When cutting spending, most consumers don’t change cell habits

Prepaid and the economy. It’s a meme you’ll hear around these parts in the coming year for sure. Think about it. With rough economic times forecasted for our immediate future, why commit to a two-year cell phone contract, where you’ll likely pay for more than you use? With prepaid, you don’t commit and only pay for minutes you actually end up using. A recent survey, though, suggests that people aren’t that willing to change their spending habits when it comes to mobile phones. While 86 percent of respondents said they’d eat out less, just 32 percent said they’d spend less on mobile phone service. It seems like a missed opportunity.

The study was conducted by Virgin Mobile, so clearly they had their own interests in mind. For instance, they found that among their customers 35 percent of respondents are cutting their minutes. Also, 19 percent have migrated to texting over talking. This becomes frugal if on an unlimited text messaging plan.

Slightly more than half of respondents thought that Virgin’s service was more valuable in tough economic times. Perhaps this is a result of the long-standing prepaid bias. It’s still seen by many as a phone for those with poor credit. However, it’s clear that there are other benefits to eschewing contract service.

Strangely enough, people are apparently less apt to cut cable or satellite TV service in these times — 25 percent. To me, that seems like the first thing that can go.

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