Research: 42% prefer mobile over sex

IPSOS   CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR   RESEARCH

Hong Kong – Almost everyone has a smartphone at hand, but 42% in Hong Kong get more turned on by their mobile phones than sex, an Ipsos research on digital dilemmas found.

From 19,271 online interviews across 25 markets, 42% in Hong Kong said they would give up sex rather than their mobile phones, compared to 31% across Asia Pacific.

Between mobile phones and TV, however, 58% in Hong Kong said they would give up their phones.

Meanwhile, Ipsos released the latest Media Atlas results looking at the spending patterns, attitude and media consumption habits of 6,055 local consumers over the past year.

A quarter of the respondents spanning all age groups said they could not live without a mobile phone for various reasons such as staying informed with friends on social sites and get entertained.

Steve Garton (pictured), managing director of Ipsos Media CT said the bandwidth available in the market gives a hand to the growing trend.

Though TV and daily newspaper still remains as the most effective medium to reach the silver-haired (aged 50-64), the group is experiencing a rapid growth engaging with social media. Last year, Ipsos recorded a 64% surge of the the group connecting to social networking sites.

Garton said the silver-haired is a "blind spot" for marketers today, the increasing number of the older population (aged 50 or above) put together a lucrative market that is too good to miss.

He said the population group holds a strong purchasing power who have disposable cash in their pockets.

"They can be older in age but still be young in the head," Garton said.

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