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Consumer Preferences for Internet Access and Online Activities Market Research Report Commissioned by the Internet Innovation Alliance June 27, 2018
Consumer Preferences for Internet Access and Online Activities Market Research Report
Commissioned by the Internet Innovation Alliance
June 27, 2018
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I- Project Background and Methodology Overview II- Top Line Results and Key Demographic Cross-tabs
A- Internet Access Preference Question B- Mobile Activities Question: Part 1 C- Mobile Activities Question: Part 2 D- Reluctance in Switching to Mobile Plans Question
III- Conclusion
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I-PROJECTBACKGROUNDANDMETHODOLOGYOVERVIEW
IntroductionandProjectObjectives
CivicSciencewasenlistedbytheInternetInnovationAlliance(IIA)inMayof2018toconductanobjective,large scalestudyofU.S.consumersandtheironlinebehaviors,meansofInternetaccess,thearrayofactivitiesperformedontheirmobiledevice,andreasonsbehindtheirwillingnesstoswitch(ornot)tomobile onlywebaccess.CivicSciencedesignedaquestionnaireandsamplingapproachtoachieveahigh confidence,representativeviewoftheonlineU.S.adultpopulation,withsufficientsamplesizestoensurestatistically significantCross tabulationbykeydemographic,geographic,andpsychographicrespondentattributes.DatacontainedinthisreportreflectconsumerresponsesfortheperiodofMay15throughJune10,2018.SummaryFindings
AnincreasingnumberofAmericansarerelyingprimarilyontheirsmartphonesorotherdevicestoaccesstheInternetandusingweb enabledmobiledevicestoaccessabroadnumberandtypeofactivities,services,andoverallinformation.Assuch,theactivitiestheyareperformingonthosedevices,theirexpectationsforperformanceandaffordability,andtheirmotivationsformobileInternetusageareincreasinglysimilartothoseofwiredbroadbandInternetusage.WhiledifferentsegmentsofU.S.consumerspreferaccessingtheInternetindifferentways,1in5“don’tcare”howtheyaccesstheweb,solongastheirotherneedsandvalues(speed,reliability,etc.)aremet.TheblurringdistinctionbetweenmobileandwiredbroadbandInternetusageisparticularlyprevalentamongtheyoungerandfast growingsegmentsoftheU.S.population,aswellaslowerincomehouseholds.Forconsumersbelowtheageof55,lessthanhalfconsistentlyreportpreferringtoaccesstheInternetthroughwiredtechnologylikecable,fiber,orDSL.
Over30%ofGenZandMillennialsprefertoaccessthewebviamobilephone,asdo30%ofBlacksand39%ofHispanics.Thesedemographicsegmentsarealsoregularlyusingtheirmobilephonesforabroaderarrayofactivities,frommappingservicesandsocialmedia,tohomeworkassignmentsandjobsearching.Approximately6%ofconsumersreportthattheyhavealreadyswitchedtomobile onlyInternetaccess,orthattheyareconsideringswitching.Atthistime,themainreasonsconsumersreportnotswitchingtomobile onlyarethattheirhomeInternetserviceisbundledwithphoneandcableorthattheyhaveconcernsaboutthespeedofmobile onlyInternetaccess.Concernsaboutspeedprimarilyexplainwhyconsumersbetweentheagesof18and44havenot
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switchedtomobile onlyInternetaccess.AlthoughbundledInternetservicehelpsexplainwhymanyWhiteandBlackhouseholdshavenotswitchedtomobile onlyservice(31%and27%respectively),speedisthemainreasonHispanichouseholdscurrentlyavoidswitching,andisaclosesecondexplanationforBlackhouseholds(26%).AboutCivicScience
CivicScienceisapollingandmarketresearchcompany,foundedin2007andbasedinPittsburgh,Pennsylvania.Thecompanycombinesaprovenweb basedsurveytechniquetoachievelarge,representativesamplesoftheU.S.population,withaproprietarydatabasetechnologytoperformsophisticatedcomputationsandinsightdiscoverywithinthecompany’slargerespondentdataset.CivicScienceprovidessyndicatedandcustomdata,software,andrelatedservicestoanarrayofprivatesectorandnon profitcustomers,acrossnumerousindustriesandfieldsofscience.CivicScienceisexpresslynon partisanandotherwiseunaffiliatedwithanyorganizationsorpoliticalentitieswhichwouldinfluenceresearchdesign,analysis,orrecommendations.AbouttheMethodology
