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Mobile Phone, Tablet Users Gravitate Toward Product Videos, Study Finds

Ever clicked on a video link on your mobile phone only to encounter a video that - gasp - didn’t play?

Yep, thought so. Me too.

Even in this mobile-centric day and age, I still run across videos that just don’t start on my smartphone, or videos that require the viewer to scroll back and forth across the screen.

But brands and businesses should do whatever it takes to optimize their videos for mobile devices because consumers are increasingly watching product videos on their handhelds. About half of smartphone users and 61% of tablet owners have watched product videos on their devices in the last three months, according to an Invodo study conducted in partnership with e-commerce consultancy the e-tailing group. “Tablets may have greater long-term potential for effectively delivering the product videos that today’s consumers currently gravitate towards,” the study said. “Monitoring all mobile devices will be important as ‘devices’ grow in importance and forever alter the daily lives of shoppers.”

The study surveyed consumers who had watched product videos. Of those, about 60% said when they encounter a video on a retail site they watch it, and about one-third have watched five or more product videos. Perhaps even more promising for brands — product videos are being watched in many categories, such as auto, consumer electronics, music/DVD/videos, toys/video games and computer hardware/software.

Okay, so maybe we aren’t watching too many videos on how to apply deodorant or get a better brushing from your toothpaste. Even so, the appeal of videos for more complicated or sophisticated products is fairly broad.

Videos that are educational or instructional in nature draw the most viewer attention. About one in three consumers watched educational or instructional videos for more than three minutes.

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