Things have been a bit quiet from my side recently, but I’m now firmly back on UK time and returning my attention to all things mobile.
While in L.A., I had various conversations with many different people about their respective phones, relating specifically to why they’d purchased them. A large percentage of the responses actually focused on aesthetic or ‘touchy feely’ aspects, rather than technical capabilities. In fact, even here at Really Mobile, many reviews start from this point before digging deeper. Often, I’ll compare shape, weight or design first and foremost (which I’ll come back to in a minute).
'Love me, love my phone' - MC Hammer, circa 1994
Thinking along these lines, I was reminded of a conversation I had the other day in which someone asked me what phone they should buy. I advised, and then they went on to ask which handset would impress people the most. I thought it was a strange question to ask, but said person explained that they wanted people to raise an eyebrow when they put their phone on the table.
Though it’s not something I’d personally factor into choosing which phone to use, this started me thinking about what your mobile says about you and why it’s such an extension of your persona for some.
I’m assuming that what he wanted really was for people to think his phone was cool and therefore he was as well.
Is there really a connection between your personality and the phone you choose? Nielsen did some research a while back that suggested that if you’ve got a Nokia in your pocket, you’ll be a family-minded, middle-aged manager. Results also showed that if you carry a Motorola, chances are you’re under 24 and fashion conscious (no, really). Sony Ericsson handsets are said to be favoured by ambitious young men trying to make their mark, LGs are for the Mums and Samsungs are used by young women focused on their career.
To me, that’s WAY off the mark, but that project was conducted abroad, so there’s certainly cultural differences. However, in an ever saturated market, it’s important insight for the major telcos to highlight behavioural groups and design handsets to coincide. Now, I’ll come back to the point I first made at the beginning of this post.
Though UK tariffs aren’t perfect, you could argue that customer satisfaction from one carrier to the next is reasonably the same across the board. Therefore, the image associated with different handsets that operators choose to bundle with their services with may be far more important in winning market share than previously thought.
Though I never hear anyone say ‘I’ve bought a Samsung because I think it makes me look great’, I do see people regularly chastised for owning a phone that has a bad reputation. Both Vodafone and o2 (the latter exclusively through Carphone Warehouse) shipping the N97 next month, the Palm Pre imminent and maybe even a new iPhone arriving not far behind, the fact of the matter is, the remainder of 2009 is looking very interesting indeed on the handset front.
So when it comes to choosing your next upgrade, why not take a moment to think about what your phone says about you, or maybe why you’re choosing one over another?
{ 22 comments }
Nice piece, Vikki. I think people are reluctant to admit the importance they place on how their phone makes them look when choosing a handset. Vanity’s funny like that – makes you act in a certain way, then makes you want to cover your tracks.
I don’t know – in my experience (uk) people just choose whichever mobile they fancy from the carrier offering them an upgrade. “Would you like a Samsung xxx or a Nokia yyy??” Then you generally choose either the same brand you had before (customer loyalty) or the other brand if your mate has one and you’ve heard good things about it.
That being said, I think that is changing, people are becoming more clued-up as to what the phone actually offers. People I know now say they want an E71 or N97 or iPhone (for whatever reason), rather than just taking whats on offer. This means carriers have to be more aware of this, and actualy offer the customer what they want instead of forcing a handset on them (Three, I’m looking at you)
Thanks @Sean, I think that ties in with what @Aliguana is saying as I understand it.
From my experience (in the UK for sure) most people will look at what handset they can get for free, with the best deals on minutes/data/texts, and then make a choice based on what it looks like.
Most of my friends don’t even handle the phones they upgrade to before making the move. That said, this could be down to an increased focus on basic technical features in mobile ads here..
There *is* a growing number of users that are increasingly clued up, but for now they remain in the minority.
Yes and no. No to the people who just think ” a phone’s a phone”. To the rest of us, people who choose handsets that can help us create, a resounding yes! I’m a nokia N95. I create video content. It’s, in my opinion, the best video phone on the market. Therefor, my mobile DOES speak volumes about me
What I find eternally frustrating is how, to my mind, many people don’t really take their time when choosing their next mobile phone.
Whenever I give advice on this (which is often) I always, always suggest taking the phone and walking around the shop with it for a bit.
Just as you would a pair of shoes.
You’re going to be stuck with any phone you pick for anything from 18mths upwards…
Take. Your. Time.
I agree that just the look of a phone it very important, but it isn’t the only thing that causes certain demographics to go for them time after time…
The unique software and features of any given phone – along with how heavily those specific features are advertised – has a large impact on choice.
Its going back a long way, but I remember my ex wanting the Philips Savvy because it had ‘Fortune Teller’ built into it…no accounting for taste but there you go.
I also recently went shopping with a friend to help them choose a new phone, and even though they wanted a touchscreen they were still attracted to the T303 because of the mirrored screen.
No matter how good the best phone on the market is, there will always be those who want what we would think of as the rubbish one, because its pink/my mate has one/it was in that film/ooh its shiny.
Nice piece, Vikki. I think people are reluctant to admit the importance they place on how their phone makes them look when choosing a handset. Vanity's funny like that – makes you act in a certain way, then makes you want to cover your tracks.
I don't know – in my experience (uk) people just choose whichever mobile they fancy from the carrier offering them an upgrade. “Would you like a Samsung xxx or a Nokia yyy??” Then you generally choose either the same brand you had before (customer loyalty) or the other brand if your mate has one and you've heard good things about it.
That being said, I think that is changing, people are becoming more clued-up as to what the phone actually offers. People I know now say they want an E71 or N97 or iPhone (for whatever reason), rather than just taking whats on offer. This means carriers have to be more aware of this, and actualy offer the customer what they want instead of forcing a handset on them (Three, I'm looking at you)
Thanks @Sean, I think that ties in with what @Aliguana is saying as I understand it.
