US teenagers and mobiles: new research

Researchers at Harris Interactive have worked with industry group CTIA to discover what teenagers want from their mobile phones... and what mobile phones are likely to be used for in the future. Their survey of over 2,000 teenagers in the USA is called "Teenagers: A Generation Unplugged". It reveals that:

• next to clothing, teenagers say a mobile phone tells the most about a person’s social status or popularity
• 57% see their mobile phone as the key to their social life
• 17 million teenagers (alomst 80%) carry a mobile device -up 40% since 2004
• almost the same amount of time is spent texting as talking
• 42% of teens say they can text blindfolded!

In the future, teenagers say they'll want their mobiles to offer:

• secure data access to the user only (80%)
• accessibility to personal health records (66%)
• the opportunity to be educated anywhere in the world (66%)
• closer access to global issues impacting their world (63%)

Their ideal mobile device would be a phone, MP3 player, GPS, laptop computer and video player that was shockproof, waterproof, never needed recharging and had a screen that couldn't be overlooked. [Press release]

Mobile advertising research from USA

A new USA study from Harris Interactive has looked at the potential effectiveness of mobile advertising. 56% of teens and 37% of adults said they'd be interested in ads with incentives. Of these respondents, 80% of adults and 70% of teens said cash was the best incentive. Teens liked the idea of entertainment downloads (61%), free music (57%) and complimentary minutes (53%), while adults were most keen on free minutes (49%) and discount coupons (37%). Text messaging was the preferred medium, with 69% of adults and 64% percent of teens wanting their ads to arrive using SMS. [Press release; PDF]

More customers using mobile shopping and mobile banking

A study from Harris Interactive says that mobile phone users are increasingly comfortable making banking and purchase transactions while on-the-go. 16% of mobile phone customers in the USA already use mobile banking services, with over half of these people using the services at least once a week. When it comes to shopping, about 25% of people with mobile access to the internet use their devices to buy goods and services online via a credit card. The biggest concern was security, with 66% being apprehensive about sending financial information online.