SINGAPORE-- A new survey of Asian mobile phone habits has revealed that Filipinos have the fewest hang-ups about saying "I love you" in a text message--while Indians seem to be the most reserved about messaging tender feelings.
Singaporeans are only slightly more expressive in love over text than Indians.
The survey, commissioned by the German telcom firm Siemens Mobile, focused
on males and females aged 15 to 29.
The findings also show that Filipinos
are also the most likely to break up a relationship via SMS (short message
service). In fact, Filipinos are more likely to do more of everything over
SMS--love, fight, break up, and send an embarrassing message to the wrong
person.
Six in 10 Filipinos become more expressive in love and are more likely to text message "I love you" after getting a mobile phone, followed by four in 10 Indonesians and three out of 10 Malaysians. Singaporeans and Indians are among the most tongue-tied--or rather, finger-tied--at three out of 10 and two out of 10 respectively.
And when couples fight in Asia, it seems that women are more likely to do so over SMS than men.
The results also show that sending text has become a leisure activity in itself. More South-East Asians prefer to send SMS than read a book, especially those from the aged15 to 19. Indonesia tops the list--a majority of those surveyed prefer SMS to reading. Malaysia and Singapore follow.
Conducted in December 2002, the study comprised about 1,400 interviews in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and India. This is the third year Siemens has commissioned a mobile survey, conducted by independent research house Asia Market Intelligence.
From the survey this year, it appears that SMS is emerging as a new channel of communication.
Users are attracted to the use of emoticons--symbols used to represent emotions--and the naturally shy nature of Asians in general. Text messaging allows them to communicate without having to meet, which can be pretty stressful, said a Siemens Mobile spokesman.
"Messaging is a quick, non-intrusive way of communicating in situations where
voice communication may not be appropriate," he said.
Go to Home
Page
