According to the results of a new survey conducted online within the USA by Harris Interactive on behalf of Ingenio, more than four out of five of those surveyed currently own a mobile phone compared to only about 7 in 10 that own “land lines” or home phones. Research conducted by Harris Interactive suggests that a “dominant advertising model” that caters to this growing demographic of cell phone users is emerging.
The survey results revealed that of the overwhelming majority of USA consumers that own a mobile phone, only a minority of cell phone owners (30 percent) can recall seeing or hearing an advertisement on their mobile phone in the past year.
This mobile phone survey was conducted on the internet; 4,123 adults over the age of 18 responded. The research was commissioned by Ingenio, Inc., a provider of Pay Per Call(R) advertising, to gather a better understanding of peoples’ attitudes towards, and usage of, their mobile phones.
According to the results of this mobile advertising survey, about two-thirds of cell phone owners agreed that their cell phone is very personal to them; they also noted preferences regarding the type of mobile ads they found acceptable.
They survey’s results show that “the most favorable response was to sponsored text links that appear as a result of Internet searches (26 percent), confirming the value of returning ads relevant to the consumer’s search query. This was closely followed by audio ads that play instead of ringing when waiting for someone to answer a call (21 percent), or a text message from a company (20 percent) as the type of mobile ads rated at least somewhat acceptable by at least one in five mobile phone owners.”
According to Ingenio, the future for mobile advertising is growing. When asked about their current and anticipated mobile phone use, 49 percent of the respondents indicated that they are already using their cell phones for more than just phone calls. The respondents indicated that they also send and receive text messages, and 24 percent said that they frequently send and receive photos using their cell phone.
The survey also indicated that:
Younger adults are more likely than their older counterparts to own a mobile phone than a landline: among adults ages 18-34, 89 percent own a cell phone or smart phone, but only 57 percent have a landline. Additionally, younger mobile phone owners are considerably more likely to use their phones for more than just phone calls (74 percent of adults ages 18-34 versus 20 percent of those ages 55 and up) and men are more likely than women to use their phones to check email, access the Internet for something other than search and download, and find information using a search engine.
The survey also found that over the next three years, more than half of mobile phone owners (57 percent) anticipate using their phones for more than just making and receiving phone calls with younger mobile phone owners more likely than their older counterparts (75 percent of those ages 18-34 versus 33 percent of those ages 55 and up).
Among the people who have used 411 using their cell phone, 74 percent of them indicated that commercial listings were what they needed the most; 72 percent indicated that restaurant listings were what they needed.
The survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Ingenio, Inc. between March 29 and April 2, 2007 among 4,123 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for region, age within gender, education, household income and race/ethnicity were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.
With a pure probability sample of 4,123, one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/- 2 percentage points. Sampling error for data based on sub-samples may be higher and would vary. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
Ingenio, Inc. empowers businesses and individuals to create new revenue opportunities through voice-based e-commerce services. The Ingenio(R) suite of voice-commerce applications, including Pay Per Call(R), Live Advice, and Ether(R), are all designed to help the services economy flourish online, and have connected millions of buyers and sellers around the world. Pay Per Call advertising is the industry’s first pay-for-performance advertising system that delivers phone leads to businesses via its multi-channel ad network that includes Web and mobile search, online directories, free directory assistance, and more.
Live Advice and Ether(R) applications allow users to earn per call by selling their knowledge and expertise via the Internet. Founded in 1999, Ingenio, Inc. works with top-tier customers and partners including AOL, InfoSpace, Microsoft and many other leading companies. For more information, please visit http://www.ingenio.com/.
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods.
Harris Interactive has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at http://www.harrisinteractive.com/.