From my experience (in the UK for sure) most people will look at what handset they can get for free, with the best deals on minutes/data/texts, and then make a choice based on what it looks like.
Most of my friends don't even handle the phones they upgrade to before making the move. That said, this could be down to an increased focus on basic technical features in mobile ads here..
There *is* a growing number of users that are increasingly clued up, but for now they remain in the minority.
Yes and no. No to the people who just think ” a phone's a phone”. To the rest of us, people who choose handsets that can help us create, a resounding yes! I'm a nokia N95. I create video content. It's, in my opinion, the best video phone on the market. Therefor, my mobile DOES speak volumes about me
What I find eternally frustrating is how, to my mind, many people don't really take their time when choosing their next mobile phone.
Whenever I give advice on this (which is often) I always, always suggest taking the phone and walking around the shop with it for a bit.
Just as you would a pair of shoes.
You're going to be stuck with any phone you pick for anything from 18mths upwards…
Take. Your. Time.
I agree that just the look of a phone it very important, but it isn't the only thing that causes certain demographics to go for them time after time…
The unique software and features of any given phone – along with how heavily those specific features are advertised – has a large impact on choice.
Its going back a long way, but I remember my ex wanting the Philips Savvy because it had 'Fortune Teller' built into it…no accounting for taste but there you go.
I also recently went shopping with a friend to help them choose a new phone, and even though they wanted a touchscreen they were still attracted to the T303 because of the mirrored screen.
No matter how good the best phone on the market is, there will always be those who want what we would think of as the rubbish one, because its pink/my mate has one/it was in that film/ooh its shiny.
Features, form and functionality go hand in hand with me. It’s a delicate balance between those 3. Most people buy a handset for one reason; camera, looks, screen. That’s normal, but it’s slowly starting to change with more users becoming aware of the functions of the phone as well as looks, and features.
I have to agree I would simply never buy flip phone as they are simply not cool. However apart from that function and price is much more important then style.
Features, form and functionality go hand in hand with me. It's a delicate balance between those 3. Most people buy a handset for one reason; camera, looks, screen. That's normal, but it's slowly starting to change with more users becoming aware of the functions of the phone as well as looks, and features.
I have to agree I would simply never buy flip phone as they are simply not cool. However apart from that function and price is much more important then style.
Like the article. I know people who do worry about how their phone looks when buying it. I just wish more people would worry about how they sound. My last Nokia before the current one didn’t have a normal “ring ring” tone at all. Nothing sensible at all. In desperation I found a ringing sound on t’internet, converted it and downloaded it. But a nice, normal ring can’t be too much to ask for when you work in an office and don’t want anything toooooo disruptive?
Like the article. I know people who do worry about how their phone looks when buying it. I just wish more people would worry about how they sound. My last Nokia before the current one didn't have a normal “ring ring” tone at all. Nothing sensible at all. In desperation I found a ringing sound on t'internet, converted it and downloaded it. But a nice, normal ring can't be too much to ask for when you work in an office and don't want anything toooooo disruptive?
Interesting.
I work in the industry (selling mobiles for 3 Australia). I find that customers purchase phones for many different reasons. Unfortunately, it seems most customers do not take features or useability into account. Often a customer will come in and ask for a “pink” handset or “anything with a touch screen thats cheaper than $$$”. Other customers may base their handset purchase on bad experience, so swap from one brand to another, others still may purchase because of a good experience, or the positive experience of a friend. Some may purchase phones that support certain frequencies for use in specific overseas countries, or, as is the case here, for national roaming from one network to another (3 is only 6 yrs old and has limited rural coverage here, so we have a roaming agreement in place with our most established mobile carrier, Telstra.)
Anyway, I think customers in general need to put a LOT more research into their phones prior to purchasing them. Of course I’m quite happy to sign up a customer regardless as to their choice, but I’d much rather match them with a phone that is going to work, meet their needs, match their personality and keep them happy. There’s nothing more frustrating than selling a customer the phone they “want”, even after trying to point out that its not going to meet their needs, only to have them come back and abuse you because it “doesnt do what they expected”.
Please think before you buy!!! It’s the digital age people! Please please PLEASE do some damn research!!! LoL!
Thanks!
fr0d0
Interesting.
I work in the industry (selling mobiles for 3 Australia). I find that customers purchase phones for many different reasons. Unfortunately, it seems most customers do not take features or useability into account. Often a customer will come in and ask for a “pink” handset or “anything with a touch screen thats cheaper than $$$”. Other customers may base their handset purchase on bad experience, so swap from one brand to another, others still may purchase because of a good experience, or the positive experience of a friend. Some may purchase phones that support certain frequencies for use in specific overseas countries, or, as is the case here, for national roaming from one network to another (3 is only 6 yrs old and has limited rural coverage here, so we have a roaming agreement in place with our most established mobile carrier, Telstra.)
Anyway, I think customers in general need to put a LOT more research into their phones prior to purchasing them. Of course I'm quite happy to sign up a customer regardless as to their choice, but I'd much rather match them with a phone that is going to work, meet their needs, match their personality and keep them happy. There's nothing more frustrating than selling a customer the phone they “want”, even after trying to point out that its not going to meet their needs, only to have them come back and abuse you because it “doesnt do what they expected”.
Please think before you buy!!! It's the digital age people! Please please PLEASE do some damn research!!! LoL!
Thanks!
fr0d0
i love phone..
i agree that phone is very important. but from many feature that phone have, only 2 feature that i usually use
1. SMS
2. phone
i love phone..
i agree that phone is very important. but from many feature that phone have, only 2 feature that i usually use
1. SMS
2. phone
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