TORONTO/EWORLDWIRE/Nov. 29, 2005 --- When it comes to the use of enhanced mobile features such as texting and downloading ringtones, a national study finds that African Americans and Hispanics lead the market."If you want to know where mobile technology is going, watch these two groups of early adopters," said Kaan Yigit, Study Director. "Similar to their culture - leading impact on music, entertainment and sports, African American and Hispanic consumers are leading the charge in mobile technology as cellular phones morph into all-in-one personal portals for entertainment and communication."
Among the key findings of the research are:
- 52 percent of Hispanics and 48 percent of African American cell phone owners text messaged in the past month, much higher than the overall average of 29 percent.
- Staying connected is particularly important to Hispanic Americans. 64 percent agree with the statement "I'm the kind of person who likes to be in touch all the time," compared to the national average of 54 percent.
- African Americans are more likely to download ringtones: 37 percent of African American cellular owners downloaded a ringtone in the past, followed by Hispanics (28 percent) versus an overall average of 26 percent.
- Both Hispanics and African Americans are more likely to agree that "technology makes [my] life easier" (80 percent and 75 percent agree respectively, compared to an overall average of 72 percent).
- While Verizon and Cingular are the leading wireless carriers nationally overall, the leading wireless provider - by a significant margin - for African Americans and Hispanics is Sprint.
The information for this release comes from a random national sample of 1,062 interviews conducted via telephone in May/June 2005. The survey is part of a series of North American syndicated research programs by Toronto -based Solutions Research Group, Digital Life America in the U. S. and Fast Forward (TM) in Canada. To maintain an unbiased perspective, the company funds its own syndicated research.
The sample for the survey statistically reflects the regional and age/ sex composition of the U. S. population. The results of the overall survey are accurate to 3.0 points for the population, 19 times out of 20.
For more information, contact David Ackerman at dackerman@srgnet.com or 1.866.358.5986 ext. 25, or Kaan Yigit at kyigit@srgnet.com respectively or 1.866.358.5986 ext. 22.
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