Smartphone SocNet App Consumption 29% Higher For Women Than Men

March 27, 2013

This article is included in these additional categories:

Boomers & Older | Connected Device Comparisons | Digital | Men | Mobile Phone | Social Media | Women | Youth & Gen X

JDPower-Smartphone-SocNet-App-Consumption-Mar2013Female smartphone owners report spending a little more than 2 hours a week using downloaded social networking applications, compared to slightly more than 1-and-a-half hours for men, (124 minutes vs. 96 minutes) finds J.D. Power and Associates in its 2013 US Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction Study. Looking at age groups, 18-24-year-olds not surprisingly are the heaviest users of social networking apps (154 minutes per week), though 35-44-year-olds (138 minutes) exceed the 25-34 group (120.5 minutes) in weekly consumption.

There is then a dramatic drop among older age groups, down to 82 minutes for the 45-54 set, 84.5 minutes for the 55-64 group, and 49 minutes for the 65 and over group.

The figures are substantially lower than self-reported consumption of social networking by respondents to an Ipsos study released early this year. In that study, social networking users reported spending more than 3 hours per day on the sites. Of course, the J.D. Power & Associates report is limited to smartphone users of social media applications, but other studies have estimated that mobile accounts for 40-55% of social media time, which would translate to considerably higher consumption than seen in this latest study, if using the Ipsos results as a benchmark. (Another caveat: that 40% figure from Nielsen is based on mobile app and mobile web usage of social networking, but the J.D. Power figures seem low even when accounting for that.)

Nevertheless, the age and gender trends are important considerations. And there are similar dynamics at play when examining the propensity to download social networking applications: 84% of 18-24-year-old smartphone users report having done so, dropping to 46% of those aged 65 and older. Female smartphone users responding to the J.D. Power survey were also 21% more likely than male smartphone users to have downloaded a social networking app (74% vs. 61%).

Facebook is most popular for social networking app downloaders, used by 96%, ahead of Twitter (35%), Google+ (20%), LinkedIn (16%), and Myspace (4%). Only 3% report downloading a different app, such as Pinterest.

Other Findings:

  • In separate study findings, J.D. Power reports that satisfaction among smartphone customers gained 22 points from 2012 to reach 796 on a 1000-point scale.
  • Apple topped the smartphone satisfaction ratings for the 9th consecutive time, with a score of 855.
  • LG took top billing among traditional mobile phones with a score of 719.
  • 42% of traditional mobile phone customers say they’re likely to buy a new phone in the next year, with 76% reporting that they “definitely will” or “probably will” buy a smartphone.

About the Data: The 2013 U.S. Wireless Smartphone Satisfaction Study–Volume 1 and the 2013 U.S. Wireless Traditional Mobile Phone Satisfaction Study–Volume 1 are based on experiences evaluated by 9,767 smartphone customers and 6,759 traditional mobile phone customers. Both studies were fielded between July and December 2012.

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