By Lance Foulis, Senior Coordinator, Sales Support, Alliance Data’s card services business
A recent study by Alliance Data’s card services business shows that compared to moms and Millennials, men are the least active on smartphones. So how different are we? I monitored my smartphone use for a day to see for myself.
Every morning, my alarm wakes me and I grab my smartphone to shut it off. (Does anyone use actual alarm clocks anymore?) One in three men have more than 20 apps, and half of us have a news or sports app. I hop out of bed and check my weather app, to see what kind of clothes I should wear. Looks like it’ll be cool in the morning with horrific, jungle heat in the afternoon – sounds about right for the Midwest. A polo shirt would be great for this weather, but I’m not feeling my current selection. I make a mental note to look for some new shirts. I know I’ll probably forget about this, so I open my iPhone Notes and add “Polo shirts” to my to-do list. In my Notes, I see the running list of good songs I’ve heard recently on Pandora. I really need to buy those on iTunes. Never mind, I’ll do that another time; I’ve got to get to work.
During my work day, I listen to Pandora or Spotify on my phone. I hear something about a sale at Express. I like Express, and I really need those polo shirts. I click the ad and think better of it – I need my wife’s sense of style. I send her the link and ask if she’ll pick out a few good shirts. She quickly texts back, “Sure! Btw, sink disposal is broken. I think it needs to be replaced?”
At lunch, I browse the web, read a few product reviews, and order a replacement disposal from my phone. Shopping for a disposal might not be the most common thing men buy on their smartphone, More than half of men use their phones to shop for electronics, followed closely by video games and travel. Millennials however use their phones for mobile shopping than men do. I schedule pickup of my disposal at a nearby store, and stop there when I leave work. Once I’m home with the new hardware, I realize I have no idea what I’m doing. I pull out my phone and navigate to the place where anything can be learned: YouTube. I watch a few videos on how to change a disposal. After a few frustrating hours, it works!
Now, it’s time to relax. I sit down to watch my favorite TV show, 
and my mind wanders to football. I can’t remember who the Buckeyes play this weekend, so I look up their schedule on my phone. Apparently, this is pretty typical for men, the group that uses their smartphones most while watching TV. For me, where there’s one screen on, there are two screens on. As I’m doing that, I recognize an actor on TV, but I can’t remember what movie I’ve seen him in. I Google that too, and find his name and the film’s title. I love that movie, so I order the DVD from my Amazon app. And, oh yeah, better turn on my alarm for tomorrow morning.
From sunrise to sunset, I use my smartphone for all kinds of tasks. I think that’s pretty common and pretty cool. It’s 2015, after all; technology is here to stay. 10% of men say they would give up their car for a month in order to keep their smartphone. Are we hooked? Yup, just like everyone else.
————————————————————
Lance Foulis is a Sales Support Senior Coordinator at Alliance Data’s card services business. In his role, Lance builds and manages brand program timelines and works to ensure they are executed on schedule and flawlessly.
On the Contrary 