CHAPTER 4

#Being_Mobile

In this chapter you will read:

    •  The new mobile era

    •  The mobile consumer

    •  Mobile consumer behavior

    •  SoLoMo is mobile

    •  Multiscreen and multitask behavior

    •  Mobile marketing strategy

Introduction

Nowadays there are more than 2 billion smartphones in use worldwide. The world communicates regularly through mobile and is given the opportunity to have access to a vast range of information anytime, anywhere. It is also the way for digital marketers to connect and communicate with consumers. An interesting proportion emerges from Econsultancy’s briefing that an average 16% of revenue comes from mobile and 20% of sales are influenced by mobile engagements (Econsultancy, 2014).

The contemporary way of living requires innovation, meaning anything old or dissatisfying should be replaced by something new and easy-going. Mobile phones changed the physical and social environment. So anyone of us can be in person in one place and can communicate with another person who is cited in another location. And this location can be physical or digital or even virtual. The fact that people can carry Internet wherever they go creates a feeling that they can be everywhere at the same moment. It is obvious to marketers that human behavior differentiates in digital and physical space, even though it is the same person who exhibits these different behaviors or even personalities. It is true: The communication environment influences the actual environment (Yamamoto, 2010).

A mobile phone offers its owner freedom. This freedom derives from the fact that they can involve in doing many different functions: making a call, texting, browsing the Internet, e-mailing, doing the shopping, and socializing. Mobiles incorporated their potentials also in order to facilitate everyday activities without cashier, for example, paying bills, accessing Internet banking, etc. Also people tend to customize their mobiles in order to better match their personalities. Most importantly, a mobile phone is a reassurance in case of an emergency that provides a feeling of safeness. Mobiles have brought in our lives a new culture. Face-to-face communication is replaced to a great degree with digital communication. The concepts of place and time are now substituted with anywhere, anytime (Yamamoto, 2010).

People around the globe want at the same time individuality, uniqueness, and involvement in a certain community whose members share common characteristics. Since mobile communication became more convenient and inexpensive, mobile users consider their mobile devices extension of their hands. Therefore, marketers are benefiting from this situation by accessing consumers anywhere and almost anytime.

The new consumer easily accepts anything that is considered technologically advanced. Regarding the purchase of a product or service, consumers conduct their customized “marketing research” on the Internet by collecting information, attributes, and prices. The manufacturer in order to keep in touch with consumer’s demands should have a strong Internet presence; hence, the interaction between the two counterparts is more vivid than ever. Marketers must be alert and keep up with the rapidly changing environment. Consumers are able to obtain information and read reviews or even complaints with a single click. Positive opinions or negative word of mouth can be easily spread (Yamamoto, 2010). This situation is both a blessing and a curse for the marketing world. Nevertheless, businesses have the opportunity to promote and sell their products through an e-shop, without investing large amounts of money on a brick-and-mortar store.

Consumer behavior has shifted from a passive consumer to a new breed that is seeking information, reading and learning, participating, and cocreating. New technologies contributed to a large degree to the emergence of the new consumer (Shiffman, 2008). This new type of consumer is in pursuit of creativity and fresh ideas that will solve his or her problems and will satisfy his or her needs and, in the end will, create value (The Economist, 2007).

In the digital era a lot is said about the mobile consumer, who is seeking information for a tangible or intangible product using his or her mobile device. The mobile consumer is a person who likes using technology through which he or she gathers information, is not always concerned about brand loyalty or trust, considers social sharing is more important than the corporate organization, and adopts attitudes according to his or her age or social status.

Mobile Behavior

In our days mobile phone devices are primary communications and media tools. Let’s take a quick look of the mobile behavior in UK: 2 out of 3 adults own a smartphone and checking it an average 150 times a day (Mobile Marketing Association, 2013). Also 2 out of 3 smartphone and tablet users say mobile has meaningfully changed the way they shop. McKinsey’s (2013) research on mobile habits in the UK suggests it should be based on a simple principle: providing a fast, easy, enjoyable shopping experience. They want clean, mobile-optimized sites with easy-to-read pages that load quickly, easy-to-use shopping carts, and smooth checkouts. In order to understand the mobile consumer it is crucial to first get an insight of the differences within the generations and their characteristics. This is an initial step of segmenting the mobile consumers.

