Relevance/research question: While the smartphone is highly important to Millenials, many studies suggest that car ownership and usage is declining among the young. In the age of digitalization and new mobility concepts it is crucial for Porsche AG to gain in-depth understanding of the relationship of cars and smart devices among Millenials. Porsche conducted a mobile research project to study the mobility mix of young people, their emotional experience of transportation usage and their smartphone usage while being on the move.

Methods/data: Porsche AG developed an app to survey mobility behavior and smartphone usage in the moment-of-truth. With the app participants documented their mobility behavior by “checking in and out” each time they started or ended a trip. With every check-in and check-out they received a brief questionnaire on i.e. why they chose the transportation means, the purpose of the trip, their overall evaluation and emotional experience of the trip and their smartphone usage during the trip. The study was conducted with 6 universities in Germany and Switzerland.

Results: Even though the majority of Millenials did not own a car, cars have a high emotional appeal to them. Trips made by car as well as trips by bike are among the best rated ones. In the mobility mix cars and bikes have a unique positioning: while both have in common to provide flexibility, the car is mainly chosen for comfort reasons whereas the bike is chosen for fun. Both are thus perfectly fitting Millenials’ needs for freedom, fun and convenience. The study also revealed that when being on the move Millenials mostly use their smartphone to communicate with their peers. In this context the car provides a private space like no other means of transportation.

Added value: Our research design allows to capture mobility behavior and smartphone usage and the related emotional experience in the moment-of truth. This led to deep and comprehensive insights even though only brief questionnaires were applied. The study strongly helped in understanding smartphone usage by means of transportation which is crucial for the development of connectivity services in the automotive context.