Survey Finds Most Mobile Users Would Agree to Advertising for a Discount

In a survey commissioned by Transverse and conducted by iGR, a market strategy consultancy focused on the wireless and mobile industry, the majority of respondents were receptive to mobile advertising. In fact, 56 percent of mobile users said they would view ads on their phones if they were given a 25 to 50 percent discount on their monthly bill.

Among the other key findings of the survey—which involved 810 wireless subscribers ages 18 to 65,  were:

• Mobile users under the age of 35 were most receptive to advertisements on their mobile device as incentives for discounts on their monthly service bill.
• Younger users ages 18-25, who are more apt to text, were among the most willing to trade the number of text messages sent/received; while audiences 26-44 years of age, who are more apt to talk, were most willing to trade voice usage for discounted services.
• 46 percent of those surveyed said that a 25 percent to 50 percent discount on their monthly bill was enough of an incentive to provide access to their usage patterns, including browsing, email and texting habits, as well as location, but not personal information such as the content of texts and emails.

“Mobile advertising has taken on many forms, and is generally considered to be intrusive. But when consumers are given the choice to receive ads and share their usage patterns in exchange for discounts, mobile advertising has the potential to be highly targeted and highly effective,” said Iain Gillott, president of iGR. “These survey findings indicate that consumers are open to non-traditional mobile advertising models.”

“With today’s economy, consumers are actively looking for ways to cut back their monthly expenses,” said Jim Messer, president and CEO of Transverse. “When a carrier is able to open up their customer base to create better value relationships among users, brands, merchants, and the media companies, consumers will see a significant reduction on their monthly bill, advertisers will have a highly targeted avenue to reach their audience, and wireless service providers will see new revenue streams to improve their bottom lines. All of this is made possible with state-of-the-art OSS technology available today.”