MOSCOW, 22 April 2024. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the findings of a survey among Russians about the use of smartphones.
Another addiction
More than half of Russians say they can spend time without a smartphone not thinking about the notifications they missed (58%). On the contrary, a quarter of respondents feel uncomfortable being without their gadget for long (26%). Another 14% of Russians do not think about such problems: this is the share of those who do not use smartphones in Russia. They are often active TV viewers (73%).
Apparently, fast pace of life in large cities leaves no alternative for residents of Moscow and St Petersburg — 42% of them feel uncomfortable being without smartphones for long (vs 16% of rural area residents). On the contrary, the latter, can easily do without their phone (55%), or they don’t use it at all (28% vs 5-13% in other types of settlements). |
Communication, working, studying
The key smartphone’s function is to keep in touch with family and friends, according to Russians (86%): they use most of their time on communication (62%). Four in ten Russians solve tasks related to work or studies and read news feed (41% and 39% respectively). This is followed by scrolling social media, reading feed (32%), shopping online (31%) and watching videos, movies, tv series (30%). Fewer respondents prefer to read books and play games on their smartphones (16% and 12% respectively).
More “womanly” activities people do on their smartphones are communication (67% vs. 55% of men), online purchases (39% vs. 22%) and social networking (35% vs 29%), whereas reading news is rather “manly” (42% vs. 37% of women). |
Most of respondents use their smartphone during breaks at work, for studies, to have a rest and before going to bed (51%, 49% and 46%, respectively, of the number of users). A further 23% do not put away their smartphones while eating; 16%, while seeing friends and family. Three groups of smartphone users can be singled out based on survey findings:
- conscious users — they do not use smartphones in any of the above-mentioned situations or use them only in one of them (45%);
- moderate users — they use smartphones in 2-3 of the above-mentioned situations (37%);
- heavy users — they use smartphones in 4-5 of the above-mentioned situations (14%).
Respondents living in Moscow and St Petersburg don’t put away their phones even during breaks at work or while learning (61% vs. 51% of total respondents), in spare time (58% vs. 49%), before bedtime (52% vs. 46%), while eating (37% vs. 23%), as well as when seeing family and friends (22% vs. 16%). The share of heavy users, those who chose 4-5 situations of using smartphones, in both capitals is 23%, which is a 9-point increase compared to Russia in general. |
Back to the roots
Despite the fact that Russians are far from being addicted to phones, two-thirds of them are not ready to quit their smartphones replacing them with a dumb phone (66%). Most of them need their smartphones for working, studies (76%), online shopping (74%) and scrolling social media (73%). Thirty-four percent of Russians would agree to switch to dumb phones, including 13% who are fully confident.
The farther respondents live from a metropolitan area, the less they believe that smartphones are irreplaceable. In Moscow and St Petersburg, 21% of users are ready to switch to a dumb phone (vs 27% of people living in million-plus cities and 40% living in rural area). |
Is it generational?
According to the findings, owning smartphones is primarily common among post-Soviet generations – Generation Z (who were born in 2001 and later), Millennials (1982—2000) and the Reform Generation (1968—1981) — 91% and 100% (vs. 86% in general sample). Other generations are less likely to use smartphones: 71% among the Stagnation Generation (1948—1967), and only 55% among those who belong to the Thaw Generation (before 1947).
The generation classification is based on the classification proposed by the Russian economist and sociologist V.Radaev[1]. Six generations are singled out:
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Nomophobia, i.e. feeling uncomfortable without a constant access to the phone, is more common in Younger Millennials (1992—2000) — 40%, whereas the Soviet generations report so in 13-17% of cases.
Different generations use smartphones for different purposes. Zoomers (who were born in 2001 and later) and Younger Millennials (1992-2000) often spend time on social networking (53% and 41% respectively) and watching entertainment content — videos, movies, tv series (45% and 43% respectively), whereas reading news is less important to them (24% and 31% vs. 36-44% among previous generations). As Zoomers and Young Millennials are still studying and actively building their career, more than half of them use their smartphones for working or learning (55%, each), which is also true for the Older Millennials (1982—1991) (52%). The latter also like online shopping (41%). A communication option serves as a binder between generations: this option is equally used by Zoomers (68%), Younger Millennials (67%), and the Stagnation generation representatives (68%).
There are also different situations people use their smartphones in. Zoomers are often found with the phones in the hands during breaks between errands (70% vs. 51% of total respondents). Along with Younger Millennials, they are often glued to their phones while resting (55% and 57% respectively), eating (44% and 40% respectively) and seeing friends (22% and 24% respectively). Respondents in older cohorts use their gadgets primarily in spare time.
Unexpectedly, those who are less likely to switch to dumb phones are not Zoomers (27%), whose adulthood fell on the digital era, but Younger Millennials (17%).
VCIOM-Sputnik Russian nationwide telephone survey was conducted 14 April, 2024. A total of 1,600 Russians aged 18+ were surveyed. Survey method: telephone interviews, stratified random sample based on a complete list of mobile phone numbers in use in Russia. The data were weighted for socio-demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes to the wording of questions and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.
