mobile technology in travel report consumer insight

Report

Vol. 3: Consumer Insight

The School of Mobile:

© EyeforTravel Research. All rights reserved.2 © EyeforTravel Research. All rights reserved. 3

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EyeforTravel Ltd, July 2009


Table of Contents

Methodology 12

1. Mobile Services Access Trends 13

1.1 Mobile browser access 13

1.2 Mobile applica�on access 19

1.3 SMS access 25

2. The Mobile Traveller 21

2.1 Age 33 2.1.1 Mobile browser users 33 2.1.2 Mobile applica�ons users 35 2.1.3 SMS informa�on access users 38

2.2 Gender 41 2.2.1 Mobile browser users 41 2.2.2 Mobile applica�on users 43 2.2.3 SMS informa�on access users 44

2.3 Income 46 2.3.1 Mobile browser users 46 2.3.2 Mobile applica�on users 48 2.3.3 SMS informa�on access users 50

2.4 Length of mobile ownership 53 2.4.1 Mobile browser users 53 2.4.2 Mobile applica�on users 54 2.4.3 SMS informa�on access users 54

3. A snapshot of the UK mobile consumer 56

3.1 Percep�ons on mobile and personal space 56

3.2 How responsive may UK consumers be to mobile marke�ng? 60 3.3 Who is the UK mobile consumer? 63 3.3.1 Mobile web access by age 64 3.3.2 Mobile web access by gender 66 3.3.3 Mobile web access by income 66 3.3.4 Mobile web access by frequency of travel 67

3.4 Percep�ons of the mobile web and factors in its use 68

3.5 Is mobile working or will mobile work in travel? 70 3.5.1 In what travel context is the mobile web being used? 70 3.5.2 What and where in the buying cycle may mobile work for UK consumers? 71

3.6 How ready are UK consumer to make mobile payments? 82

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List of FiguresFigure 1: Any mobile news or services accessed via Mobile Browser, subscriber volume by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 2: Any mobile news or services accessed via Mobile Browser, subscriber volume by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 3: Any Mobile Browser access penetra�on, % by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 4: Any Mobile Browser access penetra�on, % by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 5: Travel Service* access via browser subscriber volume by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 6: Travel Service access via browser subscriber volume by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 7: Access of Travel Services by browser (penetra�on %), trend by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 8: Access of Travel Services by browser (penetra�on %), trend by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 9: Growth % of users accessing informa�on/services via mobile browser (Three month average ending December 2008 on December 2007)Figure 10: Any mobile news or services accessed via an applica�on, subscriber volume by market, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 11: Any mobile news or services accessed via an applica�on, subscriber volume by market, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 12: Any mobile news or services accessed via an applica�on penetra�on, % by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 13: Any mobile news or services accessed via an applica�on penetra�on, % by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 14: Travel Service access via applica�on subscriber volume by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 15: Travel Service access via applica�on subscriber volume by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 16: Travel Services access via applica�on penetra�on %, trend by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 17: Travel Services access via applica�on penetra�on %, trend by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 18: Growth % of users accessing informa�on/services via mobile applica�on (Three month average ending December 2008 on December 2007)Figure 19: Any mobile news or services access via SMS (volume by country), 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 20: Any mobile news or services access via SMS (volume by country), 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 21: Any Mobile SMS access penetra�on, % by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 22: Any Mobile SMS access penetra�on, % by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 23: Travel Service access via SMS subscriber volume by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averagesFigure 24: Travel Service access via SMS subscriber volume by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 25: Travel Services access via SMS penetra�on %, trend by country, 03/06 to 12/08, 3 months averages




