Boundary ambiguity
Parents need to believe Watch Plan helps hold off the smartphone, not simply start the path toward one.
Parents may like the idea of a responsible middle step, but a watch does not automatically feel like it will delay the smartphone.
It can be read in two ways: a way to hold off the phone, or another connected device on the path to one. Watch Plan only builds preference if parents can see how it gives children connection, safety and independence while keeping apps, social media, web browsing and open-ended phone use at a distance.
Parent voice
This is a tricky one, and I’m somewhere in the middle, because I have already introduced her to iPad. She has got smart TV at home and same iPad at school as well. So she’s already introduced to the technology.
Parent, NSW, child aged 9
Key evidence
Around 2 in 3 parents (66%)
agree that a smartwatch with its own mobile connection feels like a responsible middle step before a smartphone.
Around 3 in 5 parents (62%) say a smartwatch would make no real difference to when the child gets a smartphone. Only 8% say it would delay the phone.
Behavioural job
Make the boundary credible by showing that Watch Plan gives children connection, safety and independence while keeping apps, social media, web browsing and open-ended phone use at a distance.