British retailers found recommending Samsung smartphones over Apple's

The Telegraph reports that the survey, performed by Informa Telecoms and Media, looked at smartphone recommendations from sales attendants at John Lewis, Everything Everywhere, O2, 3, Maplins, PC World, Carphone Warehouse, and Phones 4 U. The researchers found that the Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note II were most often recommended, even though they've been on the market longer than Apple's new iPhone 5 and other handsets from Nokia and HTC.

The researchers asked attendants to recommend three smartphones or tablets from among their offerings. Only 3 and Phones 4 U recommended Apple smartphones, with both recommending the iPhone 5. Still, other manufacturers fared worse; Motorola reportedly saw very few recommendations, and Research In Motion's BlackBerry offerings were also snubbed.

In addition to attendant recommendations, the survey also scored manufacturers on whether smartphones were advertised in store windows or in-store. They found that Apple and Samsung products were just as likely to see window or in-store promotion, despite the discrepancy in recommendations.

In reporting their results, Informa noted that the higher rate of Samsung recommendations could possibly boil down — in part — to individual employee biases, including possible higher commissions on sales of Samsung phones. Samsung's greater range of smartphone options could also have an effect, as the iPhone is Apple's only smartphone offering.