ISSUES
: The Internet of Things
Chapter 1: Digital issues
5
Young people’s experiences with
in-app purchases
An online survey of over 1,000 young people aged 11 to 18 explores young people’s
experiences with in-app purchases, finding that over one in ten respondents had
accidentally spent money on an in-app purchase.
Smartphones are the most
popular device among
11-18s
Smartphones emerged as the most
popular device when respondents
aged 11–18 years were asked which
devices they use on a weekly basis.
82% of 11–18-year-old respondents
said that they used a smartphone
on a weekly basis, compared to 9%
who said they use a normal mobile
on a weekly basis. Other popular
devices include tablets (61%),
laptops (58%), gaming devices
(46%), computers (43%) and smart
TVs (37%). Just 1.3% said they
don’t use any of these devices on a
weekly basis.
Young people’s use of apps
Downloading apps emerged as
a common experience among
11–18-year-old respondents, with
95% saying they had downloaded
an app. Spending money on apps
is less common, but nonetheless,
over half of respondents (59%) said
they had paid for an app and over
a third (37%) said they had spent
money on an in-app purchase.
Interestingly, boys responding to
the survey were significantly more
likely than girls to report that they
had paid for an app (67% vs 50%)
and paid for an in-app purchase
(45% vs 28%), while there were few
other reported gender differences.
Accidental spending on
in-app purchases
A significant minority of the young
people responding to this survey
said they have accidentally spent
money on in-app purchases. 12%
said they have accidentally spent
money on an in-app purchase, while
7% said they have received a big
phone bill has a result of accidental
in-app purchases.
Respondents who had accidentally
spent money on their phone or
tablet were invited to share more
background about what happened.
The most common response was
that they thought that it was free;
for example, they didn’t realise the
costs associated with it or didn’t
realise it was real money.
Another key reason given as
the cause of accidental in-
app purchases, was that they
accidentally clicked on the
purchase.
Many young people shared
how they were caught out
because details, including
passwords,
had
been
automatically stored and
there wasn’t a prompt for the
user to give confirmation.
There were also a number of
cases where young people
pressed the button too many
times as it didn’t seem to be
working. Interestingly, it was
observed that all of these
situations were reported by
boys.
Other specific cases highlight
the range of ways that young
people can accidentally
spend money on an in-app
purchase.
Other spending via mobiles
33% said they have voted for a
contestant on TV and 18% said
they have entered a competition by
call or text.
26% said they have made a text
donation to charity.
Girls are significantly more likely
than boys to have voted for a TV
contestant (42% vs 26%), entered
a competition by call or text (22%
vs 16%) or made a text donation to
charity (30% vs 22%).
Parents are paying for the
bills…
83% said their parent pays their
phone bill, while 17% said they pay
for their bill themselves. There are
no statistically significant gender
differences.
… and parents are the most
important source of support
Parents are by far themost important
source of support if young people
are worried about unknown costs
on their phone bill. 89% said they
would turn to a parent/carer, while
other sources of support include
other family members (13%),
friends (11%) and siblings (10%).
Just 3% said they would turn to a
teacher, while 7% said there is no
one they would turn to. There are
no statistically significant gender
differences.
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from Childnet. Please visit
for further
information.
© Childnet 2016
