Fri, 09/10/2010 – 08:41 by The question of user attitudes toward mobile advertising is widely discussed. There’s lots of survey data showing that most mobile users don’t like or want ads. Alternatively there’s some data (including ours) that show when there’s a clear exchange of value (saving money) that receptiveness goes up.
I’ve long discussed the differences between user survey responses and user behaviors in context. If mobile ads were so widely reviled why would they perform better (per Dynamic Logic and Insight Express) than PC ads? Let’s look at some data.
Parks Associates released an in-apps ad
forecast. In the context of their press release the firm showed some consumer survey results about mobile ad acceptance:
What the chart above shows is that 90% or more of adults (sample size undisclosed) either don’t like in-app mobile ads or are indifferent to them. Across the board 50% say they don’t like them.
A survey we conducted last year shows a higher percentage of users say they don’t want any ads on their mobile devices:
Source: Internet2Go (n=707), 2009 If you segment for smartphone users you find somewhat less hostility to mobile ads; “only” 54% say they don’t want ads in our survey. But these survey data don’t tell the whole story.
Ad network inMobi recently presented survey data (n=4,399) that showed when consumers are clear about the value exchange (app is free, ad is personalized or more relevant) they respond favorably and their level of acceptance goes up. And when inMobi tested four mobile display campaigns with these respondents it found that 66% (n=2,893) would click on one or more of the ads presented.
Another survey conducted (n=1,000) found that up to 43% of respondents were interested in ads that would help them save money.
What this all shows is that when consumers are asked things in the abstract (“do you want ads in-apps/mobile?”) they often respond “no.” But when shown ads concretely and exposed to their benefits their behavior will often be quite different and even their formerly hostile attitudes will change.