Figure 26: Travel Services access via SMS penetra�on %, trend by country, 02/08 to 02/09, 3 months averagesFigure 27: Growth % of users accessing informa�on/services via SMS (Three month average ending December 2008 on December 2007)Figure 28: Average growth across all examined countries for ‘Any news or info’, 3 month ending February 2009 on 3 months ending February 2008Figure 29: Average growth across all examined countries for ‘Accessed Travel Service’, 3 month ending February 2009 on 3 months ending February 2008Figure 30: Age comparison by type of informa�on accessed via mobile browser (%), February 2009 Figure 31: Travel services accessed via mobile browser - Age comparison (%) by country, February 2009 Figure 32: The propor�on of mobile users accessing any news and info via mobile browsers (by age), February 2009Figure 33: Travel services via mobile browser penetra�on by country and age, February 2009Figure 34: Age breakdown by type of applica�on access and country, February 2009Figure 35: Travel services accessed via mobile applica�on - Age comparison (%) by country, February 2009 Figure 36: Propor�on of each age bracket accessing any news and informa�on via a mobile applica�on (%), February 2009Figure 37: Travel services via mobile applica�on penetra�on by country and age, February 2009Figure 38: The age of users accessing any informa�on by SMS, February 2009Figure 39: Travel services accessed via SMS - Age comparison (%) by country, February 2009 Figure 40: The propor�on of each age band who access any news or informa�on via SMS (%), February 2009Figure 41: Travel services via SMS penetra�on by country and age, February 2009Figure 42: Gender breakdown by type of browser access and country, February 2009Figure 43: Any news or informa�on via mobile browser: penetra�on by country and gender, February 2009Figure 44: Travel service via mobile browser: penetra�on by country and gender, February 2009Figure 45: Ra�o of penetra�on between male and female respondents (Penetra�on for males divided by penetra�on for females) - Browser accessFigure 46: Gender breakdown by type of applica�on access and country, February 2009Figure 47: Any news or informa�on via mobile applica�on penetra�on by country and gender, February 2009Figure 48: Travel services via mobile applica�on penetra�on by country and gender, February 2009Figure 49: Ra�o of penetra�on between male and female respondents (Penetra�on for males divided by penetra�on for females) - Mobile applica�ons, February 2009Figure 50: Gender breakdown by type of SMS access and country, February 2009Figure 51: Any news or informa�on via SMS penetra�on by country and gender, February 2009Figure 52: Travel service via SMS penetra�on by country and gender, February 2009Figure 53: Ra�o of penetra�on between male and female respondents (Penetra�on for males divided by penetra�on for females) - SMS, February 2009Figure 54: Income breakdown by type of mobile browser access and country, November 2008Figure 55: Any news or informa�on via mobile browser penetra�on by country and income, November 2008Figure 56: Travel services via mobile browser penetra�on by country and income, November 2008Figure 57: Income breakdown by type of Applica�on access and country, November 2008Figure 58: Any news or informa�on via mobile applica�on penetra�on by country and income, November 2008Figure 59: Travel services via mobile applica�on penetra�on by country and income, Nov 2008

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Figure 60: Income breakdown by type of SMS access and country, November 2008Figure 61: Any news or informa�on via SMS penetra�on by country and income, November 2008Figure 62: Travel services via SMS penetra�on by country and income, November 2008Figure 63: Ownership length vs. Access of any news and informa�on via mobile browser, Nov 2008Figure 64: Ownership length vs. Access of any news and informa�on via mobile applica�on, November 2008Figure 65: Ownership length vs. Access of any news and informa�on via SMS, November 2008Figure 66: “My mobile phone is more ‘personal’ than my computer”Figure 67: “My mobile phone number is more ‘personal’ than my email address”Figure 68: “How willing are you to share the following informa�on...?”Figure 69: “What do you LOVE about your mobile?”Figure 70: “What do you HATE about your mobile?”Figure 71: “What do you FEEL about your mobile?”Figure 72: “What do you WISH about your mobile?”Figure 73: “I am happy to get some promo�onal SMS messages from companies I buy from”Figure 74: “I do not want any promo�onal SMS messages no ma�er what”Figure 75: “I do not respond to promo�onal SMS I receive on my mobile”Figure 76: “Have you ever responded to any of the following mobile promo�onal messages?”Figure 77: “Have you ever responded to any of the following mobile promo�onal messages?” - Breakdown by ageFigure 78: “In the last month, roughly how many of the following marke�ng messages have you received?”Figure 79: Frequency of mobile web accessFigure 80: Mobile Internet access vs. phone typeFigure 81: Who is accessing the mobile web frequently? - Breakdown by ageFigure 82: Who is never accessing the mobile web? - Breakdown by ageFigure 83: Frequency of mobile web access by genderFigure 84: Who is accessing the mobile web frequently? - Breakdown by incomeFigure 85: Who is never accessing the mobile web? - Breakdown by incomeFigure 86: Days of travel for business vs. frequency of mobile web accessFigure 87: Days of travel for leisure vs. frequency of mobile web accessFigure 88: Percep�ons of mobile web useFigure 89: “What are the best things about being able to access the internet on your mobile phone?”Figure 89: “How o�en do you access the mobile web in the following situa�ons?”Figure 90: “What holds you back from using your mobile to access the internet more when travelling?”Figure 91: “How appealing would it be to do the following on your mobile phone before you travelled?”Figure 92: “How appealing would it be to receive last minute deals on your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 93: Who finds it appealing to receive last minute deals on their mobile phone before travelling? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 94: “How appealing would it be to change bookings via your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 95: Who finds it appealing to be able to change a booking on their mobile phone before travelling? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 96: “How appealing would it be to hire a car via your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 97: Who finds mobile car rental booking before travelling an appealing op�on? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responses

