Remember the old days when a night in the pub meant a laugh and a joke with your mates and no one ever even thought of grabbing their phone as soon as there was the slightest lull in conversation?
Guinness remember, and they have launched a new advertising campaign, which is aimed at getting people to put down their phones and enjoy the moment.
The campaign tells customers to ‘switch to pub mode’ and spend time catching up with friends.
Guinness carried out a study with Behaviour & Attitudes to learn more about the impact of using mobile phones while out with friends.
Behaviour & Attitudes’ study saw them follow a group of friends on two consecutive Thursday nights.
They tried to make the nights as similar as possible, with the participants meeting the same friends in the same pub at the same time.
The only difference was the second week they were asked to put down their phones. After both nights the participants were asked to rate their experience of their night in the pub.
The results showed that people were overwhelmingly in favour of putting their phones away and enjoying the company of the people they were with.
Only 6% of people said that they enjoy a night out more if they used their phone, while 94% said that they enjoy themselves as much or more if they aren’t using their phone.
There was an 18.4% positive shift in the level that people felt included in the group and a 9.6% increase in how close the participants felt to their friends.
Richard Layte, Head of Sociology at Trinity College and scientific advisor for the study, said: “Phones can both enhance and erode our sociability; on the one hand smartphones enable us to connect and share updates with friends but they can also distract us and draw us away from the here and now when we’re with friends and family.
“The findings from this study are scientific evidence that if we put our phones down when we meet with friends and family, we not only enjoy the experience more but also feel closer to them and have a greater sense of belonging.”
Annmarie Phillips, On-Trade Channel Director, Diageo said: “The study provides fascinating insight into our relationships with phones in social settings and the phones’ impact on the social group dynamic. Switching to Pub Mode is about enjoying those conversations with good friends and letting the chat flow for that little bit longer with your phones down and heads up.”
Donall O’Keeffe, CEO LVA commented; “Sometimes phones can get in the way of a great chat. It’s clear from conversations we have been having with publicans and bar staff that there comes a point when the phone can become too much of an unnecessary distraction from the people you’re with.”
Written by Michael Kehoe @michaelcalling