CivicScienceadministersadailysyndicatedandcustom‘omnibus’trackingsurvey,deliveredtorespondentsinsmallincrementsoveralargeanddiversenetworkof1st partyand3rd partywebandmobileapplications.Individualsessionsarebrief,convenient,andengagingfortherespondents–ascomparedtotraditional,long formtelephoneandonlinepanelsurveys.Asaresult,CivicScienceovercomesdecliningresponserates,whichhaveplaguedtraditionalsurveymethodologiesinrecentyears,particularlyamongnotoriously hard to reachsubpopulationslikeMillennialsandminorities.CivicSciencerespondentsparticipatevoluntarily,inordertoseeresultsand/ortovoicetheiropinion,withnofinancialorotherextrinsicreward.Thisvoluntary,non compensatedparticipationsignificantlyreducesknownrespondentbiasesassociatedwithreward basedpanelsorpaidsurveymodes.Althoughrespondentsonlyanswerasmallnumberofrandomizedquestionsinagivensession,CivicScienceattachessubsequentresponsestoaunique,anonymousdigitalidentifiertotrackrespondentslongitudinally,buildrespondentprofiles,andenableCross tabulation.Allrespondentattributes,includingdemographics,aredirectlyreportedviasurveyresponses,withtheexceptionofgeo location,whichisascertainedviaInternetProtocol(IP)Addresslook up.
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(AmoredetailedexplanationofCivicScience’smethodology,includinglinkstorelatedwhitepapers,independentassessment,andscientificreferencescanbeaccessedhere).AboutThisStudy
Toachievetheprojectobjectives,CivicSciencedesignedafour question(*)surveydeliveredinone questionincrementstoarandomquota basedsampleofaminimumof10,000onlineU.S.adultrespondentsaged18andolder.QuotaswereestablishedtobuildarespondentpopulationmatchedpreciselytothefullU.S.populationbasedon2010U.S.Censusstatisticsforage,gender,andU.S.region.Forthekeydemographicsubpopulations(**/***)analyzedinthisreport,CivicScienceperformedbasicandminimalreweightingtoensureprecisealignmentwithCensusnorms.Allquestionsandsamplesproducedamarginoferroroflessthan+/ 1%.
Note1*:MobileActivitiesQuestionThesecondandthirdquestioninthisreportfocusonvariousactivitiesAmericansperformontheirmobilephones.Giventhatpotentialmobileactivitiesarevirtuallylimitless,wenarrowedtheansweroptionstoadiverseandencompassinglistofcommonactivities;however,theyarebynomeansfullyexhaustive.Evenwiththisnarrowerselection,wewereleftwith8possiblechoices,andtwoopt-outselections.Inourexperience,questionswithanunwieldynumberofansweroptions(8ormore)yieldlowerresponse(orhigherdrop-out)rates,potentiallycreatinglatentbiasesintheremainingsample.Toguardagainstthisrisk,weoptedtobreakthequestionintotwoseparatecheck-boxquestions,eachwith6possibleoptions.Note2**:Cross-tabulationSampleSizesDuetothenatureoftheCivicSciencecollectionmethodology,notallattributesareknownabouteveryrespondentinoursampleatanygiventime.Forexample,somerespondentsmayhaveencounteredourInternetActivitiesquestionpriortohavingansweredprofilequestionsabouttheirresidentialarea.Forthepurposesofthisstudy,Cross-tabulationtablesonlyincludedrespondentswhohadansweredthosekeydemographicquestionsANDtheprojectresearchquestions,withinthestudytimeframe.Assuch,Cross-tabsamplesizesfortheResidentialAreaquestionaresmallerthanourtop-linesamples,butstillstatistically-significantinscaleandrepresentativeness.Note3***:Cross-tabulationsAnalyzedCivicSciencemaintainsextensivedemographicandpsychographicprofilesoftherespondentswhohaveansweredoursurveyquestionsovertime.Forthepurposesofthisreport,wefocusedonsubpopulationswherevariabilityinmobileInternetusage,meansofaccess,andmotivationswerenotable–namelyrespondentAge,Race,ResidentialArea,andParentalStatus.WedonotdiscussGender,forinstance,wherewefoundlittlerelevantvariability;however,thosedataareavailableuponrequest.
