Senior citizens learn how to use smartphones during a free lesson organized by the Seoul Metropolitan government in this file photo. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Unlike the previous senior generation, today’s seniors over 65 years of age are as adept at using smartphones as younger generations.
SK Telecom Co., South Korea’s top wireless carrier, recently analyzed the telecommunications service usage patterns of about 6,500 senior customers.
The analysis showed that seniors have ample experience in the use of devices and services, and their demand for high-end devices is high. In addition, they frequently made use of membership and customer center apps in search of more benefits.
This pattern is quite different from that of the previous senior generation, whose device and service usage frequency was low.
In addition, the previous senior generation preferred to visit mobile phone dealer shops, while showing a higher receptivity towards the explanations offered by employees.
Today’s senior generation visits mobile phone dealer shops after searching for information on services in advance. They also prefer the way in which employees at the shops check phone plans and services in detail and offer various options.
A survey conducted with a group of senior customers who had visited SK Telecom’s mobile phone shops this year showed that 21.5 percent of them visited shops to be well-informed about the use of devices, the second-highest behind the 27.4 percent who said their visit was to change or buy a smartphone.
The lab noted that today’s senior customers over 60 are the first generation who experienced the boom in ICT development, adding that they started using mobile phones and the Internet from the mid-1990s when they were in their 30s.
They also became familiar with MP3 music files and social media in the early and mid-2000s when they were in their 40s.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