Generations

The lifestyle of Generation X (born 1960 and after) demonstrates significant differences compared to previous generations (increased divorces woman emancipation), so their lifestyles and consumption habits are formed in a dissimilar manner than they used to. They are considered to be an autonomous skeptical group of consumers. Generation Y (born 1994 and after) are considered to be idealistic and optimistic. Both X and Y generation members grew up with a TV and lived Internet and personal technologies from the very beginning. Therefore, they consume products and services differently from previous and next generations (Yamamoto, 2010).

The Millennial Generation is the one which hasn’t spent a part of their life without computer. Their philosophy is that the younger you are, the more information you can obtain and—as no surprise—this information is attained with a single click. They are impatient, flexible, and curious on exploring new areas and are value-oriented. These consumers (aged between 15 and 25) are able to use more than one medium simultaneously (Yamamoto, 2010).

The Cell Generation is not yet included to the labor force, but marketers should take into account that when they are included to the labor force this generation will appear with an aging population (Yamamoto, 2010).

Generation V can be considered a group that prefers online activities rather than actual physical experiences. The traditional demographics (age, sex, location) are not sufficient for marketing segmentation. They should be evaluated by online or mobile activities. This generation creates online characters, so marketers should aim to the character adopted or created and not to the person itself (Yamamoto, 2010).

Even though different generations adopt different opinions and behaviors, new generations are influenced by previous ones. Businesses in order to be successful should be able to maintain equal distances from each generation. The new generation is pursuing success, the best of everything, and they want things fast and easily.

Generation Y is seeking many options, adopting products or services according to their needs, and trying before buying. Generation X seems to be more passive and less active. For the marketers the challenge is that young age customers need to be treated especially according to their personality and not massively. This statement should become the new norm (Yamamoto, 2010).

The examination of these characteristics is only a rough approach of understanding the mobile consumer. They provide the first valuable differences and underline the need for a better and deeper examination of the mobile consumer. They are the first warning messages to marketers in their attempt to communicate with their potential consumers.

But who is the mobile consumer and how do consumers use their mobile devices around the world? The answer is coming in the next paragraphs, presenting facts from various surveys around the world.

The Mobile Consumer

It is certain that around the world consumers adopt different habits. Both high-growth and developed economies consumers in their vast majority own a mobile phone. Whether it is a smartphone or a feature phone, one would assume that developed markets would demonstrate higher smartphone ownership compared to high-growth markets. This assumption is not always true as, for example, when comparing South Korea (67% smartphone ownership) with US (61%). South Koreans also are the champions of mobile phone ownership (99%) while the UK and the US ownerships reach 97% and 94%, respectively. As for the demographics men tend to own smartphones more often than women and young consumers more frequently than older ones. The general trend is that smartphone purchases will augment as young consumers age. Also some consumers own more than one phone device (Russians 51% and Brazilians 48%) (Nielsen Research, 2013).

Τhe selection criterion for the purchase of a mobile device varies. Chinese consumers are more interested in an easy-to-use device (31%), while the US consumers seek value for money (30%). Good operating system is important for Brazilians (24%), and stylish design for Russians (23%) (Nielsen Research, 2013).

Android devices have significantly increased their lead in overall popularity, with 71% reporting that Android is their primary mobile device of choice (versus 55% in 2013), while iOS devices were reported at 18% (versus 31% in 2013). The young report Android smartphones as their primary device, from 59% in 2013 to 67% in 2014. In terms of mobile phones, 61% of those surveyed said that Android phones are their primary device, with 17% reporting iPhones as their primary device. In addition, 64% of Europeans reported using Android phones, with only 13% using iPhones (Adobe, 2014).

Smartphones vs. Tablets

Smartphones continue to be the primary device over tablets (84%). However, participants state that they spend more time daily on their tablets now as compared to 2013. Of the middle-age segment, 39% reported spending 1 to 4 hours daily on their tablets (compared to 26% in 2013), followed by the older segment at 38% (versus 28% in 2013) and the young segment at 32% (versus 26% in 2013). Respondents overwhelmingly use their tablets at home, rather than at work or out and about (Adobe, 2014).

