Did you know that Tuesday, March 8, was International Women’s Day? No, neither did I. Now, before you start applying those old chauvinist labels, I have no idea when International Men’s Day is, either. However, this monumental day was not missed by an enterprising mobile operator in Belgium.
Mobistar used the occasion to publish results of a survey on women’s phone habits. They wanted to find how women use their mobile phones and if they have mobile phone behavior which is different from that of men?
You will, no doubt, be surprised to hear that women spend more time on the phone, and send a larger number of text messages. (Wow, I hope they didn’t spend too much money on the survey!) It gets better, though.
Amongst Mobistar customers, women communicate ‘significantly’ more than men. On average, they spend 19 minutes more on the phone per month, while each of their calls lasts, on average, an additional 15 seconds. The difference between men and women is even more pronounced when you compare the number of text messages sent. The figures reveal that each month, Mobistar´s female customers send 51 more SMS´s than their male alter egos.
What’s more, if you look at all of the Belgians who have mobile phones, you see other interesting differences between men and women. Men are generally more fond of technology than women. (Who’d have thought that?) Fifteen percent of the men have a smartphone, compared to only six per cent of the women. Not surprising when you go back to the first result that women talk and SMS more, so why would they want a fancy phone for that?
I’m not sure how best to use this valuable survey information but the conclusions are certainly worth mentioning. Take note, women it seems, have a stronger attachment than men to their mobile operator. When men were asked if they would be prepared to recommend their mobile operator to one of their friends, only 48 percent of them answered yes. Among the women, by contrast, 57 percent of those questioned say that they would be willing to plug their mobile operator among their acquaintances.
The report ends with a most interesting observation – “there’s definitely a love story going on between women and their mobile phones!” I can’t wait for the follow-up survey, hopefully in time for the next International Men’s Day.