Advertising that runs on mobile devices is much more effective than that on PCs, particularly when it targets affluent users, according to new study.
The research, from BBC Worldwide, noted that affluent consumers are nearly twice as active on mobile as the less affluent, with nearly 4 in 10 accessing the Web through their devices at least hourly.
Conducted by Millward Brown, the study surveyed 6,000 smartphone owners in Australia, Germany, Sweden, India, Hong Kong and the USA. Survey participants comprised 50% top income earners* and 50% general population.
The study revealed clear evidence of the increasing importance of smartphones to affluent consumers, particularly in their working lives and for consuming news, and showed that users of newer top-end handsets** were significantly more receptive towards mobile advertising.
The new Affluent Connection study found that mobile is fast becoming a go-to platform for news consumption, with 15% more affluent consumers naming the mobile phone as their device of choice in 2013 than in 2012 and 9% more favouring tablets, compared to a decrease of 17% for laptops/PCs.
Owners of the latest handsets are also 10% more likely to watch news video or stream content on their mobile phones.
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Jim Egan, CEO of BBC Global News Ltd, said: “The rapidly growing importance of mobile to our global audiences is one of the big themes for our industry and we are constantly working to create the best mobile browsing experience, be that with the introduction of our international BBC News and Sports apps, or on-going responsive design innovations.
“This new research reveals significant change in mobile consumption – people are delving deeper into stories on their mobiles, consuming more video and, significantly, growing accustomed to advertising on their mobiles. This large study provides compelling evidence that mobile advertising works with affluent mobile consumers in particular and that has big implications for publishers and advertisers alike.”
The report also showed that affluent customers were 18 per cent more likely to share their location to get relevant services than the general population and were more likely to prefer mobile devices to desktop for viewing news-related content.