The most common activities the young engage with on tablet remain the e-mail communication, playing games, and viewing videos. Furthermore, there is an increase in shopping in the segment of young, from 43% in 2013 to 52% in 2014 (Adobe, 2014).

Mobile Activities

As for the mobile activities, text messaging is the most popular, followed by others like multimedia activities, Internet banking, and social media (average number of sent messages in the US is 764). Russians use their mobiles mostly for text messaging (95%), Brazilians for social networking (75%), and South Korean and Chinese use them for mobile shopping (43%). Applications increase in popularity, especially regarding games and social networking.

The audience for media on mobile is extremely huge. The top activities that consumers engage in are social media (58%), accessing local content (41%), and playing games (40%). Depending on the activity, consumers prefer either applications for social media (59%), games (58%), and music (57%) or mobile websites for magazines (60%), sports (65%), and news (65%) (Adobe, 2014).

Another potential of a mobile phone is watching videos, even though their screen is rather small. Mobile owners watch videos via mobile web or applications in most cases. Among mobile users, the ones in developed countries watch less often videos on their device compared to developing countries. The US users are the exception to the rule: 31% responded positive to video watching several times a day (Nielsen Research, 2013).Traditional TV viewing seems to be an irreplaceable habit. Only in South Korea consumers stated that they reduced TV watching (21%), while 15% declared they augmented traditional TV viewing. The majority of mobile device owners is still consuming the same or even more time on TV watching as they used to, even though now they have the mobile alternative (Nielsen Research, 2013).

In order to create value, marketers are targeting their audience with the right vehicle. In the developed world smartphone owners will probably receive an advertisement via applications: in Russia (34%) through text messaging and in China (32%) from video games or location-based services. Mobile owners receive an ad on their phone, in most cases once a day. How about the feelings of the consumers receiving an ad on their devices? Indian consumers are the most tolerant on receiving ads, yet they are less likely to receive one compared to other countries. UK (14%) and Australians (13%) are less likely to give personal information in order to receive customized ad content, while Indians (52%) favor ads that incorporate multimedia elements compared to simple text ads (Nielsen Research, 2013).

Moreover, comScore survey (2013) examined the impact of connected devices on consumer behavior. Summary of the findings are presented here.

All these valuable insights provide a guide to marketers in their attempt to map the mobile consumer and its dynamic context.

SoLoMo Consumers Are Mobile

With a closer look at mobile consumers, a more vulnerable segment is recognized. These consumers connect frequently on multiple devices from multiple locations and use a variety of applications, profiles based on their attitudes and behaviors compared to the rest of the mobile audience. Adobe report (2014) called them as the mobile elite (ΜΕ).

Demographically, these consumer segment slightly skewed to the young and middle-aged ranges (34% and 36%, respectively, with 30% from the older age range) and toward males (53% male versus 47% female). Additionally, they reported a slightly higher number of mobile devices being used: 1.9 for the ME versus 1.8 for the general consumer (Adobe, 2014).

Purchasing products through mobile devices increase year by year. ME consumers reported that they accessed visual information frequently (47% versus 38% for general consumers), while product and price information was also accessed more frequently (65% versus 58% for general consumers). Moreover, they prefer mobile applications for shopping, than mobile websites and then regular websites. General consumers also prefer mobile applications for shopping, but they reported as second preference the regular websites. The key point is that consumers prefer mobile applications for shopping, and therefore, marketers have to adopt the appropriate mobile strategy that prioritizes applications (Adobe, 2014).

The ME reported the use of mobile wallet (22%), augmented reality (13%) and mobile assisted in-store shopping (36%) compared to general consumers (14%, 9% and 32%) respectively.

