• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, January 8, 2014

It’s always fascinating just how much unavoidable things like location and the weather impact consumer behavior.

“Unavoidable” might not be the prettiest word choice, but it gets the point across. Devices such as smartphones, tablets, TVs and computers -- and even channels like social, video and apps -- are all avoidable; the consumer can choose when to turn them off.

But you are always somewhere. The weather is always something. While we’re at it, let’s throw time and gender in the mix of unavoidables as well; it is always some time and you are always someone. 

For example, did you know that in Q4 2013, women on the West Coast using an iOS device for social networking apps had a 106% higher click-through rate than the rest of the country?

Or how about the fact that when it was hot out in the Northeast -- over 88 degrees -- the click-through rate was 58% higher compared to when the temperature was between 33 and 50 degrees?

The data isn’t from a small sample size either. It comes from a recently released infographic from AdTheorent in which over 1.2 billion mobile ad impressions were analyzed, all of which were delivered via real-time bidding (RTB).

Devices matter too, even though I would classify them as avoidables. The Samsung Galaxy Note was the best performing tablet device in terms of engagement -- it beat out the iPad by a whopping 226%.

Anthony Iacovone, founder and CEO of AdTheorent, called this one of the most surprising finds in the report. “This goes against much of what we think we know about iOS mobile devices,” he said to RTM Daily via email. “[It] proves that widening targeting parameters to allow predictive modeling technology to pinpoint the best impression is the most efficient way to reach your target.”

Samsung also won in the other mobile category: smartphones. Its Galaxy line boasted the highest click-through rates, while ads on the Nokia Lumia performed the worst.

Here’s a strange stat: Ads had a 400% higher click-through rate in the Northeast when the humidity level was between 90-100%, compared to 0-25%. Similarly, ads had a 86% higher click-through rate on the West Coast during heavy precipitation (compared to no precipitation).

Perhaps these figures are indicative of marketers really figuring out the whole personalized-ads-via-RTB thing, but I doubt it. I think if that were the case, click-through rates and engagement would be higher across the board, and we wouldn’t see extreme disparities, such as 400% higher click-through rates just because it was humid in New England.

If truly personalized ads were really being delivered -- and that’s one of the main draws of RTB, especially on mobile devices -- engagement rates wouldn’t come and go with the wind.

I would expect marketers to start putting the unavoidables work, and it doesn’t seem like doing so would take a big budget and a room full of data scientists -- it didn’t take much to know it was cold earlier this week.

Iacovone believes “marketers should learn that while common beliefs about mobile users are important to understand, media-buying choices shouldn't be hinged upon them. Much of the behavior we are told is most likely to occur can be changed completely based on whether or not a user is in a humid climate condition."

He added, “These insights prove that targeting by behavior or audience is a dying method, and because Big Data technology allows us real-time insight, marketers need to take advantage.”