US consumers much more likely to respond to location based mobile ads

NEW research commissioned by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has found that 10 per cent of US mobile phone owners use locations based services at least once a week.

The MMA and its official research partner, Luth Research today released the latest Mobile Consumer Briefing, a monthly survey of U.S. adult consumers about their mobile marketing behaviours and opinions. The survey shows that nearly one in four US adult consumers uses mobile location services, with usage highest among Apple iPhone owners. Conducted in mid-March, the new survey found that 91 per cent of respondents have a cell phone and that 26 per cent of that group has used a "map, navigation or some other mobile phone service that automatically determines your current location."

Nearly half of those who noticed any ads while using location-based services took at least some action, indicating that consumers respond well to ads through location-based services. This was a significantly higher rate than for those who noticed advertisements while sending/receiving text messages (37 per cent) and almost twice the rate of those who saw an ad while browsing Web sites (28 per cent).

The survey's other key findings include:

· Ten per cent of the cell phone owners surveyed use mobile location services at least once a week.

· Sixty-three per cent of Apple iPhone owners use location services at least once a week.

· Adults ages 25-34 are frequent users of location services, with 22 per cent using them at least once a week.

· Respondents said they use these services most frequently to "locate nearby points of interest, shops or services."

· Consumers are interested in allowing their phone to automatically share their location in exchange for perks, such as free use of mobile applications and mobile coupons.

"By law, mobile phones sold over the past several years have included GPS or another location technology, creating an enormous addressable market for location-based services," said Peter A. Johnson, vice president of market intelligence, MMA, and author of the study.

"The Consumer Briefing shows that consumers believe location-based services offer them significant benefits in functionality and relevance. Consumers' significant adoption and appreciation of location-based services opens up enormous new opportunities for brands and agencies to leverage this unique virtue of the mobile channel."

"Location-based services are a compelling audience engagement feature unique to the mobile platform. By providing more location-aware services and products, brands can now create a much more intimate presence in consumers' lives," said Jacqueline Rosales, EVP, Business Development & Client Service, Luth Research.

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