• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 4, 2010

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.