SMS: The future of Market Research?

Despite conventional wisdom amongst Market Researchers that SMS is only really used by younger age groups; Fizzback’s research has shown conclusively that all age groups now use SMS. What’s more, when given the option of answering via SMS, response rates for Market Research are significantly higher.

Fizzback conducted extensive primary and secondary research into the use of SMS by different age groups and genders in the UK, Europe and the USA. Our Key finding was that SMS is not only used by significant numbers of consumers in all age groups, it also drives exceptionally high response rates from consumers.

Fizzback’s response rates by age group are at least 27% or higher
Fizzback analysed SMS response rates to Market Research conducted for a major UK retailer in January 2010, and found that response rates were significantly higher than the average reply rates for email or online polling across the board:

 

Surprisingly, the highest response rate, almost 40%, was for females aged 52 and older. The same study also found that all age groups were evenly represented in the data received by SMS:

 

UK: SMS penetration is at 75-90% across all age groups
There is a clear and growing body of evidence to suggest that the use of SMS has reached saturation point in both the UK and Europe, and it continues to grow strongly in the US.

 

In the UK, SMS penetration is highest among 13-17 year olds, with 91% regularly using SMS.
Surprisingly, 35-44 year olds are only 1 percentage point behind, with 90% using SMS regularly.

Europe: Impressive volumes of usage across the continent

SMS is very popular in the EU, with a staggering 74% penetration!
The highest EU SMS penetration is for 18 -24 and 25 -34 year olds (93% and 92% respectively).
SMS use in the 55 and over’s is 70%.

USA: use of texting on the rise across all age groups
Whilst Fizzback’s investigation found that SMS use in the USA is generally lower that in the UK or Europe, it also found that uptake is growing at the highest rate overall; and increasing fastest among the 40 and over’s.

In 2009, nearly 60% of mobile phone owners used their phones to text. Texting is also gaining on sending/receiving calls as the primary use of mobile phones, with 35% of all respondents use their phones for texting more than for phone calls. Almost half of respondents do both in equal numbers. More than 40% of respondents send more than 100 messages per month, and 14% send more than 500 messages per month.

Source: “Consumer Text Messaging Habits” Vlingo, 2009.
Methodology: The Vlingo Consumer Mobile Messaging Habits Report was fielded by independent panel research firm Toluna and responses
were genrated from a survey among 4,816 online opinion panel members (age 13 or older) living in the continental United States.
The sample was matched to U.S. Census proportions on gender, age and ethnicity and included approximately 100 respondents from each of the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Respondents were also screened for mobile phone ownership and usage. The survey bears a statistical accuracy of +/‐ 1.41% for the total sample at the 95% confidence level.

About Fizzback
Fizzback helps brands to engage with their customers. The Fizzback™ service solicits instant customer feedback at the point of experience and employs a unique artificial intelligence engine to understand the nature, sentiment and tone of comments. Tailored responses are generated and delivered in real-time, driving meaningful conversations. Relevant staff are intelligently alerted, enabling companies to resolve customer issues quickly, and an interactive dashboard, including KPIs and verbatim customer feedback, helps senior management drive their business by voice-of-customer.

Fizzback™ is being used by companies determined to innovate and differentiate themselves through a superior customer experience. In practical terms it is like being able to walk the shop floor 24/7, listening to what your customers are saying and acting upon their insights.

Headquartered in London, Fizzback is privately owned and backed by Advent Venture Partners and Nauta Capital.