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Figure 98: “How appealing would it be to book a hotel for overnight stay via your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 99: Who finds mobile hotel booking (for an overnight stay) before travelling an appealing op�on? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 100: “How appealing would it be to book a hotel for your main holiday via your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 101: Who finds mobile hotel booking (for main stay) before travelling an appealing op�on? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 102: “How appealing would it be to book a cruise or package via your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 103: Who finds mobile cruise or package bookings before travelling an appealing op�on? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 104: “How appealing would it be to book a train via your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 105: Who finds mobile train bookings before travelling an appealing op�on? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 106: “How appealing would it be to book a flight via your mobile phone BEFORE you travelled?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 107: Who finds mobile flight bookings before travelling an appealing op�on? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 108: “How appealing would it be to do the following on your mobile phone whilst travelling?”Figure 109: “How appealing would it be to hire a car via your mobile phone DURING your travels?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 110: Who finds mobile car hire bookings during travelling an appealing op�on? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 111: “How appealing would it be to access local des�na�on content wri�en by travellers via your mobile phone DURING your travels?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 112: Who finds it appealing to access local des�na�on content wri�en by travellers during travelling via mobile phone? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 113: “How appealing would it be to find local a�rac�ons using loca�on based services via your mobile phone DURING your travels?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 114: Who finds it appealing to find local a�rac�ons using loca�on based services via their mobile phone during travelling? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 115: “How appealing would it be to be able to upload pictures and holiday thoughts from friends and family via your mobile phone AFTER your travels?” (Breakdown by age)Figure 116: Who finds it appealing to be able to upload pictures and holiday thoughts from friends and family via mobile phone a�er travelling? - Age breakdown of the consolidated ‘appealing’ responsesFigure 117: “Would you be happy paying for content or services over your mobile phone and what payment op�ons suits you best?“ - by payment sizeFigure 118: Appeal of mobile payment op�ons for small payments (£1 - £5) - Breakdown by ageFigure 119: Appeal of mobile payment op�ons for large payments (>100 £) - Breakdown by ageFigure 120: “What do you consider useful about the mobile internet?”Figure 121: “How do you FEEL about receiving promo�onal SMS messages on your mobile?”Figure 122: “What would involve your absolute ideal mobile service for travelling?”

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Chapter 1 - The Travel Buying Cycle


Chapter 1 - The Travel Buying Cycle

Welcome back to Part Three of

The School of MobileThis report is all about building an understanding of the mobile traveller. One of the most difficult things about embracing mobile is trying to do so without really knowing who uses mobile travel services or who poten�ally will. This report aims to begin that process of understanding. This focus has been driven by the travel industry’s demand for an understanding of who the mobile user is, what drives and cons�tutes the mobile traveller and how to go about educa�ng the consumer. Becoming more familiar with the mobile user is vital for building a solid business case for mobile.

So what have we learnt about the mobile travel consumer up to this point? In the first report (Mobile Technology in Travel Report: The Introduc�on) we learnt in a general sense about how consumers are using mobile devices and the astonishing growth of the mobile ecosystem whether it is in terms of mobile adop�on in general, data use, search, downloading mobile applica�ons or browsing the mobile internet. Mobile is at the point where ongoing growth suggests a similarity to many other areas of technology and almost exponen�al.

In the second report (Mobile Technology in Travel Report: The Detail) we were able to tease out some great nuggets of insight about how leading travel companies view the mobile traveller (whether they are travelling for business or leisure) and some great guidelines in terms of developing user-centric mobile ini�a�ves.

Welcome back to Part Three of The School of Mobile

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Highlights on the mobile consumer that emerged in The Detail report include some real posi�ves:

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It is important to think in terms of ‘scenarios’ as to how a typical customer could use their mobile as they engage with brand touch-points and move through their travel experience.

Some mobile travel consumers are willing to pay for innova�ve and appealing services on their mobile phones as the mobile culture has always operated on a paid service model in marked contrast to the free culture of the internet. Micropayments are a good way to generate revenue streams from customers using your mobile services.

It is clear that some customers want to share informa�on about their trips and they want to do so in a way that is simple and user-friendly. Customers are proving very recep�ve to the idea that travel companies act as ‘enablers’ of the en�re travel experience and have shown interest in such mobile ini�a�ves.




