Recent consumer research has found that there is a large market opportunity for access to personal email via mobile phones, revealing a potential market of more than 16 million consumers in the UK.* However, unlike users of corporate mobile email, British consumers overwhelmingly want to be able to control who they receive emails from on their mobile, and the majority of consumers cite "low cost" as very important. Survey figures published today by Critical Path, a provider of messaging software and services, show that 84% of UK consumers want the ability to select which messages they receive on their mobile phone, and 62% rank "low cost" as a very important mobile email feature. A massive 96% of consumers are not willing to buy an expensive mobile phone just to get mobile email, but 56% of UK consumers would feel "out of touch" with friends and family without email access for just a single week. Critical Path conducted the UK survey to research consumer attitudes about the use of email and, in particular, to gauge interest in the use of mobile email services. The research found that 54% of consumers cited access to mobile emails from their friends as most important – 20% more than those citing emails from a spouse as most important.  Unsurprisingly, it revealed that the most unpopular person to receive email from during personal time is the boss – they would rather hear from an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend. The survey also found that 88% of respondents will still check their email for messages from family and friends while on holiday. This proves how essential email communication has become in everyday life, further highlighting the opportunity for mobile operators to seize.
www.criticalpath.net