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Mobile Advertising Influences 18-24-Year-Olds Most

Usage* of picture/video phones is up 17% for all adults according to an analysis of BIGresearch’s most recent Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM 11, Dec. 07) of 15,727 participants (v. Dec. 06).

That level of usage, along with the finding that 90% of adults say they regularly or occasionally use a cell phone, makes a case for mobile advertising as a viable option for advertisers, BIGresearch said.

However, cell phones rank low in the list of media that influence consumers to purchase: Just 6.9% of adults say video on cell phone influences them to purchase electronics; 6.4% say text messaging does so. (Word of mouth is the top medium, with 42.6%).

Nevertheless, a mobile bright spot is that the elusive 18-24-year-old segment is influenced more than any other: More than double the proportion say they are influenced - for both forms of cell phone media (14.2% for video and 15.9% for text messaging):

“Given the state of our economy, mobile advertisers have a unique environment in which to build strategies that influence consumers to buy via their cell phones, especially the media-elusive 18-24-year-old segment,” said Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch.

“More robust cell phone technology allows consumers to receive promotional offers and connect to their favorite internet shopping site all within minutes and without having to fuel up on gas.”

Understanding how consumers use cell phones is also critical in developing mobile marketing plans, BIGresearch said: Cell phones are much more likely to trigger an online search for young consumers than all adults (21.8% vs. 8.3%) as is text messaging (15.3% vs. 4.8%).

Other findings:

• The 18-24 year old set is also more likely to download to a cell phone than the general market (31.6% vs. 15.9%).
• More than half (50.5%) of 18-24-year-olds communicate with others about a service, product or brand via cell phone (compared with 29.6% of all adults), second only to face-to-face communication (66.9%).
• 18-24-year-olds are also almost three times as likely to communicate through text messaging than all adults (30.7% v. 10.8%).

*Regular/occasional usage of picture/video phones