CSG Systems International aims to assess how Millennial mobile attitudes change as they age in a new market research report.
Surveying nearly 1,000 young adult Millennials, CSG found they have some clearly defined priorities regarding mobile service in coming years.
That includes increasing focus on personalization, greater uptake of AI (artificial intelligence), and use of mobile services that provide intuitive high-quality entertainment content.
Millennial Mobile Attitudes
According to CSG:
- Millennials are open to the source of their future mobile service. When it comes to the type of provider millennials will choose for their future mobile service in five years’ time, respondents showed little variance. Traditional service providers held a slight edge at 35 percent, but approximately one-third of respondents noted they would expect their service to come from non-traditional providers like Google, Amazon or others to be identified. Another third of respondents noted that they expect public Wi-Fi services and other free offerings to become the norm.
- Personalized service is more important than anonymity. Almost 6 out of 10 millennials are likely to spend more for a service specifically customized to their usage patterns across voice, data, entertainment and other personalized services. And, a significant majority (over 70 percent) of millennials are likely to allow mobile providers access to their mobile usage data in order to receive a more personalized service. Millennials are slightly less comfortable when it comes to personalized advertising, with just over half (57) percent noting they would be likely to let providers use their data to better personalize advertisements.
- AI should make mobile devices smarter. Almost half of millennials want their mobile phone service to become a more intuitive personal assistant, with the ability to anticipate needs and take action. A majority (53 percent) of respondents noted that they would be willing to spend more on a mobile service that can act as a personal assistant, performing such tasks as creating meeting invites, posting to social media, booking dinner reservations, and so on.
- Millennials will spend more for a higher quality streaming experience. A high-quality viewing experience is an important factor for millennials when it comes to their future mobile service, with the overwhelming majority (83 percent) noting they plan to use their mobile device to stream online video – including YouTube, TV shows and movies. 57 percent of respondents cited better video, music, and entertainment streaming experiences as a reason to spend more on mobile service.
- Millennials want mobile providers to be a partner to make their lives easier. From home automation to mobile payments, millennials want their mobile device to make their lives easier. Forty-one percent of respondents noted they want their mobile service to become more useful for the small things in everyday life. Additionally, more than a third (35 percent) of respondents would love to see their mobile device remember payment preferences and automatically apply payments to certain transactions.
“Through this survey, we learned that millennials view their mobile service not just as a device they carry, but as a personal assistant to anticipate their needs, take actions on their behalf and ultimately make their lives easier,” said Phillip Yoo, CSG International’s president of carrier business.
“Millennials are the rising customer – and revenue base – for mobile operators, and therefore will have a significant impact on the future of the industry. To successfully attract, retain and grow with this dynamic customer of the future will require innovation across advanced technologies and entertainment options.”
An executive summary of CSG’s, “The Future of the Digital Experience: Mobile Edition,” is available free online.
Image courtesy of flickr user Merlijn Hoek.
