Half of Irish mobile owners use internet – survey


8 Feb 2011

Eighty-seven per cent of mobiles have a web connection, though only 46pc of owners use the internet on their phones, a survey of Irish consumers suggests.

Sponge It for Mindshare Ireland conducted the survey among 1,007 Irish respondents.

It found that up to half of the survey participants have a smartphone but not all of them use the features of the phone.

The most-used smartphone features on a daily basis was search, with 46pc of mobile owners utilising this feature. Email and social networking were tied as the second most-used feature at 39pc.

Consuming news was the third most-used feature, with 36pc of respondents doing this on a daily basis.

These activities peaked at the end of the day and were used in conjunction with a secondary medium.

“People are triggered to search, post a Facebook status or seek more information about news or a brand by what they hear on radio during the day, see on TV in the evening or read about in the press,” said Finian Murphy, head of Consumer Insights.

“Smartphones give consumers immediate access to brands when they want to find out more whenever or wherever they are.”

In general, 87pc of mobiles were found to have a web connection, though 46pc of mobile users utilised this.

Sixteen per cent clicked on a mobile advert recently and one in five mobile owners listen to radio on their phones every day.

The survey found that men aged between 18 and 34 were twice as likely to use their smartphones as their female counterparts.

Emailing was the most popular feature among over 50-year-olds and social networking was the most popular for women aged between 18 and 34.

“It is important to note that data connectivity is key to marketing opportunities,” Murphy said.

“Over half of mobile owners don’t use the internet on their mobile and therefore brands must recognise that apps aren’t always the solution, but more basic services, such as texting, should be integrated within the media strategy.”