When YouGov, which is monitoring the phone from pre-launch to post-launch, provided respondents with a list of features of the Apple iPhone, 25% of respondents expressed a high likelihood of purchasing the product.
However, this dropped to only 1% when they were informed that the handset costs £269 and the minimum monthly contract is £35.
The Apple iPhone has already proved a success in the US despite initial scepticism about the product and its pricing.
The research from YouGov's Apple iPhone awareness tracking service also revealed that unprompted awareness of Apple as a mobile phone supplier is only 4% at present but when prompted it rose to 39%.
The comparative figures for market leader Nokia were 88% prompted and 98% unprompted.
Awareness of Apple and the iPhone is highest among young adults, early technology adopters, men and Sony Ericsson handset owners.
The iPhone will only be sold by Apple, O2 and the Carphone Warehouse initially.
Marek Vaygelt, head of technology and telecoms consulting at YouGov, said: "The challenge for Apple, O2 and Carphone Warehouse is to convince customers to make a significantly higher outlay for the iPhone than they have been used to historically.
"The Apple iPhone has the potential to be a disruptive product in the mobile phone industry in the run-up to Christmas but it will require marketing that changes traditional purchasing behaviour to win over customers."
The tracking service is a multi-client project that consists of five waves of research undertaken online.
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