 percent of high-income Internet users, 99 percent use the Internet at home (versus 93 percent of the Internet users in lower brackets); 93 percent of higher have some type of broadband connection (versus 85 percent); and 95 percent own some type of cell phone (versus 83 percent).
The differences among income cohorts apply to other technology as well. The relatively well-to-do are also more likely than those in lesser-income households to own a variety of information and communications gear. Seventy-nine percent of those living in households earning $75,000+ own desktop computers, compared with 55 percent of those living in less well-off homes; 79 percent own laptops, compared with 47 percent; 70 percent own iPods or other MP3 players, compared with 42 percent; 54 percent own gaming consoles, compared with 41 percent; 12 percent own e-book readers, compared with 3 percent; and 9 percent own tablet computers such as iPads, compared with 3 percent. For more information visit www.pewinternet.org.
Lay-low leisure time - Hispanics hunker down at home to have fun and save money
The effects of the Great Recession are still rippling through the global economy, and in 2010 the leisure preferences of young Hispanic adults changed from activities that cost money to lower-cost alternatives to save cash, including choosing to spend more time at home, be it cooking, surfing the Net or hosting friends, according to a study from Chicago research company Mintel.
One free or low-cost leisure activity enjoyed by young Hispanic adults is spending time at home. Sixty-seven percent of respondents say they like spending most of their free time at home with members of their family. Meanwhile, 60 percent take pleasure in entertaining people at home and 33 percent enjoy cooking dinner at home with friends.
“Among Hispanic respondents under 35, the largest net increases in participation in the past year are seen in surfing the Internet, watching movies at home, spending time with family and listening to music. Increases are also seen in cooking for fun and exercising. Each of these activities might be considered a lower-cost alternative to other leisure options,” says Leylha Ahuile, senior multicultural analyst, Mintel.
Many young Hispanic adults have turned to the Internet for entertainment. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed say the Internet is a way to socialize and meet others, while 34 percent say that the Internet is their prime source of entertainment.
“More expensive options, like going to the movie theater and attending live concerts, have seen net decreases in participation. In fact, nearly all activities that require admission fees or other discretionary spending, such as traveling, leisure shopping, cultural events and museums, have seen lower levels of participation this year compared to last,” says Ahuile. For more information visit www.mintel.com.
Conflicting messages confuse youth self-image
For all the talk about the obesity epidemic that’s afflicting young Americans, a slim majority of youth (51 percent) is still “happy with the way [they] look,” according to a survey conducted by the YouthBeat division of C&R Research, Chicago. That sentiment, however, shifts substantially among age groups.
While 30 percent of tweens (grades five through eight) are happy with their appearance, only 18 percent of teens (grades nine through 12) feel the same way. And while self-image is typically believed to be a larger concern among girls, boys are not immune to this issue. Only 35 percent of the boys in the survey group strongly agree that “I feel happy with the way I look.”
“Young people are faced with conflicting messages. On one hand, they’re being asked to be vigilant about their weight. On the other, they’re being told that they should accept themselves and their appearance,” says Amy Henry, vice president, Youth Insights.
When it comes to body image, cultural differences factor in. YouthBeat’s data showed that Afri-can-American youth, for example, have a far more positive body image than their Hispanic or Caucasian peers. Nearly half (48 percent) of those in the survey group strongly agree with the statement that they are happy with the way they look, compared to 33 percent of Hispanic youth and 30 percent of Caucasian youth. For more information visit www.youthbeat.com.
Americans part with the little luxuries to save money
There are always small ways to save a little bit of money. Bringing lunch to work or skipping the morning latté may not feel significant, but consumers have been told - and told again - that these cost savings add up over time. Many Americans have done or considered doing these things and have cut back in other small ways to save money. In the six months leading up to October 2010, three in five U.S. adults reported having purchased more generic brands and 45 percent had brown-bagged lunch instead of purchasing it, according to a survey conducted by Rochester, N.Y., research company Harris Interactive.
Just over one-third of Americans are going to the hairstylist or barber less often and have switched to refillable water bottles instead of purchasing bottled water. Approximately 20 percent of Americans have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning and cut down on dry cleaning, and 14 percent have begun carpooling or using mass transit. Media, entertainment and communication may also have taken a hit in these economic times. One in five U.S. adults have cancelled or cut back on cable television service (22 percent) and 17 percent have changed or cancelled cell phone service or cancelled landline service and are only using a cell phone. In not-so-good news for the print industry, over one-quarter of adults have cancelled one or more magazine subscriptions while 17 percent have cancelled a newspaper subscription. In addition, Americans have considered cancelling a newspaper subscription (11 percent) or a magazine subscription (8 percent).
