Wait a second to watch a video on your smartphone? Impossible... I get stressed!

According to a neuroscientific study promoted by Ericsson and Vodafone among German users, 7 out of 10 respondents stop watching videos if they take more than 4 seconds to download.

Even minimal delays and interference can raise the user's level of tension and stress, negatively impacting their loyalty and even the operator's brand image. These are some of the conclusions of a research project developed by Ericsson and Vodafone Germany, who have used neuroscience to study the real opinion of broadband users about poor network performance.

The project used electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor the brain activity of 150 users who volunteered in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Users who participated in the study were asked to complete 13 specific tasks in 10 minutes using a smartphone, while simulating a deterioration in service quality. The tasks included common actions, such as browsing web pages, watching streaming videos, and uploading selfies. In addition to the EEG, eye-tracking equipment and heart rate monitors were used to measure the users' attention span and heart rate.

According to the study, consumers have high expectations about the time it takes to access content, so even a second of delay when downloading a video can cause stress.

Un 72% de los usuarios ”millenials” (nativos digitales) de smartphones en Alemania pierden interés en ver vídeos en dispositivos móviles si los retrasos superan los 4 segundos. Es más: un retraso de solo dos segundos al subir un selfie a Facebook basta para provocar estrés.

Nativos digitales

Los nativos digitales más jóvenes resultaron ser menos tolerantes a los retrasos en la descarga de vídeos en YouTube; por promedio, los usuarios de entre 18 y 24 años se estresan un 38% más que los mayores de 35.

Guido Weißbrich, Director of Network Performance at Vodafone Germany, says: "The study shows how quickly smartphone users become frustrated when a broadband network is not working optimally. A delay of just one second when downloading or uploading content has a significant negative impact on the user experience, so streaming services have to do everything to prevent content from slowing down or stopping."

In order to analyze how it affected user loyalty and brand image, the study was complemented with a questionnaire that respondents filled out before and after carrying out the tasks.

Bradley Mead, director de Servicios Gestionados y Diseño y Optimización de Red en la unidad de Servicios de Red de Ericsson, asegura que “para los operadores es esencial entender cómo se siente la gente de verdad sobre el servicio que les suministran y cómo impacta en sus vidas del día a día. Ahora tenemos datos valiosos que pueden emplearse para optimizar y organizar las redes con vistas a mejorar la experiencia en el uso de aplicaciones populares”.