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Mobile apps have changed and continue to change the lives of the vast majority of U.S. citizens, from the way that older Americans socialize to nearly every behavior of younger Americans, according to Apigee.
The company’s 2013 Digital Impact Survey invited 1,000 smartphone owners in the United States to assess how mobile devices and apps are affecting their everyday behaviors, tasks and attitudes, and found more than half of 18- to 24-year-olds (54 percent) report they would not be able to wake up on time without apps on their smartphones or tablets.
Six percent of respondents–equivalent to 8.4 million Americans, if the survey sample could be considered to reflect a microcosmic view of the 140.5 million smartphone owners in the country–said they would be unable to feel happy without their mobile apps.
The survey also indicated mobile technology is changing the way we do our jobs, with 44 percent of respondents asserting that changes in smartphones, tablets and apps have already altered how they do their jobs, and 51 percent expecting further changes in the next two years.
Nearly 40 percent of smartphone owners use their phones for business as much or more than for leisure, the survey found.
“It is no surprise that mobile is changing everyday behaviors from work to play, but this research really shows how much we rely on our smartphones to connect with friends, manage our money and even wake up on time. It clearly demonstrates that smartphones have become an integral part of consumers’ day-to-day lives,” Bryan Kirschner, director of the Apigee Institute, said in a statement. “As more shifts in everyday behavior occur, it will be key for every organization, from government to brick-and-mortar stores to banks to understand how they can best connect with their key audiences in the app economy.”
Of the survey respondents, only 33 percent of those under 40 have been to a bank branch in the last month compared with 66 percent of those over 40. Seven out of 10 respondents expect their bank to offer key services through mobile apps today, suggesting banking apps have greatly changed the way consumers manage their money.
The findings also suggest the importance of retailers providing feature-rich mobile apps to consumers, with 38 percent of smartphone owners employing shopping apps at least once a week.
More than half (53 percent) of smartphone users use apps to buy products online while in another store, and 66 percent of smartphone owners say they’re more likely to shop at a store that offers an app with a searchable product catalog, featured sales and a store locator.