• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, September 10, 2015

Edward Malthouse and Rebecca Wang presented a study from Medill on how mobile marketing affects consumer purchase behavior at AdExchanger’s OMNI.digital conference.

The main finding of the study: The effectiveness of a mobile contact point is caused by the intensity that participants assign a brand in helping them achieve a goal in their lives. Essentially, an effective app creates brand loyalty while simultaneously adding value to the customer

One of the main problems apps face is the consumer. They may download initially, then discards forever. Successful apps that brands develop generally benefit consumers in one of four ways:

1.  They can be utilitarian and informational

2.  Provide a convenience that isn’t attainable outside of the app

3.  Provide entertainment or hedonistic value (a hard area for brands to crack)

4.  They can attempt to be a social app

Mobile devices reinforce habits already in place. They are portable, immediate, interactive, personal and functional. Having a good app only emphasizes these basic elements of a mobile experience; they allows marketers to gather more consistent data from users.

Gian Fulgoni executive chairman and co-founder of comScore, mentioned during a presentation on accurate cross-channel attribution that mobile ads were more effective than desktop ads. His main reason: mobile ads dominate the screen of the smaller device.

The crux of his presentation focused on targeted digital campaigns which were more effective, though didn’t have the reach of TV ads.

According to the presenters’ data, leveraging a combination of the effectiveness of targeting on mobile and desktop with the current trend of TV ads for mobile apps for greater reach can pay off in spades for marketers.