North East and Wales most fickle service switchers, while Scots stand firm

Survey into consumer feelings towards flexibility, contracts and constraints

See the results at www.tieddownbritain.co.uk

1st July 2008

People in the North East are the most fickle consumers of services in the UK, according to a new survey by AOL Broadband. Seventy-four percent of respondents in the North East said that they had switched suppliers for a service, such as mobile phone, utilities and broadband in the last 12 months. The telephone omnibus survey asked 1000 adults aged 18+ about their attitudes to contracts and commitments of all types, be it relationships, loyalty or utility contracts.

The most popular regions for service switching are broken down below, according to how many respondents had switched suppliers in the last 12 months; North East 74% Yorks and Humb 68% South East 64% West Midlands 63% Wales 63% South West 61% Eastern 59% London 58% North West 52% Scotland 48% East Midlands 48%

It seems that the credit crunch is having a big impact on people’s attitudes to service contracts across the country. When asked about whether the respondents were less likely to sign up to fixed term contracts with suppliers as a result of the credit crunch, it was the Welsh who came out on top. Fifty-seven percent of the Welsh respondents said that since the credit crunch, they were less likely to sign up to contracts. Again the North East was in the top three regions in the country.

Wales 57%
Yorks and Humbs 51%
North East 48%
Eastern 48%
West Midlands 45%
South West 44%
North West 41%
London 41%
Scotland 39%
South East 38%
East Midlands 38%

Across the country, 47% of respondents say that since the credit crunch their contracts make them feel pinned down, and a massive 79% of respondents said that they would choose a no-contract service over an identical one based on a contract. The evidence suggests that Britain is gearing up for a no-ties 'Free-Me' approach to their financial outgoings.

It seems that the trend towards removing the ties is spreading into people’s wider lifestyles also. It was the Welsh again that felt the most tied down, 76% said that they felt tied down by at least one aspect of their lives (including such factors as job, mortgage, relationship etc.)

The regional breakdown of respondents who felt tied down in at least one aspect of their lives is as follows; Wales 76% South East 75% North East73% West Midlands 72% North West 71% London 68% East Midlands 67% Yorks and Humbs 67% South West 65% Scotland 61% Eastern 60%

The survey went on to ask the respondents if they would like more flexibility in at least one area of their lives, the regional responses were as follows; North East 73% London 67% Scotland 65% Yorks and Humbs 63% West Midlands 63% Yorks and Humbs 63% South East 62% Wales 61% South West 61% North West 60% Eastern 57% East Midlands 49%

So in summary while the North East and the Welsh craved a flexible ‘FreeMe’ lifestyle, in general the Scots and East Midlanders were more loyal. Only 48% of people from these areas had switched service suppliers in the last 12 months.

While people are spurring commitments and opting for a ‘Free-Me’ lifestyle, with 62% of the population saying that they want more flexibility in their lives, it seems that the exception to this rule is our relationships. We value close friendships, most of the country (78%) tend to have a small number of long-term friends that they stay in touch with, while 19% say they tend to have lots of friends that fit in with their current lifestyle. Also, almost three quarters of us (72%) are in, or are looking for a serious relationship.

David Pagliari, Executive Director of Sales and Marketing of AOL Broadband said; “We all know that the long term commitment of a mortgage has become more difficult since the credit crunch took hold, but what this research shows is that we are now far more wary about entering into any long term contracts. I think the message is that consumers now expect the flexibility to choose whether they sign up to a contract for their services or not. It is clearly an important factor, with 79% of our respondents saying that contracts or the lack of them are a deciding factor when looking at services.”

Source: webitpr / pressbot.net

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01.07.2008 - 0:00 Source: pressbot.net | Read: 142 X