Abstract
Now that wireless service is used by a majority of the people in the US, wireless carriers need to examine more closely the characteristics of the diverse groups that make up this market. Based on an extensive survey of over 1,500 cellular customers, this report focuses on the different ethnic segments of wireless users. Covered in this report are Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics and Asian subsets. This report- one in a series of five- provides a detailed snapshot about monthly spending on voice and consumer behaviors and preferences regarding:
- Service plans, family plans, and the use of multiple phones
- Data services and prices paid for these services
- Spending on current and future handsets, as well as desired handset features
- Adoption of other consumer technologies
- Personal vs. business use of wireless
This report will be important for wireless carriers, mobile application developers, handset vendors, chip makers, advertisers, and others who need a clear understanding of consumer preferences of wireless users.
Table of Contents
In This Update
- Introduction to Update
- Executive Summary
- African American
- Hispanic
- Asian
- Survey Demographics
- Expenditures and Usage
- Monthly Voice and Data Expenditures
- Family Plans
- Multiple Handsets
- Current and Future Spending on Wireless Phone
- Historical Spending Trends
- Wireless Phone Features
- Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction
- Mobile Data
- Spending on Mobile Applications
- Text Messaging
- Conclusions
- Ethnic Effect on Revenue and Usage
- The “Ethnic Over-Contribution”
- Methodology
List of Tables
- Table 1. Summary of Findings
- Table 2. Alternative Language and Television Viewing
- Table 3. Technologies Used by Respondents
- Table 4. Total Mean Monthly Wireless Spending
- Table 5. Prepaid vs. Postpaid Historical Spending 2004- 2007
- Table 6. Prepaid vs. Postpaid by Ethnic Segment
- Table 7. Personal Use of Wireless Phone
- Table 8. Incidence of Family or Group Rate Plan Among Respondents
- Table 9. Mean Number of Family Members on Family or Group Rate Plan
- Table 10. Phone Features in Current Handset
- Table 11. Features Users Would Pay More for In Next Handset (Base: Planning to Purchase New Phone within Two Years)
- Table 12. Anticipated Purchase Date of Future Handset
- Table 13. Historical Total Customer Satisfaction
- Table 14. Customer Satisfaction by Ethnic Segment
- Table 15. Current Use of Mobile Data on Wireless Phone (Base: Respondents Who Reported Using Mobile Data)
- Table 16. Ethnic Effect on Revenue and Usage
List of Figures
- Figure 1. Ethnic Over-Contribution to Selected Mobile Data Applications
- Figure 2. Mean Income for Full Time Workers and Survey Respondents
- Figure 3. Respondents Who Use More than One Mobile Device
- Figure 4. Historical Mean Phone Purchase Price 2004- 2007
- Figure 5. Mean Spending on Current Wireless Phone vs. Mean Spending on Future Wireless Phone
- Figure 6. Users Planning to Switch Operators in the Next 12 Months
- Figure 7. Respondents Using and Paying for Mobile Data Services
- Figure 8. Monthly Spending on Mobile Data
- Figure 9. Respondents Sending or Receiving Text Messages
- Figure 10. Average Number of Text Messages Sent or Received Monthly
- Figure 11. Monthly Comparison of Voice Minutes and Text Messages
- Figure 12. Ethnic Over-Contribution: Use of Mobile Data Applications
- Figure 13. Ethnic Over-Contribution to Desired Handset Features














