Written by Emily Tan    
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 10:54  
 
Half of the world population owns a mobile phone, said research firm Synovate. According to its September newsletter In:fact, it was estimated that one in every two persons had a cellphone as at February 2008. By the end of next year, that number will increase to 70%, predicts Wireless Intelligence, a mobile market research firm.

Not only do we own mobiles, we are hopelessly attached to it. A survey by Synovate spanning 11 markets and over 8,000 mobile phone owners found that 75% of their respondents never leave home without their phones.

For the Taiwanese, the mobile is part remote control, part security blanket, said Jenny Chang, Synovate’s managing director in Taiwan in the newsletter. “They are the No 1 tool of communication for us, sometimes even surpassing face-to-face communication. They are our connections to our lives.”

The survey was conducted in June and included Malaysia (824 respondents), the Philippines (755 respondents), the UK (502 respondents), the US (504 respondents), Canada (831 respondents), Denmark (441 respondents), France (501 respondents) and the Netherlands (915 respondents).

While the mobiles are important, most would rather lose their mobiles than their wallets, with three-quarters of all respondents finding it easier to replace their mobiles. However, the Russians bucked the trend with half preferring to lose their wallets rather than their phones.

Maria Vakatova, Synovate’s director of marketing communications for Russia, puts this down to the emotional attachment Russians have with their phones which may have irreplaceable pictures and videos the loss of which, she said in the report, would be “devastating”.

“Typically, Russians buy more expensive phones than they can afford — it’s a status thing,” she added.

Text messaging (SMS) has become such a part of our lives that it has changed the way we manage our relationships. The medium appears to suit the Malaysian temperament in particular with the highest percentage, 36%, saying they have set up a first date via SMS, while 22% admitted they have dumped someone via text, and almost half (48%) using text to say “no or send a difficult message”.

Steve Murphy, Synovate’s managing director for Malaysia said in the report that Malaysians are by nature non-confrontational and will try to avoid being direct on personal issues. “Communicating via SMS is also part of everyday life and let’s face it,  it is just plain easier to break up with someone via text message than having to tell them face-to-face.”

Besides chatting and messaging, the survey also asked respondents how they use their phones. More than half (67%) used it as alarm clocks, 62% as cameras and a third for playing games.

“As the mobile becomes more and more of an all-in-one device, the opportunities for mobile manufacturers and networks are enormous,” said Steve Garton, Synovate’s global head of media.

The high degree of dependence on the mobile phone spells good news to marketers as this has opened up a whole new realm for marketing strategies, said Garton.

“People classify the mobile differently from mainstream media, most don’t think of phones as a media platform at all. This is interesting for marketers as it implies the whole approach must be different to other forms of marketing. There is high potential and receptivity for creative marketing campaigns.”

This article appeared on the Media & Advertising page, The Edge Financial Daily, Sept 15, 2009. 

Source: http://www.theedgemalaysia.com/media-a-advertising/149354-cant-leave-home-without-phone.html