Mobile users ignorant of handset details, says new study
Over half of users don't know the make and model of their phone
A new survey conducted by Ipsos MORI suggests that mobile operators and content providers may be losing business for the simple reason that many of their customers don't know the make or model of their phone handset.
49 per cent of the users polled by the group did not know the model of their phone, but did know which make it was; a further 9 per cent didn't know either the make or the model of the handset, making a total of 58 per cent of users who could not reliably cite both details.
The survey, which was carried out for LogicaCMG, is potentially worrying for providers who supply rich content and services such as games, video calling and mobile internet browsing - all of which are tied to specific handset models.
"This research demonstrates that many operators could well be trying to sell advanced data services based on the incorrect assumption that the users they are communicating with have basic knowledge of their own handsets," explained LogicaCMG COO Paul Gleeson.
"Often this is not the case; the language used by the customer service advisor can be inappropriately technical and, as a result, they could actually be putting a number of people off using their handsets," he continued.
On the plus side, however, the survey did note that men and users in the 15 to 34 age group were more likely to know details of their phone - which is important since these demographics are the key consumers for advanced data and media services.