Head of Socialyse, MPG MediaContacts’ social media division Pilar Barrio shared findings that almost half of respondents (49%) now share their tablets with their family. Tablet use peaks between 6pm and midnight. It’s not replacing other media, it’s adding to other media, she said.
Users of laptops typically spend about five hours and two minutes on their device, while smartphone users spend six hours, three minutes. Tablet users spent the longest time on their devices at six hours and 48 minutes. This was the same across all markets in the survey.
More than half (51%) of respondents use a table to fill what would previously have been ‘dead time’, and tablets are used in equal measure for entertainment and life ‘administration’. But instead of some activities being squeezed at the expense of others, users increased the time spent on entertainment, researching and fact finding, chatting with friends, shopping and banking. Shopping in the physical world has been impacted, however. More than a fifth (22%) of table owners said they have shopped less in physical stores since getting a tablet.
So, what does all of this mean for brands?
According to Barrio and the study, there are three things brands need to remember: targeting consumers when they are relaxed means offering more immersive and content rich experiences, getting closer and personal building deeper connections and remembering to synch with other devices.
Looking ahead, Kieron Bourke, Mobext managing director, proposed that being able to feel textures on devices will be tomorrow’s battleground for customer engagement.