Survey Says

URBAN LIFE WAVE 03 2010 HIGHLIGHTS

Here are the results from the third main Urban Life survey of the year. The lucky winner of the £1,000 prize for this survey is from Berkshire.  He is planning to spend the money on taking his kids on a trip of a lifetime to Disneyland.

Don’t forget, anyone completing at least four surveys across the year will be entered into the £5000 grand prize draw at the end of the year, where we’ll pick one winner at random.  This is still achievable for most of you, so keep your answers coming - you’ve got to be in it to win it!
 

Have your say

The coalition government

We asked you how you thought the new coalition government was doing so far.  You were more likely to say ‘good’ (42%) than ‘bad’ (12%), however there was a lot of uncertainty, with 41% saying ‘neither good nor bad’.

You may have been hedging your bets to wait and see how the emergency budget would affect you.  This took place on June 22nd (after we invited you to take this survey.)  Probably due to the post-recession deficit, the majority (70%) of you were in fact worried about what cuts would be made following the budget review.  Those of you outside of London expected it to have worse impact than the Londoners among you. 

How much do you love your job?
 
Half of you said you would be willing to take a pay cut in order to keep your job, although most were only willing to accept a cut of less than 10%.  When asked whether public sector workers should take a pay cut to help pay for Britain’s debt, 43% of you were of the opinion that they should.  10% thought that they should take a pay cut of more than 10%.  
Urban life

Mobile phones

Onto the ever changing world of mobile phones now…5% of you claim that you do not have a mobile phone.  We hear that smoke signals are making a come-back!  Of those who do have a mobile phone, 97% have a personal mobile and 24% of you have a work mobile.  4 in 5 of you have a monthly contract and 1 in 5 are on pay-as-you-go (PAYG). 

O2 is your most commonly used mobile phone network, although Orange and Vodafone are not too far behind.  69% of you claim to be happy with your network, although a whopping 6 in 10 of you say you’re open to switching network if you’re offered a good enough deal; advertisers take note.  Good customer service was one of the things you look for when choosing a network provider.  Being able to speak to a real person rather than an automated service was a large part of this requirement.
 
Out of all your mobile handset brands Nokia gets the lion’s share. Apple comes next, with 1 in 5 of you the proud owners of an iPhone and almost half of you are planning on getting one next.  In total, over half (53%) of you own a smartphone (phones which offer more advanced computing ability and connectivity than basic phones.)  Smartphone users have purchased 7 apps on average, though the average is boosted by iPhone users, who have purchased an average of 14 apps each.  Facebook, Google maps and Sky (news/sport) are the apps you turn to most.  You also cleverly came up with lots of your own ideas for new apps…Dragon’s Den awaits you!  Here’s just a few of our favourites:
 
“A reflective Mirror.”
 
“An app that tells you where you put your keys after a heavy night before.”
 
“A gig guide to every venue in a local city/radius.”
 
“I want there to be a wireless plug device so I can turn mains appliances on and off using the iPhone. For example, you could boil the kettle as you walk up the street so it was boiled when you get home.”
 
Android is a mobile phone platform for smartphones.  72% of you had heard of Android phones before we told you about them.  7% of you own one yourself and a further 7% plan to get one.  Most of you like the sound of phones on the Android platform, with over half of you who are clued up on Android agreeing that ‘they’re cool’ and 61% agreeing they offer good functionality.   Lots of you felt that there isn’t enough information available on Android phones however, which is not surprising given that the technology is in its early stages.   
 
The jury’s still out on the much contested Apple iPad…2% own one and a further 17% definitely want one, but 29% are yet to be convinced - you might want one, but you haven’t decided yet.  This indecision could be due to the iPad creating a new space in the market. Consequently there’s some debate over how this product will fit into the current media landscape and peoples’ lifestyles. 
 

Charitable giving

83% of you have donated money to charity in the last 12 months – 29% by direct debit, 56% via one-off donations and 24% through other means.  86% of those with direct debits to charities donate monthly and the average direct debit amount is £18, which is higher for men (£22 versus £13 for women.)  Most of you choose a charity to donate to based on a personal link you have to a charity, or a cause you care most about. 

 

Media & Ents

Skiing/snowboarding

7% of you have been on a ski/snowboard holiday in the last 12 months, and 31% of you have ever been on one.  France is where you’re most likely to be shoop-shooping…is it the mountains, the food or the good looking instructors?!  Who knows, but you love it! 
 

Urban rant

There’s no doubt about it, camping is not for everyone.  We asked you if camping fills you with glee or whether you’d rather eat your own hand than set foot inside a campsite.   It was a pretty even split but overall there was more love  than hate for camping.  Here’s a few of your anecdotes…

Camping lovers:
 
“Love it, in any form and aspect. Great, cheap break with a low-stress feel to it.”
 
“Love being outdoors and close to nature... a great cheap trip and lots of fun even when it rains...”
 
“What’s not to love... apart from the floppy useless tents and soggy damp smelly bedding.  But a big fry up and cuppa, sat in a field with a nice bit of scenery makes up for it.”
 
“Love it!  You just feel so naughty when out in nature!  No rules apply!”
 
“Love camping, it is a great way to force you to slow down as everything needs to be done slowly especially the cooking.  Breakfast can take 2 hours from start to clean up finish!”
 
Camping haters:
 
“Cold, wet, too much of a palarva.”
 
“P*ssing in a bucket, and sharing dirty showers. Lovely.”
 
“Not done it since I was 10 and when I go away I want to be pampered from head to toe...how the hell can that happen when you're camping?!”
 
“Only been camping twice at a friends insistance and she also organised sleeping arrangements as i was a camping virgin, she had a bed which would not have looked out of place in the princess and the pea story and i had a yoga mat on top of a speed bump.”
 
“Why - sit in a tent wilth mild food poisioning from food if lucky, wasps if sunny, hypothermia and mud if raining- to get a rubbish nights sleep on the ground- we have hotels people.”
 
Trivia time

We asked you which company has a larger share of the technology sector, Microsoft or Apple.  51% of you opted for Microsoft whilst 47% correctly opted for Apple.  In fact prior to the UK iPad launch, shares in Apple reached £153bn, surpassing Microsoft’s £151bn.  Thus making Apple the world’s biggest technology company based on market value. 

U2 pulled out of Glastonbury’s 40th festival this year and we asked you would have been lined up to replace them.  A tidy 59% of you knew that Gorillaz were the lucky ones to step in, well done.
 
You certainly know your old school computer games too.  Given the choice of Pac man, Tetris, Super Mario Kart and Sonic the Hedgehog, 74% of you knew that it was Pac man who celebrated its 30th birthday, by taking over Google’s home page for the day with a version of the legendary game itself.