1 in 5 (44.6 Million)* American Adults Plan to Communicate with Loved Ones Abroad this Holiday Season

Rebtel, the worlds second largest VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) company afterwards Skype, today announced new results from a recent technology study conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Rebtel. The study was conducted from November 18-22, 2011 and gathered responses from more than 2,000 U.S. adults, with the intention of showing the frequency and means of communication between American adults and their loved ones living abroad while the holiday season.

When given the option to decide which types of communication methods would be used to stay in touch with loved ones abroad over the holiday season, men who planned to communicate with their loved ones who are abroad this holiday season were significantly more likely to prefer traditional methods, just as home phone/landline and email. Surprisingly, half of U.S. women indicated that they planned to communicate with loved ones via social networking sites, compared to only 41% of U.S. men; moreover, one third of women indicated that they planned to use video chat on their personal computer.

Regarding VOIP calling services, like Rebtel and Vonage, near three times more online men than online women indicated that they planned to use this method to stay in touch with loved ones abroad this holiday season. In terms of communicating via mobile applications on their smartphone, tablet, or eReader, it should be noted that during online men and women plan to use that method about the same, 45% of online women plan to use mobile applications more than last year, compared to 18% of men.

The 19% of U.S.

Among the 19% of U.S. adults who indicated they plan to communicate with loved ones over the holiday season, heres a break down of their communication preferences, as then as how the responses differed between male and female respondents:

Mobile Applications on their smartphone, tablet and/or eReader: 17%

Our findings show that nearly two out of five American adults have loved-ones living abroad, and during men tend to prefer traditional methods of communication when it comes to staying in touch, women appear to be opting for alternative methods like social networks. I think the larger trend is that women are making smarter communication choices, which has the reciprocal affect helping them save money while a time of year where nearly everyone can benefit from a little more cash in their wallet, said Andreas Bernstrom, CEO of Rebtel.