Commentary
Almost As Good As A Sandwich Board
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 27, 2009
Men are more interested than women:
- 51% of men ages 18 to 34, and 34% of women of the same age range who own cell phones, are at least somewhat interested in receiving opt-in shopping alerts on their cell phones.
Only 1% cell phone owners currently receive alerts about sales at their favorite establishments on their phones, yet 26% would be at least somewhat interested in receiving such alerts, assuming they were permission-based. Food, entertainment and consumer products top the list of categories
Of those interested in receiving alerts, 53% would be at least somewhat interested in being notified about restaurant specials around them.In addition, about 2-in-5 of these adults would like to receive alerts about sales for:
- Movie/event tickets (43%)
- Weather information (39%)
- Clearance or liquidation sales (37%)
About another 3-in-10 of these adults would want to be alerted about:
- Pizza (31%) Clothes (30%)
- Fast food (27%)
About one quarter would want to be notified about:
- Electronics (25%)
- Music (24%)
- Happy hour specials or bar and night club offers (21%)
The survey found that about 9-in-10 U.S. adults have made an impulse purchase when they were out shopping in a store based on a sale or a special near where they were.
- 22% of adults owning cell phones make this type of impulse purchase at least once per week or more often
- Among women with cell phones ages 18 to 44, 27% report making at least one impulse purchase a week
- Among men 18 - 34, this number rises to 31%
Among cell phone owners in households with children under 18, 37% are at least somewhat interested in receiving opt-in alerts on their mobile phones. This number rises to 44% in households with children under age 6.
According to Kathryn Koegel of Primary Impact Research, "Many American consumers have their mobile devices with them all day long, including when they are shopping... reaching a receptive audience... presents a big opportunity to influence impulse purchases... "
For more information about 1020 Placecast and this study, please visit here. Or, to access the PDF file, please go to Placecast here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
The problem with studies such as this are that their methodology is not clearly elucidated. Only when we understand the make up of the population surveyed as well as the full methodology employed, preferably double blind, and the total statistics generated can we understand the full picture. Interpretations such as this only serve to cloud the real issues and cause confusion down the line with respect to regulators. the industry needs to do a better (more supportable) job if it is going to withstand the rigors of the looming hearings and regulations down the road.
Highly interesting article. Something we have suspected for a while. Look for this to be in www.storecatch.com soon.