2. Advertisers have been using SMS for some time and
their methods continue to take more of a customer
centric and targeted approach, especially with the use
of location based tracking to send consumers offers
based on their proximity to purchasing opportunities.
Many high profile companies even utilize SMS as a two
factor authentication method, including Google, Apple,
Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox, PayPal and LinkedIn.
When Smartphones became widely used from 2010
onwards, a contender entered the field in the shape of
over-the-top (OTT) messaging apps, whose popularity
has been growing substantially ever since, and shows
no signs of abating. So how do people use the array of
messaging options now available to them? And what is
the future for messaging?
RealityMine has conducted a study using 1355 UK
panelists, all of whom use at least one application via
their mobile device. We used our passive data
collection tool, which involves the installation of an app
on the phone of a selection of panelists who are
representative of the UK population as a whole. With
panelist’s permission, this app silently monitors their
mobile phone use, measuring 145 different metrics. For
this study, we investigate the ways in which the British
population use different messaging applications and
functionality on their mobile devices.
We are particularly focusing on the difference in
generations when it comes to messaging, as this
indicates some key learnings for network operators,
mobile phone manufacturers and telecoms retailers for
the future of customer demand regarding messaging
services.
Text messaging Vs OTT messaging
apps
Of the 1355 panelists in our survey, 46% use SMS, 27%
use Facebook Messenger and 25% use WhatsApp. SMS,
Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are the three most
used communication tools, and 98% of our panelist use
one or more of them. Google Hangouts, Skype, Snapchat
and Viber are all used between 5% to 9% of the panelists,
while Kik is only used by 2%.
Figure 1 below shows that the popularity of these
communication applications varies by generation. Whilst
‘Baby Boomers’ and ‘Generation X’ mobile users are
more inclined to communicate via SMS, there is a clear
preference among Millennials to using OTT applications,
and significant generational differences exist in the use of
WhatsApp and Snapchat in particular.
1 2 3
The first text message was sent in 1992, and by
2010 SMS was the most widely used mobile phone
application, with 80% of mobile subscribers sending
and receiving messages regularly.
An unlimited amount of texts are now commonly
included within network packages, encouraging easy
and - what might appear to be ‘free’ usage. As the
standard form of message sending and receiving,
everyone has access to text messages, and they are
therefore often used as the default option.
The future of mobile
messaging in the UK
3. When looking at all OTT messaging apps together, we
found that amongst millennials, OTT messaging
applications have overtaken SMS in popularity, with
41% of Millennial Brits using one or more OTT
messaging apps. In contrast, 38% use SMS. However,
within older generations, SMS still maintains its position
as the most popular messaging application (See figure
2).
Figure 3 displays the generational differences across
these eight messaging platforms by the number of
sessions people have, or in other words, the number of
times that the apps are accessed in comparison to the
sessions of all other mobile applications used across
the panel. SMS remains the most popular app among
Brits of all ages, in terms of the number of sessions that
are started. WhatsApp, however, is used considerably
more than other OTT messaging applications, with
Millennials, in particular being actively connected via
WhatsApp.
App usage by hour of day
By looking at the use of communication apps across the
day, our data has revealed that app usage begins to
grow at 5am and continues rapidly until 1pm. There is a
clear decrease in usage at 2pm after which the usage
grows again until its peak at 5pm. After the main peak,
the usage slowly decreases until 9pm and then drops
faster as the night progresses.
As Figure 4 visualizes, SMS is the most used
communication app during the day however at night
time (11pm-5am), the number of WhatsApp sessions
overtakes that of SMS – this may indicate a greater
willingness of people to use OTT messaging while at
home and connected to WiFi. SMS and WhatsApp
useage peaks in popularity at different times of the day
(1pm and 9pm respectively), further enforcing the case
that OTT and SMS application use could differ
considerably dependent on the context of the user.
Therefore, SMS seems to dominate communication
during the working hours while WhatsApp is chosen for
communication during the hours when the majority of
Brits are
unwinding.
Usage times by generations
When it comes to communication app usage times
between the generations, we can see some differences
in usage trends, displayed in Figure 5. Firstly, Millennials
use communication apps quite steadily during the day
and have the only clear peak at 9pm. Gen Xers have a
couple of smaller peaks during the day and the biggest
peak takes place at 8pm. Baby Boomer usage is slightly
different from the other generations: the peak time is at
10am but there are smaller peaks throughout the day, as
well as a significant drop at 3pm.
1 2 3
Figure 1, Communication app users by generation among all app users
Figure 2, Distribution of generations within each communication app
Figure 3, Communication app sessions by generations (number of
sessions among all app sessions)
Figure 4, Communication app usage by hour of day
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Millennials Gen X Baby Boomers
%ofPanalists
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Millennials Gen X Baby Boomers
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4. 1 2 3
For more information about RealityMine services:
RealityMine Limited
Warren Bruce Court
Warren Bruce Road
Manchester M17 1LB
United Kingdom
+44 (0)161 414 0750
RealityMine LLC
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New York 10122
USA
+1 (347) 918 4029
RealityMine.com
info@RealityMine.com
In figure 6, we get a closer look at the generational
differences between the number of SMS and OTT
messaging app sessions by hour of day.
Gender differences in
communication app use
When examining how men and women in different
generations use communication apps, the biggest
differences can be found in SMS within Millennials and
Facebook Messenger across all generations. Millennial
males are active SMS users (44%) when compared to
millennial females (36%).
Figure 5, Communication app usage by hour of day and generation
Figure 6, Generational differences between SMS and OTT messaging
app sessions by hour of day
Facebook Messenger is a lot more popular among female
than male consumers in every generation. The biggest
difference is seen within Baby Boomers: 33% of females
use Facebook Messenger while the same statistic for men
is only 14%. We know from previous studies that women
are generally more likely to use and be engaged by social
networking apps, such as Facebook, which may be the
driver here.
Users are not loyal
People who use SMS tend to use WhatsApp too, and vice
versa. Even though OTT apps are broadly similar to each
other, it appears that app brand owners are more likely to
be competing for usage levels, rather than users. Most of
those who use the smaller communication apps also use
SMS and WhatsApp. Only Google Hangouts and Kik are
more popular with people who don’t use SMS or WhatsApp.
Given the obvious preferences shown by different
generations - as well as genders - it’s likely that people are
highly influenced by the preferences shown by the people
they wish to communicate with. For example, people may
choose SMS to talk to parents, WhatsApp to talk to male
friends and Facebook Messenger to talk to female friends.
The future of messaging
As smartphone penetration, WiFi coverage and mobile data
accessibility continue to increase, so do alternatives to
traditional text messaging. There are strong indications of a
move away from text messaging towards the more feature
rich OTT messaging apps, particularly amongst millennials,
who tend to be early adopters of new mobile phone apps
and functionality, encouraging the older generations to
follow. This is particularly true of communication functions,
which require the same platform installation in order to have
an interaction.
0
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Hour of day
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Millennials Gen X Baby Boomers
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Baby Boomers
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Millennials
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Numberofsessions
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