Users in the youth and young adult segment showed strong interest in using wireless entertainment and multimedia services, according to a new market research report by The Management Network Group Inc.
The online study polled 1,000 people between the ages of 13 and 34 earlier this year to gauge interest in forthcoming broadband multimedia services and the willingness of users in that category to pay for services. Service concepts studied were commercial-free radio, music downloads, mobile television, video clips and multiplayer 3D gaming. TMNG studied both pay-per-use and monthly fee models.
TMNG said more than half of this age group consider their mobile phone to be their primary phone line, and about 12 percent do not have a fixed-line phone. Although the age category studied was broad, the biggest differences were related more to gender than to age.
“There is often the perception that when people reach adulthood their interest in entertainment or content declines, but we found that wasn’t the case at all,” said Paul Petersky.
About 40 percent of those polled said they were either extremely or very interested in using at least one of the five service concepts outlined in the study. Overall, male users between the ages of 13 and 24 expressed the most interest in all of the services. In addition, users who actively use existing wireless data services, as well as those who are frequent purchasers of traditional music and video media, had a greater interest in future wireless multimedia services, said the report.
The two music categories, commercial-free radio and music downloads, represent the largest opportunity for wireless carriers based on the study’s findings of a combination of usage interest, likelihood that users would recommend such services to others and their likelihood to pay for services.
The video concepts of mobile television and video clips generated slightly less interest. About one in five respondents said they would be willing to pay for a video clip service. Another 20 percent said they would be interested in receiving video clips that were supported commercially.
“There has to be a careful balance between spam and offering what is relevant to them,” said Petersky. “It is a compelling opportunity for advertisers to reach a market that has been elusive through traditional media.”
The study specifically pointed to the cable industry as one that could benefit from future wireless video services by offering such services as video highlights of upcoming programming to drive customers to their core products. However, according to the report, the cable industry today is not well positioned to capitalize on that opportunity.
Multiplayer 3D game concepts proved most popular among respondents in the 13- to 17-year-old category, and more male respondents expressed interest in such services than females. Petersky said video games likely represent the biggest leap a user must make between traditional gaming consoles and playing a game on a mobile phone.
“Gamers are used to using a PC or console with accelerated graphics, a large screen and high-quality sound,” said Petersky. “The experience can’t be as easily re-created on a handset. With music, it’s not as big a leap from using an iPod to enjoying music through a mobile handset.”
The study also found that one-quarter of respondents would be likely to change service providers if their existing carrier did not offer these services, and there was equal interest in service among prepaid and postpaid subscribers.
