New Study Shows Mobile Phones Merging New, Established Roles: Communicator, Shopping Aide, Entertainment and Research Hub

Mobile phones are playing an
increasingly important role in people's daily lives -- traveling with them at
all times, helping them make key shopping decisions, and connecting them to
email, coupons, location-based services, and other applications. These are
among the findings of How People Use(R) Cell Phones, a new study from
Knowledge Networks.

Three in five (60%) mobile phone owners say they carry their phones at all
times, even inside the home -- up 50% since a 2002 KN analysis; and 32% say
they call friends or family "all the time" or "often" when making shopping
decisions, a figure that jumps to 45% among those ages 18 to 34. When asked
an open-ended question about what they dislike about their cell phones,
respondents most often (15%) said, "Nothing."

Younger users want more features

Enthusiasm for a variety of mobile phone applications, such as watching
video or using GPS-type functions, is noticeably higher among younger
generations. KN found that 61% of "Gen Y" consumers, or "Millennials," say
"the more features the better" on a cell phone, compared with 27% of Boomers.

The study also shows that, among mobile phone owners:

-- Members of Generation Y (ages 13 to 29) send an average of 20 text
messages daily, compared to just 2 for Generation X (30-43) and less than one
for Baby Boomers (44 to 64)

-- Teens are four times as likely to report having watched TV or video on
their phones as adults (8% versus 2%)

"Mobile phones are emerging as a powerful complement to the Web, in both
entertainment and information seeking," said David Tice, Vice President and
Group Account Director, Knowledge Networks and director of The Home Technology
Monitor. "Many people and businesses could not function without the Web
today, and the 'always-with-me' pervasiveness of cell phones expands the reach
of Internet functionality. As standard phones get upgraded with Web
connections and location-based-features, their utility and necessity will only
increase. Consumers are also clearly open to mobile advertising concepts that
provide them real value in exchange for their attention to a marketing
message."

Other data from Knowledge Networks -- its MultiMedia Mentor(R) media
planning resource, which includes single-source data on consumers' media
use -- affirms a connection between use of some advanced mobile phone features
and heavy use of other media. For example, consumers (ages 18 to 64) who use
cell phone video spend 27% more time per week with media (over 2 hours more
per day) compared to all mobile phone owners; this includes 60% more time on
the Internet, and almost triple the amount of time with videogames.

How People Use(R) Cell Phones shows that monthly use of the Internet via
mobile phones is limited to 13% of all cell phone owners -- a small but
growing group that may be pointing the way toward the future.

The new HPU findings are produced as part of The Home Technology
Monitor(TM), the definitive source of information on consumers' ownership and
use of new and established media technologies, from DVRs to iPhones. The
study consisted of

-- interviews with 765 members (ages 13 to 64) of KnowledgePanel(R), the
only online panel that represents the full U.S. population, and

-- an in-depth ethnographic study of cellular phone use by consumers in
different households.

Selected benchmark trends versus a KN study of cellular phone use in 2002
are also included.

The Home Technology Monitor(TM) provides the most authoritative
information on the media technologies consumers have access to -- from
cellular phones with video service to digital video recorders; its reports
draw on trend data from 1981 to the present, as well as KN's trademarked How
People Use(R) approach to studying consumers' interactions with media. Its
newest report is an annual overview of Ownership and Trends in media
technology; to produce the study, KN conducted 2,636 in-depth interviews with
a representative sample of households nationwide.

Knowledge Networks specializes in solving complex, high-impact problems,
providing extraordinary quality and service to leaders in business, government
and academia. We work closely with clients to create healthy consumer-brand
connections, effective marketing and advertising, sound public policies, and
accurate social science research. We have established respected practices in
media, marketing, advertising, and government & academic studies. KN excels
in study design, analytics, and custom panel creation; we deliver affordable,
statistically valid online research through KnowledgePanel(R) -- the only
available probability selected, nationally representative Internet panel.

For more information contact David Stanton (Vice President, Marketing
Communications) at dstanton@knowledgenetworks.com or (908) 497-8040.