Consumers Choose Mobile Messages over Holiday Cards, Phone Calls Home
CloudTalk Survey Finds More Americans Will Send Their Holiday Greetings as Mobile Messages This Year
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- With the holiday season in full swing, reliance on mobile devices only increases for American consumers as they cling to their pocket-sized friends to get through the most wonderful time of the year. In fact, according to a new study, more than 70 percent of consumers are even breaking the tradition of holiday greeting cards and relying on mobile messaging to say Happy Hanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza and Festivus for the rest of us this year.
The survey, conducted by social communications platform CloudTalk, shows that messaging still reigns supreme as the number one mobile device activity for consumers. And it’s not just texting consumers are engaging in, but sharing photos, videos and voice messages to express the authenticity and emotion that does not come through in a text alone. In fact, these modes of communication are among the top activities consumers will engage in on their mobile devices this holiday season:
| 1. Messaging— more than 90 percent | 5. Listening to Music—60 percent | ||||
| 2. Talking— more than 80 percent | 6. Navigating – 60 percent | ||||
| 3. Taking & Sharing Photos— 80 percent | 7. Shopping— 50 percent | ||||
| 4. Surfing the Web and Social Networking (tied for fourth place) – 70 percent | 8. Playing Games – 50 percent | ||||
Americans have become so attached to their mobile devices, that aside from spurning greeting cards, another holiday tradition is being affected – the phone call home to loved ones. More than one third of respondents plan to message their family vs. pick up the phone this holiday season and a text or other mobile message (with text, recorded voice, photo or video) will do just fine for friends, colleagues and everyone else according to 75 percent of respondents.
“We’re seeing that mobile messaging is becoming an increasingly integral part of people’s day-to-day lives,” said David Hayden, chairman and CEO of CloudTalk. “And though texting remains a favorite mode of asynchronous communication, we’re seeing more consumers wanting to integrate voice, photo and video in their messages as well. CloudTalk users in particular, appreciate the emotion, authenticity and convenience of communicating with their voice.”
So just how much do consumers depend on their mobile phones to make it through the holiday season in one piece? Survey participants said they would consider giving up dessert (84 percent), presents (56 percent) and even sex (35 percent) to keep their mobile life-lines by their sides. And because consumers love their mobile phones so much, more than 50 percent said they’re planning to give them their own holiday gifts this year in the form of digital media, such as music, movies and apps.
About CloudTalk
CloudTalk is the only social platform to integrate asynchronous voice as well as text, photo and video sharing all in one messaging application for a more interactive experience that is similar to the way we communicate in real life. The CloudTalk messenger (public) and Let’s Talk (private) apps are free for consumers and deliver a rich communications experience enabling both public and private interactions with users’ social circles wherever they are. All apps in the CloudTalk ecosystem are available for iOS, (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) and Android OS.
The CloudTalk platform also enables companies to automatically integrate voice, text and multimedia sharing capabilities into their Web or mobile communications offerings, providing both monetary and time-to-market advantages. The company is based in San Francisco, Calif. and was founded in April 2009. For more information, visit www.cloudtalk.com and follow the company on Twitter at @CloudTalking.
About the Survey
This survey was conducted informally by CloudTalk via social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter and CloudTalk’s own community on the CloudTalk messenger app. The more than 100 survey participants were entered into a drawing for a chance to win a CloudTalk t-shirt and $50 iTunes gift card.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50098422&lang=en
CONTACT:
Media Contact:
For CloudTalk
Andrea MacLean, 415-694-6710
amaclean@racepointgroup.com
KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Technology Internet Mobile/Wireless
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