The IAB hired Firefish to interview 1,350 people in order to understand how they use mobile devices in their daily lives. The company also collected 700 hours of video footage using their FishEye lifelogging device, which is worn around the neck of respondents and takes a picture every five seconds to record what the person is doing or seeing.

According to the research, respondents average a total of two hours and 12 minutes per day using a connected device, while for 46% of the time they are using at least two devices, and sometimes three.

Respondents were surprised when told how frequently they’d looked at their phone, tablet or computer, said IAB director of research and strategy Tim Elkington.

“It reinforces how normal ‘omni-screening’ – being just an arms-length away from some device that gets us online – has become,” he added.

Indeed, University of East Anglia psychology lecturer Dr. Simon Hampton described it as an extension of ‘nomophobia’ – the fear of being without your mobile phone.

Over half ( 52%) of the people surveyed say they prefer to check their smartphone if they have any ‘downtime’, rather than just sit and think. Meanwhile, 37% report checking their smartphone if there’s a lull in conversation with friends.

“People’s inability to leave their phones alone is the newest addition to common ‘displacement’ behaviours such as smoking, doodling, fiddling with objects and picking at food,” Hampton said. “Rather than do nothing, we’re compelled to turn to them for reassuring comfort.”

However, the exciting thing for marketers, according to Hampton, is that “unlike most of the examples above, this mildly compulsive behaviour might be exploited to encourage purchasing, particularly as digital increasingly blurs the line between shopping and engagement”.

• For more on multi-screening behaviours, see the latest edition of Impact Magazine, which features a special report on the subject.
• And to see a severe nomophobe in action – via the medium of FishEye – click here.