"I hate phone cases so much that not using one is almost like a religion for me. This weekend, I paid the price for my beliefs," New York Times technology writer Farhad Manjoo tweeted recently.
Manjoo is one of those people who risk life without an iPhone case in order to enjoy a high tech mobile device at its sleekest and most beautiful. Apparently, he still goes caseless even after his loss. But how do most people deal with this common personal finance question: To use a case or not to use a case?
Business Insider worked with Survey Monkey Audience to survey 533 iPhone users across the United States between June 10 and June 12, 2014 about their use of phone cases. Here are some of the main results of the survey.
It turns out that an overwhelming number of iPhone users have cases. In our survey, 86% of respondents said that they did in fact use a case.
We looked at the demographics of the survey respondents and saw that large majorities of each demographic subgroup had cases for their phones. Rates of case usage were very similar across income groups, age groups, and education levels. We did find that women are slightly more likely than men to have iPhone cases: 82% of male respondents had cases, while 90% of female respondents did.
We were curious about the characteristics of respondents' iPhone cases. Brand popularity was all over the place:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from SurveyMonkey Audience
Otter Box had a little over a quarter of the respondents, but nearly half chose "other." Respondents who selected "other" were allowed to write in an answer. These answers were mixed between several smaller brands, with a fair number of respondents saying they didn't know or indicating a generic brand.
Respondents were also asked what their main reasons were for using a case:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from SurveyMonkey Audience
The vast majority of case users are mainly interested in the protective function of the case. Among those choosing the "other" option, the most common reasons given were that the case was a gift and that the case offered extra battery life or charging abilities.
Interestingly, there was a difference between the sexes in reasons for choosing a case. Male respondents were more likely than female respondents to answer that they were concerned about protecting their phones; female respondents were more likely than male respondents to answer that they liked the design:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from SurveyMonkey Audience
We also asked how much people spent on their cases. Over half of respondents said they spent less than $30:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from SurveyMonkey Audience
Most of the respondents who chose "other" wrote in that their case was a gift.
A majority of respondents who use an iPhone case have only one case, but there are a few people who have more:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from SurveyMonkey Audience
A slight majority of case users also had screen protectors for their phones, and a large majority of respondents who don't use an iPhone case also lack screen protectors:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from SurveyMonkey Audience
The overwhelming majority of respondents who use iPhone cases - 91% - have always used them. Very few people start out without a case and then decide later on to buy one.
Finally, we asked the survey takers who didn't have iPhone cases to select all the reasons why they don't. A majority cited aesthetic factors:
Business Insider/Andy Kiersz, data from SurveyMonkey Audience