The independent study, commissioned by Logica alongside the launch of its new Interaction offering, surveyed 1,000 UK consumers to investigate the incidence of and attitudes towards mobile internet usage.
The findings revealed that although 40% of consumers heavily use mobile internet, operator failure to target consumers with the right advertising (42%), has deterred half of all consumers (50%) from using their phone online. Despite these statistics, 41% stated that they would be happy to receive targeted advertising content.
Of those UK consumers surveyed, the research also highlighted knife edge loyalty with some 77% stating that they would look at switching operator if they did not feel that their service provider was meeting their needs. These results point to a market where operators show continued lack of engagement with consumers and are teetering on the knife edge of ‘prosumer’ choice.
Consumers also showed high levels of interest for operators to provide the next wave of unified content. More than 45% of consumers stated that they wanted to see a service from their operators that brought together all of the content that they would otherwise need to go looking for via their mobile; friends, news, content and social networking access.
When asked whether the recession would reduce the time spent using the internet via mobile, over 50% of consumers stated that their mobile usage patterns would not change, clearly pointing to a business opportunity that is relevant in today’s climate.
Commenting on the research, Elaine Doherty, principal business consultant at Logica, said: “The mobile internet market stands at the tipping point of consumer usage, but it lacks the maturity and unity necessary to capitalise on the available revenue opportunity. We are seeing that consumers that are highly jaded towards traditional advertising, receptive to new ways of receiving information and content, and willing to switch service providers on a whim if not targeted correctly. All of this points towards an obvious business proposition for the majority of mobile operators, even in a recession where mobile internet usage remains relatively unscathed.”
“Just as Web 2.0 has grown ferociously in the past two years, mobile internet is right at the cusp of major consumer adoption,” continued Doherty. “The missing link at the moment is something that brings these customers together and keeps them coming back for more.”