Almost Half Say Smartphone Makers Not Doing Enough To Fight Addiction

Almost Half Say Smartphone Makers Not Doing Enough To Fight Addiction

A third say they respond to messages "within a few minutes"

Toronto, January 26th -  In a random sampling of public opinion taken by The Forum Poll™ among 1408 Canadian voters, almost half (BTM2: 45%) say they disagree that smartphone makers, such as Apple or Samsung for example, are doing enough to fight smartphone addiction, with almost a third (29%) saying they strongly disagree.

Only 1 in 20 (TOP2: 6%) say smartphone makers are doing enough, with half saying they strongly agree.

Almost 4 in 10 (38%) say they neither agree nor disagree, with 1 in 10 (10%) saying that they do not know.

Respondents most likely to say they disagree (BTM2) include those aged 34 and younger (46%), 35-44 (49%), or 55-64 (48%), females (48%), earning $60,000-$80,000 (53%), living in the Atlantic (51%) and BC (52%), with a post-graduate degree (54%), and supporting the BQ (59%).

One-third says they spend fewer than one hour a day on their smartphone

When using their smartphone to use apps such as social media, messaging, or games, one-third (34%) say that they spend less than one hour a day on their smartphone.

A quarter (27%) say they spend between one and two hours on their phone.

One-sixth (16%) say they spend between two and three hours on their phone.

Just over 1 in 10 (12%) say they spend 3 hours or more.

1 in 10 (10%) say they don’t own a smartphone, and few (1%) say they do not know.

A quarter (26%) of those aged 34 and younger say they spend three hours or more on their phones, and few (5%) in this age group reports they do not own a smartphone.

Almost a third (29%) of those aged 65+ says they do not own a smartphone.

Almost half say they respond within a few minutes or less

One sixth (16%) say that they respond to messages right away, but the plurality, equal to one third (32%) say they respond within a few minutes.

 

One-quarter (23%) say they take longer than ten minutes to reply, but less than half an hour.

1 in 10 (10%) say that it takes them between half an hour and an hour to reply. Few (3%) say that it takes between an hour or two or more than two hours (4%).

1 in 10 (11%) say that they’ll “respond eventually.”

Amongst those that use their phone three or more hours a day, nearly two-thirds (TOP2: 64%) respond to messages within a few minutes or sooner.

 

“Many Canadians use their smartphones actively, spending a considerable portion of their day using apps or responding to messages,” said Dr. Lorne Bozinoff, President of Forum Research. “Almost half of Canadians believe that smartphone makers aren’t doing enough to fight addiction to their devices, however. Some have no opinion either way, but almost no-one feels as though the smartphone makers are doing enough."

Lorne Bozinoff, Ph.D. is the president and founder of Forum Research. He can be reached at lbozinoff@forumresearch.com or at (416) 960-9603.