According to KPMG’s Global ‘Consumers and Convergence IV’, an annual survey of consumers’ day-to-day use of mobile and PC technology, UK web users remain less willing than their global counterparts to pay for digital content.
81% of UK consumers would search elsewhere for content if a frequently used, previously free, website was to begin charging with only 19% of those surveyed stating that they would be willing to pay.
In contrast, across the globe, 43% of consumers are willing to pay to receive access to frequently updated online content. In Asia-Pacific countries, this figure rises to 59%.
Interestingly though, three quarters of UK consumers stated that they would be willing to receive online advertisements in exchange for reduced content costs.
Alongside these results, the survey also revealed other interesting points relating to the UK market.
Whilst the ‘death of the landline’ has been documented heavily in the press, the survey found that 94% of UK consumers have no plans to discontinue landline use in favour of their mobile phone devices.
Interestingly, mobile banking usage is said to have doubled in the past 18 months as people have grown more confident in managing their money on the go. However, whilst online banking is heavily regulated and monitored by security forces, the
majority of people are still sceptical about the levels of protection across the internet as a whole.
Globally, 90% of consumers said that they were apprehensive about risking their privacy and the issues surrounding security whilst carrying out internet transactions.
Despite these concerns, it appears that people across the globe are adopting mobile internet at an astonishing rate as it offers an easy and accessible way to carry out everyday tasks. It will only be a matter of time before the issues of security and privacy are ironed out and m-commerce becomes the norm.
