Mobile-only usage uptake impacts marketing: Harris Poll

By Mickey Alam Khan

April 7, 2008

Married to the mobile

Mobile phone usage is up and landline coverage is down. That's the key finding from Harris Interactive's new U.S. research on consumer phone habits.

One in five adults don't have a landline and one in seven adults -- 14 percent -- use only mobile phones, according to an analysis of four surveys conducted online between October and January with 9,132 adults.

The Harris research found that 89 percent of adults have a mobile phone, an increase from 77 percent in October to December 2006, per a similar Harris Poll analysis.

New research from the Rochester, NY-based market researcher also shows that 79 percent of adults say they have a landline phone, a slight decrease from 81 percent in 2006.

Nearly 15 percent of adults use the Internet, or Voice-over Internet Protocol, to make phone calls, almost unchanged from 16 percent in 2006.

Harris found that 75 percent of adults use multiple approaches to making calls, up from 67 percent in the October to December 2006 period.

Interestingly, only 9 percent of adults use only a landline phone, down from 18 percent in 2006.

Only 6 percent of adults use only a mobile phone and VoIP.

Who is the mobile-only user?
The demographic profile of mobile phone-only users hasn't changed from last year, Harris said.

Consumers who use the mobile phone as their only phone service tend to be younger than the general population. Nearly 49 percent are ages 18-29.

However, that figure decreased from 2006 when consumers ages 18-29 comprised 55 percent of the mobile phone-only population. The reason: older consumers are becoming more comfortable using a mobile phone as their only phone service.

Moreover, compared with the general phone population, mobile phone-only users are less likely to be age 40 and older -- 29 percent versus 60 percent of the general population.

This demographic is more likely to have at least some college education -- 60 percent versus 53 percent of the general population -- and more likely to be male -- 57 percent versus 48 percent for the general population.

But they are also less affluent.

Mobile-only users are more likely to have household income of less than $15,000 -- 16 percent versus 9 percent of the general population. They are less likely to have a household income of $75,000 or more -- 28 percent versus 37 percent of the general population.

Minor demo changes
Harris said the profile of consumers who use a mobile phone as their only phone service stayed the same as last year, with a few exceptions.

First, consumers age 18-29 account for a smaller proportion of this group -- 49 percent in the 2007-08 survey period versus 55 percent in 2006.

However, it doesn't mean that those ages 18-29 are less likely than in 2006 to use only a mobile phone. It means that mobile phone usage also increased among older consumers, making them a large proportion of the mobile-only population.�

Next, consumers with a household income of $75,000 or more account for a great proportion of mobile-only users compared with 2006 -- 28 percent versus 22 percent in 2006.

Finally, consumers who call themselves independent -- not Republican or Democrat -- account for a greater proportion of mobile phone-only users: 36 percent versus 29 percent in 2006.

Also, the percentage of independents grew among the general population sample from 2006 to 2007, from 25 percent to 32 percent. Harris clarified that this may have more to do with the current political climate than anything related to mobile phone-only users.

Harris Poll vs. National Health Interview Survey
The Centers for Disease Control recently announced the results of a January-June 2007 National Health Interview Survey. Conducted in person, this survey also includes data on household phone and mobile phone usage in addition to health information.

While the Harris Poll�is conducted online, its results on phone usage are quite similar to the NHIS findings.

For example, the NHIS found that 13 percent of adults used only a mobile phone. Harris' comparable number was 14 percent.

However, the Harris and NHIS polls differed in their findings on some groups.

In the first of three differences, the Harris Poll pegs the incidence of mobile phone usage among those with college degrees or higher education at 14 percent. The NHIS' comparable figure is 11 percent.

Second, the Harris Poll shows the incidence of mobile phone-only usage among African American/non-Hispanic respondents is 9 percent versus the NHIS' higher estimate of 14 percent.

Third, the Harris Poll estimates mobile phone-only usage among students at 30 percent compared with the NHIS' 21 percent.

Why it matters
Still, those differences don't hide the fact that the proportion of mobile phone-only users among all U.S. adults is on the rise. And this sought-after 18-29 age group has distinct characteristics that marketers need to understand.

From Harris' perspective, monitoring the size and demographic characteristics of the mobile phone-only population -- those ages 18-29, in particular -- will help the market researcher with the right mode and sample sources for survey research.

Overall, there are two implications to this research, Harris said.

"First, new technologies are often first adopted by younger segments," a statement from the company said. "However, the rapid adoption rates we are seeing here will likely reshape the entire communications landscape within the next decade.

"Second, the fact that so many 18-to-29-years are only using cell phones and the Internet has important implications for companies and other organizations that are trying to communicate with this important segment of the population," the statement said.

"This also hold [sic] true with those who conduct survey research who have relied on traditional methods -- i.e. telephone landlines -- for reaching this group.

"The survey research and marketing industries need to recognize that the Internet and cell phones, not landlines, are likely to be the wave of the future for contacting this age group."