As the latest Vodafone research reveals the country's Christmas connectivity habits, a new AR game gives people another way to support people struggling to cross the digital divide.
- Vodafone UK reveals the importance of being connected at Christmas as 90% of UK adults who celebrate the festive season will use connected devices to keep in touch with friends and family. Text messages, messages on social media, picture and video messages are the most popular.
- People are most likely to video call friends and family on Christmas Day, when presents are opened, and during Christmas Dinner.
- Over half (58%) of parents with children said their children will track Santa using some kind of connected tech (Santa tracker website or app, a Ring doorbell or receiving a video call from Santa).
- This research comes as Vodafone announces it has helped two million digitally excluded people and businesses cross the digital divide as part of its everyone.connected initiative.
- People can support the campaign this Christmas by playing Elf & Seek – an augmented reality game which gives people the chance to gift one of 50,000 SIM cards to those in need, donated by Vodafone through its everyone.connected programme on their behalf.
A new poll commissioned by Vodafone has revealed the importance of being connected at Christmas. It found that 90% of UK adults who celebrate the festive season will use connected devices to keep in touch with friends and family on the big day, with 67% of people connecting with others in a different part of the country and 33% overseas – though some are much closer to home, with one-in-ten (12%) living in the same street.
Almost a fifth (18%) of people who celebrate Christmas will video call friends and family when presents are opened on Christmas Day, closely followed by Christmas Dinner (13%) and when enjoying games or quizzes (8%). The most popular ways to stay in touch this festive season are text messages (78%), messages on social media (48%), sharing pictures (46%) and video messages (30%), followed by voice notes (15%).
80% of parents are concerned about affording Christmas gifts
Yet a third of children aged 10-14 want a smartphone this Christmas.
As Christmas gets digital, 58% of parents with children who believe in the magic said their children will track Santa using tech, whether it’s a Santa tracker website or app (49%), a Ring doorbell (18%) or receiving a video message from Santa (11%).
But it is not just the chance to connect with friends and family. People who use connected devices over the festive period will also use them to take photos (63%), access online shopping deals such as Boxing Day sales (51%) and manage their finances (45%). It comes as a quarter (25%) of people are planning on gifting someone a connected device this Christmas, with the most popular items being smartphones (14%), tablets (10%) and laptops (9%).
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The research comes as Vodafone announces it has helped two million digitally excluded people and businesses cross the digital divide, by working with partners including The Trussell Trust and Good Things Foundation. People can support the campaign this Christmas by playing Elf and Seek – an augmented reality game which gives people the chance to gift one of 50,000 SIM cards to those in need, donated by Vodafone through its everyone.connected programme on their behalf. Other prizes up for grabs include an all-inclusive family winter sun holiday to Tenerife, weekends away, Nintendo Switch consoles, Lavazza Coffee machines, entertainment bundles and Amazon gift cards.*
Nicki Lyons, Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer at Vodafone UK, said: “At Vodafone, we’re committed to closing the digital divide all year round, and at Christmas we know that being connected to loved ones is more important than ever. We are proud to have now helped two million people and businesses cross the digital divide, with a commitment to double that figure by the end of 2025.”
The locations in the UK where Vodafone received the highest number of requests for SIM cards in 2023 are:
- East Midlands – East Lindsey and Leicester
- London – Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Islington and Southwark
- North West – Manchester and Sefton
- Scotland – Glasgow and North Ayrshire
- South East – Brighton & Hove
- South West – Gloucester
- Yorkshire and the Humber – Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford
'We've provided connectivity to 1 million people in need - now we want to reach 4 million'
As Vodafone reaches its goal to provide connectivity to one million digitally excluded people by the end of 2022, Vodafone’s UK Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer explains why the campaign is so important and how the company plans to extend it.
Helen Milner OBE, Group CEO at Good Things Foundation, said: “As the cost-of-living crisis intensifies in the lead up to Christmas, our National Digital Inclusion Hubs are seeing more demand than ever before for their services. With this new research outlining the scale of the problem, the ability to connect with family and friends this festive season, alongside access to basic services and employment opportunities, should not be a luxury.
“Vodafone’s everyone.connected initiative reaching this important milestone of helping two million people and businesses cross the digital divide is an incredible achievement. We are proud to work with Vodafone and help support them with their goal to double that figure by the end of 2025. Together, we can help fix the digital divide for good.”
When asked how they’d feel if they were disconnected over the Christmas period, people said they’d feel upset, lonely or anxious (24%) with one– in–twenty saying it would ruin their Christmas (6%).
Through Vodafone’s everyone.connected campaign, the business is committed to tackling digital exclusion by helping four million people and businesses cross the digital divide by 2025. This includes a range of partnerships and initiatives to help give more people the connectivity and skills they need to stay connected and participate fully in an increasingly digital society.
As part of the proposed merger with Three UK, Vodafone has committed to retaining all current measures to support vulnerable customers, including social tariffs and digital inclusion campaigns.
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*Users can access the Elf & Seek game via www.elfandseek.com from 11th December to 24th December 2023.
Polling information
This online survey of 2000 UK adults who celebrate the festive season / Christmas was commissioned by Teneo on behalf of Vodafone and conducted by market research company OnePoll, in accordance with the Market Research Society’s code of conduct. Data was collected between 01/12/2023 and 06/12/2023. All participants are double-opted in to take part in research and are paid an amount depending on the length and complexity of the survey. This survey was overseen and edited by the OnePoll research team. OnePoll are MRS Company Partners, has corporate membership of ESOMAR and are Members of the British Polling Council.
About everyone.connected
Vodafone’s everyone.connected campaign is helping four million people and businesses cross the digital divide by the end of 2025. It does this by giving them the connectivity and skills they need to stay connected, and participate fully, in an increasingly digital society.
