Are women the masters of mobiles?

Are women the masters of mobiles?

Auckland, 20 April 2018. The old stereotype of women relying on their phones more than men may ring true if the latest Canstar Blue data is anything to go by.

The latest survey of 4,643 Kiwis reveals that 45% of woman admit to feeling ‘naked’ if they forget their phone and a huge 50% say they now use their phone more than their laptop or computer. This compares to 30%, respectively, for men.

Canstar’s Emma Quantrill comments:
“There will be a lot of husbands and partners raising their eyes to the sky at this news! But, once we get over the ‘tell us something we don’t know’, it’s actually interesting to see that it’s been women, more than men, who have embraced the changes in the way we communicate and how we use the devices we carry around in our pockets and bags.”

How do men and women compare?
The following graph indicates the differences in male and female mobile phone usage and habits:

From making a call to managing your life
Mobile phones have been around for decades with the first one used in the USA in 1973. Globally, commercial networks began to rollout in 1979 with New Zealand launching its first one in 1987. Back then, you could expect to pay in the region of $6,000 for a handset and it you wanted to get on the network, you may well have had to put your name on the waiting list. But we’ve come a long way in the last 30 years and the handsets, as well as the way we use them, has changed beyond early comprehension.
According to the latest Commerce Commission data, there are now in excess of 6.4 million mobile connections in New Zealand and we are making more voice calls than ever before. In contrast, as apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp become commonplace, SMS or ‘text’ messages, have declined by around 50% since their height of popularity in 2012.

Quantrill continues:
“Digital innovation and rapid acceptance and growth of social media have contributed to changes in the way we communicate and the kind of telecom services we pay for. We want video and pictures as well as words but we also expect the device that delivers all of this to act as a wallet, document retention centre, gateway to our bank and much more. In addition, we want high quality and we want it quickly and cheaply.

Most Satisfied Customers – Prepaid and SIM
The flexibility that pre-paid offers is an attractive option for a lot of mobile phone customers. In fact, close to three quarters of the people Canstar Blue surveyed were on pre-pay. However, where flexibility is important and may be the motivation for the type of mobile plan someone chooses, Canstar Blue research shows that when it comes to choosing a provider, value for money and customer service are the biggest drivers of satisfaction for consumers. This year, for the fourth year running, we a delighted to announce Skinny as the recipients
of our Prepaid and SIM Overall Customer Satisfaction Award for 2018.

Accepting the award on behalf of Skinny, brand manager Ally Young said:
“We are truly proud to be consistently winning this customer satisfaction award year on year. Each Canstar Blue Award that we win reinforces the effort that our team puts in daily to deliver a commitment of keeping our prices low and our customers happy. Plus, it’s nice to win additional categories this year, as this shows that we are continuing to outperform for our customers in other areas as well.”

Most Satisfied Customers – Contracted Plan
For consumers who prefer the certainty of a contracted plan with a device, 2Degrees takes the honour of the 2018 Customer Satisfaction Award, Contracted Plan.

On behalf of 2degrees, Chief marketing officer Roy Ong said the team was chuffed to receive the award:
“We have a proud tradition of innovation at 2degrees. We recently launched WiFi Calling, so customers in areas that don’t have great mobile coverage can call and text without missing a beat. 2degrees has its own national mobile network and provides coverage to 98.5% of the places Kiwi’s live and work, but like all networks there can be coverage challenges at times. Wifi Calling can help address that. It’s also a great option for customers roaming overseas – travellers can use WiFi networks as a safe, cost effective option.”

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