One in Three Smartphone Owners Acts on Mobile Ads: Study
More than one third of intensive smartphone users respond to mobile ads on their handsets, according to new research.
The study from Interpublic Group division Universal McCann and sponsored by Platform-A, AOL’s digital ad service, found that 53% of smartphone users say they have clicked on an ad over their Web-enabled phones to request more information. Thirty-five percent have answered a call to action to get a mobile coupon via smartphone, while 245 have used their high-end handsets to make purchases.
The research also revealed that nearly one of every seven minutes of digital media consumption now takes place over a mobile device, with 82% of respondents using their smartphones at work and 81% reporting that they use the phones while shopping. Six in 10 consumers expect their mobile Internet use to increase significantly during the coming two years.
“Our 2007 global mobile study demonstrated just how much the U.S. lagged behind other developing nations,” UM director of consumer insights Graeme Hutton said in a statement. “Now mobile is less about ‘wireless online’ and more about being a highly personal, customized medium. Smartphone users are reaching for their devices to help answer unmet needs. Services that don’t have dedicated mobile formats are going to miss out on this huge and continual media consumption shift.”
Research sponsor Platform-A, a property of Time Warner’s AOL service, owns Third Screen Media, a mobile ad-serving platform.
The smartphone study was conducted earlier this year upon 1,800 users chosen for their intensive use of the mobile devices; nearly all participants said they used their smartphones at least several times a week. Some respondents were also asked to keep daily diaries of their usage.
