Commentary
Could It Be "Quick Response?"
- by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, April 12, 2011
Demographics of US Smartphone Users Who Have Used a QR Code (% of Respondents, February 2011) | |
Demographic | % of Respondents |
Gender | |
Male | 51% |
Female | 49 |
Age | |
18-34 | 39% |
35-54 | 48 |
55+ | 13 |
HH Income | |
< $25K | 6% |
$25K-50K | 23 |
$50K + | 71 |
Education | |
High school or less | 11% |
College/associate | 26 |
University + | 63 |
Source: MGH Survey, March 2011 | |
Most respondents reported seeing QR codes on a product, followed by in a magazine or on a coupon. And they were typically used to get coupons or discounts, or to access information.
32% of smartphone users surveyed said they've used a QR code, a much higher percentage than various other previous surveys of QR usage. Top usage of those who said they've used a QR code was to secure a coupon, deal or discount (53%). Other uses of a QR code included:
- Access additional information (52%)
- Enter a sweepstakes (35%)
- Sign up to receive more information (26%)
- Access video (24%)
Reason For QR Code Use by US Smartphone Users (% of Respondents, February 2011) | |
Reason for QR Use | % of Respondents |
Get coupon, discount or deal | 53% |
Access additional information | 52 |
Enter sweepstakes | 35 |
Register for more information | 26 |
Access video | 24 |
Make a purchase | 23 |
Interact with social Media | 23 |
Other | 11 |
Don't know | 2 |
Source: MGH Survey, March 2011 | |
70% of respondents said they plan to use a QR code again or for the first time. The top usage (87%) would be to secure a coupon, discount or deal. Other desired usages included:
- Entering a sweepstakes (64%)
- Accessing additional information (63%)
- Making a purchase (60%)
- Signing up to receive more information (53%)
MGH President, Andy Malis, concludes that "... while QR code usage is... still a relatively new marketing tactic with little to no statistics about how consumers are using them... results demonstrate that consumers are embracing the mobile marketing tactic... and even those who haven't used QR codes are interested in engaging with them..."
For additional information, please visit MGH here.
Jack Loechner is the Editor of The Center for Media Research's daily Research Brief. You can reach him at jack@mediapost.com.
Given that MGH makes it difficult to learn much about the background of this research, I consider this survey highly suspect.
Fundamentally, the numbers don't jive with the reality of the people I know. Given that it was an online "panel", we have to presume there's some kind of skew - because these numbers are outrageously high. It's almost like this survey was funded by a QR code software/equipment company to drive consumption of their products.
Who knows what's up. I'm just going to be exceptionally skeptical of this specific survey. QR codes have some promise. We should also, though, recall all the money put into the CAT barcode scanner in 2000 that was going to entirely revolutionize advertising. The only thing revolutionized was the company when it went out of business.
Thanks for sharing this info. The "reason for use" data is particularly interesting - I haven't seen much research on that particular topic.
For those who are interested in more specific applications of barcode / QR marketing, I should mention that our agency created an infographic on the topic that's available here: http://j.mp/ewhszT