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II-TOPLINERESULTSANDKEYDEMOGRAPHICCROSS-TABSQuestion1(InternetAccessPreference)–ToplineResults
Question1(InternetAccessPreference)–ToplineResultsSummary
ThelargestsegmentofU.S.adultspreferstoaccesstheInternetbywayofacablemodem,withthesecondlargestgrouppreferringtouseamobileplanviatheirsmartphoneortablet.Oneinfiverespondentssaidthey“don’tcare”howtheyaccesstheInternet.SatelliteandDial uparestillpreferredbysmallgroupsofU.S.consumers.
26%23%
20%
14%
7%
4% 3% 3%
How do you prefer to access the Internet?
Cable modemSmartphone / tablet (mobile plan)I don't care how I access the InternetFiber optic serviceDSLOtherSatelliteDial-up
May 15 - June 10 2018 +/- 1% n = 10 048
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Question1(InternetActivities1)–RaceCross-tabResults
Question1(InternetAccessPreference)–RaceCross-tabSummary
PreferenceforSmartphone/TabletaccessissignificantlyhighestamongHispanicandBlackrespondents,withCableModemaccesshighestamongWhitesandOtherraces.CableModemandFiberOpticaccessislowestamongHispanics.TheremainingcategoriesarerelativelyconsistentacrossRacegroups,varyingbyonlyacouplepercentagepoints.
May 15 - June 10 2018 n = 8 993
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Question4(ReluctancetoSwitchtoMobilePlans)–ToplineResults
Question4(ReluctancetoSwitchtoMobilePlans)–ToplineResultsSummary
U.SconsumerslistanumberofreasonsforchoosingnottoswitchtheirprimaryInternetservicetoamobile onlyplan.ThemostcommonreasonisthatmanyrespondentshavetheirhomeInternetservicebundledwiththeirphoneandcablebill.Otherwise,thedeterrentsarespreadsomewhatevenlywithfearsofslowerInternetspeedandreliabilityofservicerankinghighly.
24%
20% 20%16%
15%13%
11%
28%
6%
If you currently subscribe to a home internet service provider, which of the following explains why you haven’t switched to ONLY using a mobile plan (such as
using the internet from your cell phone provider, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile etc.)? (Select all that
SpeedAffordabilityReliabilityOtherEase / comfortAvailabilitySecurityMy home internet service is connected to my phone and cable billI already switched and only use a mobile plan / I’m considering switching
May 15 - June 10 2018 +/- 1% n = 10 087
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III-CONCLUSIONThedatacollectedforthisprojectrepresentastraight forwardandunsurprisingviewofAmericans’mobilehabitsandattitudes.Whilemobileusageoverallandthebreadthofactivitiesonmobilehaveincreased,thosenumbersarelikelytocontinuesurging,giventherelianceonmobiledevicesamongyoungerandhigh growthdemographicgroups.Asconsumersdevelopmoreconfidencewiththespeed,reliability,andotheraspectsofmobileInternetaccess,thedistinctionbetweenwiredandmobileInternetaccesswillfurtherdissolve.CONTACT: JohnDick,CEO,CivicScience [email protected] (P)412 559 9032 6101PennAve Pittsburgh,PA15206
