The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has released the results of its third-annual Mobile Attitude and Usage Study. The study provides insights into overall consumer mobile usage by demographic group, awareness and usage of mobile phone features and services, as well as users interest in and concerns about specific applications. The study is available immediately, free of charge, to all current MMA Global members.
The study finds that interest in mobile marketing remains as high as it was in the previous two surveys. One in four respondents in the 2007 survey expressed interest in mobile marketing. Although some respondents had difficulty readily associating benefits with mobile marketing, those who do say that they value the ability to receive highly relevant information, the coupons and rewards received, and the convenience of accessing the desired applications quickly and easily.
The number of consumers who have experienced mobile marketing continues to grow. One out of 20 respondents had participated in mobile marketing. The highest participation is among respondents age 25-44.
Sweepstakes and voting campaigns are the most widely used types of mobile marketing. The second most common type is receiving alerts about products, services, accounts. 10% of respondents have used their mobile phones to receive and redeem coupons.
Ethnic groups are key audiences for mobile marketing. For example, African Americans and English-dominant Hispanics indicate stronger interest in mobile marketing than Caucasians. These findings suggest that the mobile channel can be highly effective for reaching specific ethnic groups, the MMA says.
Teens and young adults use text messaging more than any other demographic. People aged 13-24 send and receive the most, sending more than 50 messages per week, while half of all survey respondents use text messaging at least once a week. This usage shows that most mobile users are at least familiar with text messaging, even if they are not regular users, making it an effective tool for mobile marketing campaigns.
54% of 13-34 year olds use SMS for social networking, while 44% of 13-34 year olds said they use text messaging for flirting or dating, and 10% of 13-34 year olds said they have broken up with a boyfriend or girlfriend via text.
The 2007 Mobile Attitude and Usage Study reinforces that the mobile channel remains one of the most powerful tools available for brands and companies, says MMA President Laura Marriott. US consumers continue to use more of their phones features, creating additional opportunities for marketers to reach them with coupons and other relevant, exclusive-to-mobile information.
The 2007 study, conducted by Synovate, consisted of 1,405 online interviews using a nationally representative consumer online panel of over 1.5 million households. The sampling plan for the main study sample was identical to the 2005 and 2006 survey waves, in order to ensure maximum compatibility between studies, and to allow for accurate trending. The study focuses on the US market. The MMA also conducted similar studies in Asia-Pacific and Western Europe. Results from these studies will be released before the end of the year.