Cell Phone Users' Acceptance Of Mobile Ads On The Rise

A new study by Harris Interactive finds that getting cell phone users to accept mobile ads might just be a question of matching the right incentive with the right demographic.

The study reports that while 90% of all cell phone users are disinterested in receiving mobile ads, that number drops to 64% if an incentive is offered. Of that overall percentage, the study groups' willingness to watch mobile ads is then tempered by its demographic, the type of ad displayed and the incentive offered in exchange for the ad.

The good news for wireless carriers, advertisers and marketers is that it looks like there's a leak in the dam of cell phone user's intolerance. But with a very small percentage of 40-49 year olds interested in receiving mobile ads at all, and only 13% of people with incomes of between $125,000 and $149,000 interested in receiving ads in exchange for some incentive, mobile advertisers and wireless carriers need to consider each group's tolerance level very carefully when developing a mobile ad strategy.

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"You have to look at the demographic, not the whole customer group," says telecom industry analyst Jeff Kagan. "Every group of mobile phone users has a different set of desires and financial ability to pay. Usually the people who are looking for a bargain are having difficulty paying for the service to begin with."

The younger cell-phone using demographic, those between 18 and 39 years old, are most interested in receiving mobile ads in exchange for incentives, such as cash or free cell phone minutes. Pre-paid mobile service provider Virgin Mobile already has found this to be true and has developed its Sugar Mama program around that - connecting users with targeted brand advertising in exchange for free airtime or text time minutes.

"Usually the younger group is the people who would like to use phones more often and have trouble paying for it. [Incentivizing that group] works - their whole universe of friends revolves around the phone and sending messages and doing things with phones and services," Kagan says.

The Harris Interactive study found that adult mobile phone users' willingness to watch mobile ads would be mitigated by having a variety of choices regarding ad content, frequency and timing of ad delivery, platform of ad delivery and giving the cell phone user the ability to opt out altogether.

Kagan agrees with the concept of choice, stressing the importance of considering each cell phone audience segment individually when developing a mobile ad strategy.

"The ads on mobile phones are going to have to get trickier, more interactive, more like little games, and then there's more of a chance that they'll be more welcome. But the way the ad market is now, it just doesn't make sense [for the masses]," Kagan says.

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