Summary
1. Extrapolating these finding out to 60 million people is a joke. 2. Consumers that just owned a cell phone and not a landline were not reached, according to PC Magazine. 3. Putting aside the lopsided nature of the calling pool, anything can be demonstrated with a poll based on the questions that are asked.
Analysis
There is a big difference between what consumers may do and what they are likely to do. Also, in framing a question differently, there is the high potential for a contrary result. For example, instead of asking just about the bad economy, what if the following was asked: “Would you be willing to cut back cell phone services less because of the security it provides even if the economy worsens?” While being a loaded question itself, the point is made.
The independent nature of the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC) also appears to be in doubt. This was the same outfit that was recently astonished to learn that “half of Americans have used their cell phones in emergency situations” and that they are “a huge boon to an individual's potential economic productivity and earning power.”
As a side note, the NMRC corrected its original press release from “35 million Americans” to 8,740,000.
