Consumers are unwilling to part with their broadband services at home even in the midst of the economic downturn, preferring to cut spending on things like dining out and leisure travel, according to a series of recent studies sponsored by Alcatel-Lucent.
The study – conducted by of Alcatel-Lucent’s Market Advantage Program (MAP) in cooperation with market research firms Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates and Ipsos MediaCT – employed statistical analysis to determine how consumers prioritise household spending, given a recessionary mindset, comparing the relative value of a wide variety of specific fee-based services.
According to the findings, broadband services appear to be nearly recession-proof, with 84% of consumers identifying broadband as an essential network service and therefore the least likely target for spending cuts. Key factors driving this preference include a desire to reduce the cost and travel time associated with commuting.
The research also indicated that such attitudes about broadband cut across regions and socio-economic strata; however, it also revealed distinctions in attitudes about the economy between consumers in high-growth markets and those in more developed markets.
Tim Krause, chief marketing officer for Alcatel-Lucent, said: “This clearly shows that people across the world rely on broadband services as a central part of their social and economic lives.”
In markets such as France, for example, consumers indicated that the financial crisis has had a greater negative impact on their household when compared to consumers in other countries.
In contrast, people in emerging countries are more optimistic about the future than those in developed countries around the world. While two-thirds of consumers indicated they are cutting expenditures, 85% of consumers from emerging countries indicated that their household economic situation would be the same or better a year from now compared to 64% of respondents in the developed countries.
