SSI QuickPoll Reveals Smartphones are a Sure Way To Learn More About U.S. Vacationers This Summer

SHELTON, Conn., June 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- With summer vacation planning in full swing, a recent SSI QuickPoll™ revealed that 78 percent of American summer travelers who own a smartphone would turn back home to retrieve it, even if they were 30 minutes away.  Almost half or 48 percent would turn back even if they were an hour from home. 

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Ninety-six percent of summer vacation travelers in the United States who own a smartphone believe their smartphone is a must-have/must-pack item.  Of the 1,001 people surveyed for this report, 611 own a smartphone and plan to take an overnight leisure trip this summer. 

"SSI conducted this survey to show how important the smartphone is for vacationers this summer," said Chris Clarke, SSI's chief marketing officer.  "We also wanted to understand how people are using their smartphones today and how sensors and applications are opening up new ways to collect in-the-moment data." 

"Survey research using mobile phones has always been a challenge for brands," explained Clarke.  "In response to the ubiquitous nature of smartphone usage in the U.S., SSI's new Proximity Sample combines geo-location capabilities with our popular SSI QuickThoughts mobile data solution to allow us to conduct surveys based on where respondents were, where they are or where we would like them to be."

The SSI QuickPoll also revealed smartphone owners who plan to take an overnight leisure trip this summer plan to use their smartphone to take 70 percent of their photos on average.  And 32 percent said they would only use their smartphone to take photos, while only 4 percent said they would not use their smartphone at all. 

When asked about their use of smartphone navigation, 83 percent of summer travelers who own a smartphone are "very" or "somewhat" likely to use their smartphone to help navigate during their summer trip compared to 70 percent who are "very" or "somewhat" likely to use their smartphones to plan their summer trip.

"This survey only reinforces the significance of how today's mobile technology lets researchers and brands better understand the consumer at the point of experience.  It also shows how researches can now interact with consumers to provide deeper insights into why they choose one product over another," added Clarke. 

The combined mobile research solution of SSI's Proximity Sample™, QuickThoughts® and QuestTest™ is the industry's only comprehensive, multi-modal product to combine geo-location and behavioral data in a fully integrated mobile research solution.  It solves market researchers' need for greater flexibility to produce richer insights by enabling the collection of in-the-moment data.  SSI's mobile solution allows companies to target people for sampling in new and better ways at any given time.

The SSI QuickThoughts mobile app engages mobile survey takers in 19 countries on iPhone®, iPad™, and Android™ tablets and phones.  With prior permission of the smartphone user, the QuickThoughts app allows SSI to take advantage of all the capabilities contained within a smartphone's sensors, such as a camera to see, and an accelerometer and GPS chip to know where it is.

The SSI QuickPoll regularly surveys people about business, technology, sports, the economy and current events.  For this survey, 1,001 participants in the U.S. were sampled online from May 20 through May 22.  Samples were balanced on age (18+) and gender.  Among the sample, 611 or 61 percent own a smartphone and plan to take an overnight leisure trip this summer.

SSI is the premier global provider of data solutions and technology for consumer and business-to-business survey research, reaching respondents in 100+ countries via Internet, telephone, mobile/wireless and mixed-access offerings.  SSI staff operates from 30 offices in 21 countries, offering sample, data collection, CATI, questionnaire design consultation, programming and hosting, online custom reporting and data processing.  SSI's 3,600 employees serve more than 2,500 clients worldwide.  Visit SSI at www.surveysampling.com.

SSI QuickPoll, SSI Proximity Sample and SSI QuestTest are trademarks of Survey Sampling International LLC.
SSI QuickThoughts is a registered mark of Survey Sampling International LLC.
iPhone is a registered mark and iPad is a trademark of Apple.
Android is a trademark of Google Inc.

SOURCE SSI (Survey Sampling International)

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