Key effectiveness indicators, survey of 14 April, 2024: cooperation rate (CR)* = 0.8121; minimum response rate (MRR)** = 0.0147; response rate (RR)*** = 0.1069. calculations are based on corporate standards: https://profi.wciom.ru/principy_standarty/korporativnyj-standart-po-izmereniyu-rezultativnosti-oprosov-sputnik-vciom/
* CR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews and b) non-interviews with eligible respondents.
** MRR: the number of complete interviews divided by the sum of: а) complete interviews, b) interrupted interviews after successful screening and c) all the respondents where it is unknown whether they meet the selected criteria or not.
** RR is calculated in the same way as MRR, with the only difference that the number of respondents with unknown eligibility decreases proportional to the percentage of eligible cases in the total number of respondents with identified eligibility or non-eligibility.
Modern phones, called smartphones, apart from calls enable surfing the Internet, installing apps, watching videos, using social media, doing online shopping. Many of us constantly receive push notifications about news, calls, new messages. Which of the statements below suits you best:…? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |||||||
Total | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) | |
I feel uncomfortable being without a smartphone for long, I can miss something | 26 | 31 | 40 | 31 | 27 | 17 | 13 |
I can easily spend time without a smartphone not thinking about the notifications I missed | 58 | 68 | 58 | 65 | 62 | 52 | 40 |
I don’t have a smartphone | 14 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 45 |
Don’t know | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
What activity do you spend you’re the most time on on your smartphone? No more than five answers (close-ended question, up to 5 answers, % of those who have a smartphone) | |||
Total | Men | Women | |
Communicating with friends, relatives | 62 | 55 | 67 |
Solving tasks related to work and studies | 41 | 39 | 42 |
Reading news | 39 | 42 | 37 |
Scrolling social media, reading feeds | 32 | 29 | 35 |
Online purchasing, marketplaces | 31 | 22 | 39 |
Watching videos, movies, tv series | 30 | 30 | 29 |
Reading books | 16 | 14 | 18 |
Games | 12 | 13 | 11 |
Listening to music (from other) | 1 | 1 | 1 |
None of the above-mentioned | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Other | 4 | 5 | 3 |
Don’t know | 0 | 1 | 0 |
What activity do you spend you’re the most time on on your smartphone? No more than five answers (close-ended question, up to 5 answers, % of those who have a smartphone) | |||||||
Total | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) | |
Communicating with friends, relatives | 62 | 68 | 67 | 55 | 58 | 68 | 63 |
Solving tasks related to work and studies | 41 | 55 | 55 | 52 | 43 | 18 | 4 |
Reading news | 39 | 24 | 31 | 40 | 44 | 44 | 36 |
Scrolling social media, reading feeds | 32 | 53 | 41 | 31 | 29 | 26 | 18 |
Online purchasing, marketplaces | 31 | 28 | 31 | 41 | 34 | 21 | 15 |
Watching videos, movies, tv series | 30 | 45 | 43 | 35 | 25 | 16 | 20 |
Reading books | 16 | 15 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 3 |
Games | 12 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 13 |
Listening to music (from other) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
None of the above-mentioned | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
Other | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
Don’t know | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
I will read several statements about the use of smartphones. Choose the ones that suit you best: I always or almost always use my smartphone…” (close-ended question, up to 5 answers, % of those who have a smartphone) | |||||||
Total | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) | |
…during breaks at work, studies, between errands | 51 | 70 | 61 | 60 | 52 | 34 | 17 |
…while having a rest | 49 | 55 | 57 | 47 | 48 | 47 | 44 |
…before going to bed | 46 | 48 | 54 | 55 | 47 | 35 | 27 |
…while eating | 23 | 44 | 40 | 29 | 18 | 7 | 4 |
…while meeting friends, relatives | 16 | 22 | 24 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 9 |
None of the above mentioned | 9 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 26 |
Don’t know | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 6 |
Types of Russian smartphone users* | |
Total | |
Conscious (they don’t use their smartphones in any of the five listed situations/they use them only in one of the situations) | 45 |
Moderate (they use their smartphones in 2-3 situations) | 37 |
Heavy (they use their smartphones in 4-5 situations) | 14 |
Don’t know | 4 |
* Calculations are based on the question: “I will read several statements about the use of smartphones. Choose the one that suits you best: I always or almost always use my smartphone…”
Would you be able to completely quit your smartphone replacing it with a dumb phone for calling and texting? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of those who have a smartphone) | |||||||
Total | Digital generation (2001 and later) | Younger Millennials (1992—2000) | Older Millennials (1982—1991) | Reform generation (1968—1981) | Stagnation generation (1948—1967) | Thaw generation (before 1947) | |
Definitely yes | 13 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 20 |
Rather yes | 21 | 20 | 13 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 29 |
Rather no | 27 | 31 | 27 | 23 | 28 | 26 | 30 |
Definitely no | 39 | 42 | 56 | 41 | 34 | 33 | 20 |
Don’t know | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
[1] See: Radaev V.V. Millennials: How Russian Society Changes. Moscow, 2019; Radaev V.V. The divide among the millennial generation: Historical and empirical justifications. (Part One) // Sotsiologicheskiy zhurnal, 2020, vol. 26, no. 3. P. 30-63.