Global survey on mobile advertising indicates high effectiveness

BBC World News and BBC.com/news have released new insight into the impact of mobile advertising on affluent consumers, following its first study examining the usage of mobile devices by consumers around the world.

Millward Brown conducted the study, surveying 6000 smartphone owners in Australia, Germany, Sweden, India, Hong Kong and the US. It compared the habits of affluent consumers - the highest 20% income earners in each country - to those of the general population.

The results reveal the increasing importance of smartphones to affluent consumers and demonstrate the extent to which mobile devices are integrated into their personal and, crucially, their business lives, as improved technology enables greater engagement with content. The study also provides clear evidence that affluent consumers, who make up a large proportion of the networks' audience, are significantly more receptive to mobile advertising than the general population.

Key findings

51% of affluent consumers use their mobile phone for business, compared to 40% of the general population
39% of affluent consumers access the internet via their mobile devices at least once an hour, which is 18% higher than the general population
Affluent consumers are 18% more likely to share their location to get relevant services than the general population
Affluent consumers are more likely to prefer mobile devices to desktop for news-related content than the general population. The contrast is particularly notable for current affairs or breaking news, where the figure is 15% higher for affluent consumers than the general population and business/finance news, where it is 28% higher
News apps are the most commonly used mobile phone apps for affluent consumers, whilst the general population favours social network apps
A third of affluent consumers agree that, if a brand wants to be modern and dynamic, it needs to be on mobile - 15% higher than the general population
Mobile advertising is twice as effective as the already proven advertising medium desktop in driving key brand metrics such as awareness, favourability and purchase intent amongst the total population. This figure rises to four times as effective for affluent consumers
High-income earners are as positive towards advertising on mobile (19%) as desktop (18%). The percentage that is happy to see ads on mobile websites rises to 41% for sites where the content is free

The survey emphasises the growing trend for news consumption on mobile platforms and reflects the results of the BBC's 2012 study of news consumption in which 59% of affluent consumers expected to consume more news on their phones over the next five years.

Preference to mobile

When asked which single device they prefer to use for news, the number of affluent consumers who name the mobile phone has risen by 15% since 2012 and tablet is up by 9%. In contrast, the amount of people who say they prefer desktop has decreased by 17%.

Additionally, 2012's survey found that news consumption on mobiles was mainly restricted to scanning news headlines. In comparison, 34% of new handset users (those releases since September 2012) surveyed in the new study say they now dive deeper when consuming news and are likely to read additional articles connected the original piece. This is 42% higher than for those using older handsets.

Owners of the latest handsets are also 10% more likely than the general population to watch news video or stream content on their mobile phones.