Breaking the results down by generation, Gen Xers (those ages 34-45) are most likely to purchase generic brands (70 percent); brown-bag lunches (62 percent); go to the hairdresser less often (45 percent); and to have stopped purchasing coffee in the morning (35 percent). Echo Boomers (those ages 18-33) are less likely to have cancelled a magazine subscription (18 percent), compared to at least 30 percent of all the other generations. However, Echo Boomers are more likely to have cancelled their landline phone service (22 percent). For more information visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
U.S. adults understand healthy eating but fail to execute
U.S. adults across all generations understand the principles of healthy eating. While the majority of adults recognize the need to eat healthy, their translation into healthy eating behavior varies by generation. Older generations eat more healthfully than the younger generations, but still four out of five adults (nearly 170 million people) have a diet whose quality needs improvement, according to data from Port Washington, N.Y., research company The NPD Group’s Healthy Eating Strategies by Generation report, which identifies the gaps between actual consumption behaviors and intentions.
Younger generations - Generation X, Y and younger Boomers (ages 21-54) - have the least-healthful diets. Older consumers (ages 54+) often have the greatest need to eat healthy due to underlying medical conditions and are driven to do so. What the generations appear to have in common is a shared understanding of what constitutes healthy eating. Adult consumers across all generations define healthy eating consistently and are aware of the top characteristics of healthy eating and of a healthy lifestyle: exercise regularly; eat well-balanced meals; eat all things in moderation; limit/avoid foods with saturated fat or cholesterol or trans fats; and drink at least eight glasses of water per day.
“Educating consumers about proper health and nutrition need not be the primary goal for food manufacturers,” says Dori Hickey, director, product development, The NPD Group. “Connecting the dots for consumers in terms of a product benefit to a fundamental characteristic of healthy eating is more the challenge.”
The nutritional value of foods is also front-and-center with many adults. Almost 85 million adults ranked nutritional value/healthful as No. 1 or No. 2 in importance as a need-driver in deciding what to eat and drink. Taste and price/value are in the top three for the three younger generations. For older consumers, freshness replaces price/value in ranked importance.
While many aspects of their diets could use improvement, the overall largest deficiencies in adults’ diets are insufficient intake of fruits, vegetables and dairy products and overconsumption of total fats. Consumption of total fats is the most critical for those 54+. For more information visit www.npd.com.
Marketers put stock in branded content
Branded content initiatives are considered by marketers to be more effective than any other leading form of advertising and marketing, and believers are putting their money where their mouth is, according to research from the Custom Content Council, a New York custom publishing association, in partnership with ContentWise, a Phoenix branded content newsletter.
The No. 1 reason for using branded content is customer education and retention, and marketers see their investment fueling longer-term returns.
Content spending in 2010 was the second highest ever, at $1,366,605 per company. Print represented 43 percent of the total spending, while electronic and other accounted for 35 percent and 12 percent, respectively. The study concludes that the recession is easing, noting that 31 percent of those surveyed expect content spending to increase in 2011. Twenty-nine percent of the average overall marketing, advertising and communications budget funds were dedicated to branded content. This is the second greatest ever (first was 32 percent in 2009).
Among reasons for using branded content and its effectiveness, 66 percent of marketers think branded content is superior to direct mail and 63 percent think it is superior to public relations. The primary reason to deploy branded content initiatives is to educate customers, according to 54 percent of the companies surveyed, followed by customer retention (23 percent). The leading secondary reasons were customer retention (35 percent) and educating customers (27 percent), though brand loyalty factored in at 26 percent.
The use of external agencies (such as custom publishers, public relations/marketing firms, design firms, video production companies or interactive agencies) to handle some aspect of branded content initiatives remains consistent with previous years at around 50 percent. Outsourcing was more prevalent among print forms (45 percent) of branded content than it was among electronic (19 percent) or other (23 percent) forms. Of all the branded content initiatives, some portion of these initiatives was outsourced 31 percent of the time.
For the first time in 2010, respondents reported to what degree their organization is shifting from traditional forms of advertising and marketing to new forms (i.e., branded content, content marketing, custom publishing or custom media). A total of 68 percent of companies indicated that they were shifting to branded content and the majority of companies (61 percent) have experienced a moderate shift in their spending while 7 percent reported an aggressive shift. For more information visit www.custompublishingcouncil.com.