Essential Report

Attitudes towards mobile phone etiquette

Feb 25, 2020

Q. How appropriate are the following examples of mobile phone etiquette?

	NET: Appropriate	NET: Inappropriate	Always appropriate	Usually appropriate	Sometimes appropriate	Rarely appropriate	Never appropriate
Having video calls in public place (e.g. cafe or public transport)	13%	64%	4%	9%	23%	28%	36%
Texting or watching movies while walking along the street	12%	69%	4%	8%	19%	23%	46%
Checking messages while in a conversation with another person	10%	69%	4%	6%	21%	28%	41%
Having phone conversations on speaker in a public place (e.g. cafe or public transport)	10%	73%	4%	7%	16%	23%	50%
Using speakers rather than headphones in public	10%	77%	4%	6%	13%	25%	52%

NET: Inappropriate		Gender		Age
NET: Inappropriate	Total	Male	Female	18-34	35-54	55+
Having video calls in public place (e.g. cafe or public transport)	64%	59%	69%	43%	60%	86%
Texting or watching movies while walking along the street	69%	64%	74%	48%	67%	90%
Checking messages while in a conversation with another person	69%	63%	75%	51%	66%	88%
Having phone conversations on speaker in a public place (e.g. cafe or public transport)	73%	68%	78%	60%	70%	87%
Using speakers rather than headphones in public	77%	74%	80%	67%	77%	86%
Base (n)	1,090	539	551	341	374	375

Over half of people (52%) say it’s never appropriate to use speakers, rather than headphones in public, with another quarter (25%) saying it’s rarely appropriate.
Having a video call is seen to be the least inappropriate activity (36%), but still just 4% say this activity was always appropriate and 9% say it is usually appropriate.
Women and people over 55 years old are more likely to say each of the activities is never appropriate compared to men and those aged 18-34.
Non-capital city residents are more likely to say that having video calls in public place (43%), checking messages while in a conversation with another person (48%), and texting or watching movies while walking along the street (53%) are ‘never appropriate’ than their capital city compatriots (32%, 38% and 43% respectively).
However not using headphones (either for calls or using media) is just as inappropriate for capital and non-capital residents.

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