SavvyQuest™: Cell Phone Advertising
In partnership with The Mobile Marketing Association, Luth Research leveraged their online panel, SurveySavvy™, to conduct this SavvyQuest omnibus survey which ran from August 31 to September 4, 2009, with 996 completes. Respondents were screened so that only those who own a cell phone participated in the study. They were asked the following questions regarding their cell phone:
- Brand of current cell phone
- Current cellular service provider
- Number of cell phone ads responded to
- How received cell phone ads responded to
- Cell phone usage to text message to company who placed ad, scanning bar code and/or used GPS
- Number of products/services purchased after receiving ad on cell phone and total amount spent
RECEIPT OF AND RESPONSE TO CELL PHONE ADS IS RELATIVELY LOW
More than half of respondents (56%) have not received an ad on their cell phone in the past year. While close to a third (29%) had a received one or more ads but not responded, 14% of respondents had responded to a cell phone ad at least once in the past year. Of those who responded to an ad, nearly half (48%) had received a text message ad. This was followed by “saw ad on website I was visiting on my cell phone” (17%), “it was in an email I received on my cell phone” (10%), “I received a voice recorded message” (7%) and “it was inside a mobile application” (6%).
Looking at those respondents who had responded to one or more cell phone ads:
- Nearly two thirds (65%) had also used their cell phone to text one or more messages to a company regarding a product/service they saw on media other than their cell phone.
- A third (32%) had used their cell phone camera or scanner to copy a bar code at least once this past year.
- More than half (55%) had used the GPS function on their cell phone.
HALF OF CELL PHONE RESPONDERS HAVE PURCHASED PRODUCT/SERVICE
Only half (50%) of cell phone ad responders have actually purchased one or more products or services as a result of the ad; those 45+ years of age were significantly less likely to have done so (67% to 73% none). Among those who had bought at least one item, 65% were repeat buyers. On average these respondents had purchased 3.34 items based on a cell phone ad.
For most respondents the amount spent on these items was relatively low; 22% had spent less than $10 and close to a third (30%) only $11 to $50 total for all items. However, there were some “big spenders” as 19% had spent $100 or more on their cell ad purchases.
About SavvyQuest
SavvyQuest is an Omnibus survey service provided by Luth Research leveraging SurveySavvy™, the company’s high-quality multimillion-member online panel. With SavvyQuest, an online survey with a target total of 1,000 completes is fielded based on a weekly schedule, which can be tailored to on-demand schedules if needed. The 1,000 completes are balanced to reflect the U.S. Census demographic distributions on gender, age and ethnicity. The sample can be later weighted to reflect online population distributions if it is so desired. For more information, please contact Becky Wu, Vice President of Research, at bwu@luthresearch.com.