Media releases

Nothing phone-y about loving your mobile

New Valentine?s Day survey reveals almost 40% of young Canadians would give up their Valentine before their phone

TORONTO (ONTARIO) February 10, 2009

Heart-shaped candy boxes are flying off the shelf, and romance is in the air.  But does love really conquer all?  As Valentine’s Day approaches, a new survey released today shows that most Canadians actually spend way more time with their mobile phones than they do with their partners.

How deep is your love?  The survey, conducted for Virgin Mobile, shows 56 per cent of young Canadians (ages 18 to 34) prefer holding their mobile phone over their Valentine’s hand and almost 40 per cent say they’d rather live without their Valentine for a week than their mobile phone.

“Clearly, people have a deep love affair with their mobile phones, especially younger Canadians, and this survey shows just that,” said Nathan Rosenberg, Virgin Mobile’s Chief Marketing Officer.  “That said, Virgin Mobile is happy to report that love is still alive, despite the deep bond that some people have with their mobile phone so we don’t think there is any reason to be jealous on Valentines Day.”

Virgin Mobile also found that regardless of how much time Canadians would like to spend with their Valentine, their mobile phone is their true constant companion with more than half of respondents (52 per cent) declaring their mobile phone is with them all day, every day.

He said, She Said

And to add to the never-ending ‘he said, she said’ debate, results found a majority of men (53 per cent) say they’re holding their phones more often than their significant other’s hand, while women responded the opposite way – with a 60-40 preference for hand-holding over the mobile.

“True love never dies, but it’s obvious that many Canadians have an intimate attachment with something else in their life these days, even in the most solid of relationships,” said Andrea Syrtash, Relationship Expert.  “Results show that people are with their cell phones just as much – even more – than their significant other which is why flexibility, communication and compromise are essential in any relationship.”
Speaking of flexibility, 71 per cent of respondents identified it as an attribute they value – a sentiment shared by Virgin Mobile with respect to flexible service packages to meet the different needs of Canadians.

“We know from our own experience that these days, people are literally in love with their mobile phones.  We felt Valentine’s Day was an appropriate time to test the depths of that love, and frankly, we’re not surprised by the results,” Rosenberg said.  “What’s really interesting to us is the number of people who consider flexibility and choice as key factors in a good relationship - these are key in the relationship Virgin Mobile has with our customers too.” 

About Virgin Mobile:

The Virgin Mobile group of companies has attracted more than 10 million customers worldwide. As the No.1 mobile youth network, Virgin Mobile Canada's mission is to connect, entertain and reward like nobody else. Its simpler, better deals offer customers control, flexibility and choice to design mobile packages that truly works for them. J.D. Power and Associates ranked Virgin Mobile highest in customer satisfaction with prepaid wireless service for three years in a row , 91% of customers would recommend Virgin Mobile to a friend, and a 2007 independent survey confirmed that Virgin Mobile has the happiest customers of any of the national cell phone companies in Canada.

Virgin Mobile phones are available at more than 4,000 locations with top-up cards available at more than 10,000 locations nationally. Virgin Mobile
products can also be purchased online at http://www.virginmobile.ca or by calling 1-888-999-2321.

About the survey:

From February 4, 2008 to February 5, 2008, Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey on behalf of Virgin Mobile among a randomly-selected, representative sample of 1,000 Canadians aged 18 and over. The margin of error for the total sample is /- 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada.

For more information, please contact: Marnie Campbell/Sarah Daly, Veritas Communications
1-416-955-4594/1-416-955-4583
Campbell@veritascanada.com

Chris Baines, Virgin Mobile Canada
1-416-607-8412 / 1-416-556-3000
chris.baines@virginmobile.ca