Some clear points of cau�on and prac�cal advice :

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Some excellent insights from our case-study contributors:

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Effec�ve delivery of services to an individuals’ mobile device must be defined by personalisa�on and relevance.Mobile travel consumers have high expecta�ons and are impa�ent with services that are expensive, have a poor user experience or add any nega�vity to their travel experience.Mobile travel consumers are very sensi�ve about their personal mobile device being used for marke�ng and adver�sing, care is needed.With respect to serving the mobile customer effec�vely, the answer is in the detailUsability, Usability, Usability. Oh and did we men�on usability?Your mobile customers are not just repackaged, scaled down and poorly focused versions of your online customers so don’t offer them mobile products and services that treat them as such. Once you lose a customer on mobile, given its personal nature it will prove almost impossible to get them back.

Sixt advises: When it comes to offering services to mobile customers; ‘less is more’Lu�hansa reminds us that your customers are mobile so as a travel company you need to be tooLu�hansa also notes that mobile is a standalone medium and that it offers new ways to connect with your customers and that it is a different not a limited channelEgencia notes that some�mes, travel companies say ‘we tried something on mobile but nobody used it’ - you cannot push technology only through technology and you need to shout from the hilltops to your customers that you are mobile and that they should be trying your sexy new offering... engage your customers to buy-in to mobileRearden Commerce and Egencia advise companies to be aware of being en�rely led by what customers say they want. Be user-centric but do not slavishly develop products and services. It is more important to an�cipate customer’s needs and how they will use their mobiles in prac�ce rather than developing a par�cular piece of func�onality based on superficial customer feedbackSome customers love to use products and services that are addic�ve and fun. Rearden Commerce has taken this to heart in delivering mobile services that recognise that corporate travellers are social beings too.Kayak indicates that mobile can be used to re-energise rela�onships with exis�ng customers and engage with new customersLonely Planet has been focusing on mobile as a window into how customers are changing. They have found some consumers want to engage in rich content and social media ac�vi�es delivered via their personal mobile device. This reflects the evolving rela�onship between content, experience and social mediaLonely Planet recognise that as customers evolve they are demanding a more and more interac�ve rela�onship with brands




Welcome back to Part Three of The School of Mobile

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In order to be successful in mobile it is necessary to match and indeed exceed customer expecta�ons. Much of the Travel School of Mobile going forward will be about working out exactly what those expecta�ons are, the values, needs and desires, and how they are formed par�cularly in light of different social and cultural contexts and taking account of demographics, traveller typologies and geographies.

So with those thoughts in mind, we would like to present the third report in our Travel School of Mobile series. This report includes an analysis of top level data developed by m:metrics to provide a somewhat detailed overview of the mobile users in some of the key travel markets around the world. Plus from a survey conducted in May 2009, we take a look at a sample of UK consumers to offer a taster of user percep�ons towards mobile and offer data to quan�fy customer views and ac�vi�es towards the mobile phone and mobile travel services.

Fully fleshed out mobile travel consumer profiles from around the world, the most insigh�ul consumer research the travel industry (and probably any industry) will have ever seen on mobile users, quan�ta�ve and qualita�ve in-depth analysis, plus further in-depth insight into the technologies and solu�ons available to reach and impact the mobile in travel customer will be launched in the next report at World Travel Market 2009. This report (Mobile Technology in Travel Report: Global Consumer Intelligence) will provide the next ingredient to enable travel and tourism companies to move confidently and more effec�vely into mobile. But for now, welcome to the Consumer Insight report, and we hope you find this data a very good start. So without further ado, welcome to the Consumer Insight Report.

Don’t assume customers will use a service in a par�cular way. lastminute.com suggests that customers do not necessarily behave in the way you expect and it is necessary to understand the broader concept of ‘mobility’ when crea�ng mobile products and services that are customer-centric. Deliver a mobile service that is tailored to the way customers actually move through the travel experienceEgencia have learnt that a part of understanding and serving mobile travellers is in applying the concept of the ‘�me value of money.’ This is extremely important to not only corporate travellers but discerning leisure travellers as wellPut yourself in your customers’ shoes and be cri�cal. WAYN have stressed that mobile ini�a�ves should always enhance the core value proposi�on to the customer, if the added value is not clear-cut then don’t bother; go back to the drawing board WAYN also points out that mobile consumers are social consumers, they note that the travel industry needs to think about mobile as inherently viral and that having a compelling service that users want to show their friends and acquaintances should not be underes�mated. This way, the customers can help to do a lot of the hard work for you! Don’t treat mobile as a box �cking exercise, Visit Britain warns, your mobile customers deserve be�er and it is crucial to develop services that reflect how customers use their mobiles