According to the results of the first quantitative mobile consumer study by Adobe Systems, when it comes to the mobile user experience, respondents generally favor mobile browser experiences over
downloadable mobile app experiences across all four key consumer categories: consumer products & shopping, financial services, media & entertainment, and travel.
Within the consumer
products & shopping as well as the media & entertainment categories, 66% of respondents cited that they prefer the mobile Web for accessing content compared to 34% who cited a preference for
downloadable apps. 38% of respondents said they had not purchased anything in the consumer products & shopping category from their devices in the last six months.
Brad Rencher, vice
president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit, Adobe, said "... though mobile apps continue to be extremely popular, mobile users aren't ignoring mobile websites... "
Media & entertainment were found to be the highest-penetrated mobile category, by number of users and time spent, with only 3% of those surveyed saying they had not interacted with media
content on a mobile device in the last six months. Consumer products & shopping was the least penetrated, with the fewest number of users citing that they have purchased consumer goods from their
phones. Despite their differences, media & entertainment and consumer products & shopping drew the highest percentage of satisfied mobile users out of the four categories, with 89% and 85%
respectively.
Other key findings include:
- Accessing maps and directions is the No. 1 mobile activity (81%) followed by social networking (76%), accessing local information (73%), and
reading news (68%). The top mobile finance activity is reviewing bank account information (67%)
- CDs, games and DVDs comprise the second largest mobile purchase category, accounting for 43% of
those surveyed
- Males 30-49 years-old tend to be the most active content consumers and mobile purchasers; 31% of men spent $499 or more through their mobile device in the last 12 months,
versus 23% of women
- Men also spend more time than women on financial and travel content, while 80% of women engage with social media on their devices compared to 70% of men
And,
relating to mobile use, eMarketer posted some recent forecasts for mobile ad spending through 2014. According the the eMarketer forecast, 2014 will see $2,549.5 million in US Mobile ad spending.
Spending projections continue to span a wide range, however, reflecting mobile's status as an emerging channel. They also charted the comparable forecast period from several other sources for
comparison.
US Mobile Ad Spending, 2009-2014 (Display, Search and
Message-Based Advertising; $ in Millions) |
Year | Ad Spending
(MM) | Change (%) |
2009 | $416.0 | 30% |
2010 | 743.1 | 79 |
2011 | 1,102.4 | 48 |
2012 | 1,501.3 | 36 |
2013 | 2,036.8 | 36 |
2014 | 2,549.5 | 25 |
Source: eMarketer, September
2010 |
Selected Comparative Estimates, US Mobile Ad
Spending ($ in Millions) |
Forecast By: | Date | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
Borrell Assoc. | 4/2010 | 6,100 | 10,600 | 16,600 | 24,200 |
JP Morgan | 1/2010 | 3,790 | 5,099 | 6,303 | -- |
Meyers Publishing | 12/2009 | 914 | 1,280 | 2,048 | -- |
Credit Suisse | 7/2010 | 785 | 1,615 | 3,072 | 4,548 |
eMarketer | 9/2010 | 743 | 1,102 | 1,501 | 2,037 |
Forrester Research | 7/2009 | 561 | 748 | 950 | 1,131 |
Yankee Group | 4/2010 | 242 | 324 | 432 | 572 |
Source: eMarketer, Various 2009/2010, October 2010 |
eMarketer predicts steeper growth in display spending, banners, rich media and
video, accompanied by a sharper drop in messaging's share of total mobile ad spending.
Noah Elkin, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the report, concludes "These shifts reflect
the evolution of mobile from a channel associated primarily with direct response campaigns to one marketers will increasingly use for branding purposes,"
Said Elkin, "In short, the
continued development of devices, browsers and mobile networks, combined with the availability and marketer awareness of richer ad units, will significantly enhance how marketers will be able to use
mobile to interact and engage with consumers."
For additional information
about the Adobe report, please visit here, and for more from eMarketer, go here.