NOP survey reveals impatient mobile data users aren't prepared to give operators a second chance

November 13, 2005

A new NOP survey commissioned by Olista, the service experience assurance company, reveals that users who encounter problems in using new mobile data services will simply give up rather than seek assistance. According to the survey of 1000 adults carried out in September 2005, 64% of those who had actually tried to use a mobile data service such as picture messaging, ring tones and gaming downloads confessed that they would give up trying after one or two attempts. A mere 2% claimed that they would actually seek assistance from their operator or content provider and 25% said they would carry on trying until it worked.

The survey follows on from research conducted earlier this year, also commissioned by Olista, that revealed that 77% of phone users have never used any mobile data services, and of those that had, only 12% professed to be completely satisfied with the experience. The focus of the latest research was on understanding how mobile data users react to poor user experience. According to Oren Glanz, CEO of Olista, "The findings make salutary reading for mobile operators, content providers and ISPs seeking to increase the take-up of mobile data services. The monies that they are investing in call centre and self-care solutions are not working, as mobile phone use is often an impulsive activity and the majority of the public are not prepared to continue trying or seek help when the services fail to work."

When quizzed on what would encourage them to use more mobile data services, lower prices and easier to use services were top of the list with 53% and 43% of respondents, whilst 32% also felt that better help and advice at point of sale would influence them positively.

"The survey highlights the need for a proactive approach to customer care. Operators need to be able to discover a mobile data problem before the customers know about it and contact them to solve the issue or they face them never returning to the service again" states Glanz. For example by contacting a subscriber about a failure such as a MMS that did not reach its destination and explaining how to fix it before the subscriber is even aware of the problem the operator can turn the customer's experience into a positive one. It should never be too late to assure service experience and understanding the mobile content experience from the end user's point of view can be the key to ensuring customers use your service again".