A third of Generation Z don’t like to use doorbells and will instead call or text when they arrive at someone’s house.
Many of those aged between 18 and 29 feel that ringing a doorbell is too intrusive or formal, according to a national survey of 2,000 Britons.
Meanwhile, almost a quarter of people would feel “doorbell dread” if a visitor rang the doorbell without texting them first.
Simrat Sharma, a technology expert at comparison website Uswitch, said: “It’s a sign of how central our phones have become, not just for calls and messages, but for managing the small social rituals that used to happen at the front door. The smartphone has quietly rewritten the etiquette of showing up.”
Almost a quarter of millennials also avoided ringing the doorbell, compared to an average of 14 per cent amongst all respondents.
Among the Gen Z who text or call instead of ringing a bell, 39 per cent said it felt less intrusive, 19 per cent believed ringing a bell was too formal, and 23 per cent thought their friend was more likely to hear their phone.
Across all ages, 23 per cent of Britons say they would feel negatively if someone rang their doorbell without texting first, while one in eight would feel caught off guard. Seven per cent would be anxious or stressed.
Ms Sharma added: “We spent years making doorbells smarter – fitting cameras, Wi-Fi, two-way speakers – only to stop pressing them altogether. For younger people, especially, ringing the doorbell has gone from the default to an unusual choice.”
Doorbell avoidance was among several habits being embraced by Britons, with the poll also showing that four in ten dodge calls from unknown numbers, and more than a third no longer use a landline.
It follows a survey published earlier this month that found that one in four young people would rather talk to AI than speak to a real person, and more than two-thirds would cancel their plans in order to spend time online.
Similarly, research last year showed that 47 percent of Gen Z felt too shy to order coffee in person and would instead order it from their phones.
