Fizzback gathers and interprets millions of messages each quarter from consumers across a broad number of industries including retail, telecommunications & media, transport and financial services. Patterns in consumer attitudes are forming constantly. In January, the Customer Engagement Report explored how sentiment and topic vary by age and UK region.
This report investigates mobile handset purchase trends, uncovering key consumer drivers in handset slection. The data featured in this report was a sample of 20,000 feedback data points gathered during June 2009, across a number of Fizzback clients.
Gender
Men and women are known to express different shopping preferences and buying behaviors. We wanted to use our consumer data to better understand what this meant for handset purchases. In our analysis, we used a sample of top selling phones and general manufacturer data.
We predicted that men, stereotypically deep lovers of new technology and gadgets, would be more likely to purchase expensive phones. This turned out to be the case. More interestingly, men were also more likely to buy inexpensive phones. Women were more likely to buy phones in the mid-priced range. We haven’t surveyed customers to find out why this is the case. It may be that men segment themselves into “gadget guys” and “who cares guys.” A “who cares guy” may take satisfaction in putting little money into his purchase and may intentionally distance himself from the “gadget guys.” Women’s preference for mid-range phones may reflect an attempt to secure good value for money or purchase a phone that makes a statement without being too cutting edge.
We also analyzed how gender influenced brand preferences. Predictably, we found that men and women often preferred different types of phones. Men were over 20% more likely to purchase an iPhone, one of the the most sophisticated phones on the market.
Women on the other hand were over 20% more likely to buy a Samsung phone, a stereotypical purchase for young women, and were also more likely to purchase LG phones which are known for their alignment to fashion labels.
Age
Jupiter Research’s “Next Generation Handsets” (2006) noted that age had a significant impact on a consumer’s handset purchasing decision. The Jupiter study and others have noted that young people have a relatively higher willingness to spend and greater enthusiasm for more technologically advanced phones than other age groups. Therefore, we weren’t surprised when our analysis supported these findings.
Younger people were more likely to buy expensive phones, people between 35 and 55 were more likely to buy mid-range phones, and older people were more likely to purchase cheap phones. These preferences may be explained by their different life stages. Students and young professionals may put a higher value on following and adopting technological innovations that come with higher price tags. Mid-career people prefer phones that are functional for activities ranging from work emails to home conversations, but do not necessarily need all the bells and whistles required by their younger counterparts. Finally, older employees and retirees may care most about having a functioning phone. They put less time into following handset trends and technological developments.
Analyzing manufacturer preference by age group supports our suspicions. The youngest age group is most likely to purchase Sony Ericsson, Apple, or Blackberry phones. These are among the most technologically complex and trendy phones on the market. Older people, on the other hand, show a preference for Nokia, a brand noted for its reliability, and user friendliness.
Topics & Sentiment
We analyzed customer feedback on phones and phone manufacturers in order to understand what customers were talking about when they gave feedback about their handsets. We pulled out comments that pertained to phone repairs, employee product knowledge, phone availability, and phone value. We were at once surprised that the level of feedback across these categories varied by phone manufacturer. While in most cases, feedback about repairs accounted for the minority of comment volume, comments about employee knowledge, phone availability, and phone value varied widely by phone manufacturer.
There was no significant variation in overall sentiment by handset manufacturer, with all but one handset falling within a small range. More interestingly, the category scores often varied by manufacturer. While the repair category had the lowest volume of comments, it was the category in which customers had the most polar feedback.
Generally, customers were most positive about the vendor’s product knowledge and the product’s value. The knowledge finding is consistent with our expectations. In previous studies we have discovered that customers give high ratings when they review their experiences with in-store employees. It follows that they would have similarly positive feelings about the knowledge of company employees whom they’ve interacted with.
To learn more about these and other findings, please click here.
Quick links:
January Customer Engagement Report: Age and region
December Customer Engagement Report: Time and channel
September Customer Engagement Report: Battle of the sexes
June Customer Engagement Report: Impact on KPIs
