• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 31, 2012

A large majority of smartphone owners use their devices to consume digital content, including media and information, according to a new survey by Frank N. Magid Associates for the Online Publishers Association, titled “A Portrait of Today’s Smartphone User." A growing number of these people have seen and responded to mobile advertising delivered to their device.
 
Overall, the OPA-Magid online survey of 2,540 people ages 8-64, conducted in March of this year, found that 44% of the U.S. Internet population age 8-64 owns a smartphone. Within this group, 93% said they regularly access content and information, with 59% saying they access the Internet, 58% checking email, 47% checking weather information, 31% watching video, 29% accessing local news and 24% accessing national news.
 
Within the group that consumes content on their smartphones, 39% (or around 36% of all smartphone users) say they have responded to mobile advertising.

Asked about their activities in the six months leading up to the survey, 15% of smartphone users who consume content on the phone have clicked on an ad, 12% have used a special offer or coupon, and the same proportion have made a purchase either on a PC or at a store after seeing a mobile ad.
 
Interestingly, ad response rates were higher among smartphone users who have paid for content. One out of four U.S. smartphone owners (24%) have paid for digital content, according to the OPA survey, with 22% paying for video, 21% for entertainment, 21% for books, and 19% for weather content. Within this group, 79% have taken some action after seeing an ad, with 31% clicking on an ad, 30% using a special offer or coupon, 27% making a purchase on a PC, and 24% making a purchase at a store as a result of seeing a mobile ad.
 
People who paid for smartphone content were also more likely to have positive attitude toward mobile advertising, with 29% saying smartphone ads are eye-catching, 26% saying they’re relevant, and 25% saying they are unique and interesting, compared to 17%, 15%, and 14%, respectively, for smartphone content consumers in general.
 
In June, the OPA released the results of a similar survey about tablet users, which also revealed relatively high engagement with advertising and brand-related content. In that survey, 29% of tablet owners said they have researched a product in the previous six months, while 23% said they clicked on an ad, 20% used a special offer or coupon and 19% visited a product Web site.

Thirty-seven percent of tablet owners said ads delivered via the device were “hard to ignore,” 33% called them “eye-catching,” 29% said they were unique and interesting and 28% thought they were relevant. Twenty-seven percent said they were motivated to purchase a product by tablet advertising, and 26% were motivated by ads to research products.