Nielsen mobile path report (2013) reveals the UK consumer’s purchasing behavior and the use of mobile devices. Smartphone has been the best option for consumers to seek for the products they want because it is “always on” but is less popular for the whole duration of the process than the tablet (18% vs. 23%) (Nielsen Research, 2013). Although most of the consumers know what they are looking for when they start browsing, there are those who still have to make a decision during their searching in their mobiles. Mobiles are a means of searching for retail information such as tablet or smartphone, but over 30% of tablet users want to make a purchase within the hour, suggesting more determined users. Where consumers are at home, the tablet is chosen (88%) over the smartphone which is mostly used at school or during traveling (25%). Smartphones are mainly used for comparing prices (77%) and finding online deals (43%) and less for reading reviews. Over half of smartphone and tablet owners are satisfied with the information available with a slight edge to tablet users’ percentage, resulting in 55% and 61% respectively. A fact to be kept in mind, though, is that further improvement is both possible and desired by them all. Last but not least, half of consumers want business locations under search to be within 5 miles or closer at most from their location, with roughly 25% of them including a physical visit in their research (Nielsen Research, 2013).

Those results indicate that the ME are the consumers who take greater advantage for emerging mobile tactics, and therefore, it is more likely to be influenced by advertising and promotional tactics. It is certain that SoLoMo consumer is among this ME (Adobe, 2014).

The point is that SoLoMo consumers interact with businesses from multiple devices—and even cross-channel, such as starting from Facebook to a mobile site or application and then offline in a store or physical location. SoLoMo consumers are active mobile users, using mobiles to aid in their physical shopping experiences, from researching and comparing products to looking up customer reviews to locating specific products within a brick-and-mortar store.

The marketers have to recognize and understand the complexity of the consumer’s journeys in which they are “lost” in order to optimize their mobile experience and to consider mobile as a vital platform in a true cross-channel approach to customer communications and engagement (Adobe, 2014).

Multiscreen and Multitask Behavior

Nowadays, consumers use a variety of devices to connect to one another and to their favorite content. In these devices are included the PC/laptop, smartphone, tablet, connected TVs, and games consoles.

The challenge for manufacturers and retailers who try to reach the consumers who are always connected is to think of the complex way in which consumers use multiple devices for different purposes. This dynamic is changing greatly by market and segment and also by the devices and content that are introduced for making consumers’ lives easier.

In 2014, IpsosMediaCT investigated the “connected consumer” and the different screen behavior. In this survey they used more than 16,000 online interviews across 20 markets. The frame was from two groups of countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC), and UK. The findings provide a speculation context where the traditional marketing thinking and ways of approaching the potential consumer are in doubt.

The Connected Consumer

Thirty-three percent of online consumers in BRIC countries are in “least-connected group,” whereas in the UK only 25% of the consumers are in this group. Furthermore, in BRIC and the UK the adoption rate of connected TVs is higher, while in Western Europe smartphone and tablet usage is higher.

Both in BRIC countries and the UK, smartphone usage is personal and is closely linked to social networking, e-mailing, messaging, and web browsing, whereas a connected TV is a shared screen and is used for “collective viewing” of broadcast events, movies, music, and multiplayer games. However, the tablet usage is for both personal and shared activity (IpsosMediaCT, 2014).

Communication

Over recent years traditional SMS messaging is still widely used by the UK consumers (83%), whereas it is used only by43% of online consumers in Asia. Moreover, it seems that the 78% of UK consumers are making traditional voice calls via their smartphone, while in Japan there is a much higher prevalence of mobile-based e-mail for this type of communication.

In recent years it seems that the use of images and video in messages has increased. So, around 33% of consumers in Asia and BRIC countries are picture messaging via a smartphone, but the UK falls behind. Also, picture/video messaging via a tablet is actually much lower in the UK (16%) than in BRIC countries (38%), which suggests a much more “family-based” use of messaging services in the UK.

The 17% of online consumers in BRIC markets use the VoIP apps via a smartphone (most noticeably in China—26%), while only 10% of online consumers in the UK use these apps. Interestingly, the use of VoIP apps on a tablet is higher both in the UK (18%) and in BRIC countries (35%) (IpsosMediaCT, 2014).

Entertainment: TV, Music, Gaming

It appears that online consumers mostly use their tablets, and not their smartphones, to watch TV. In more detail, in UK mostly the tablet owners (47%) in comparison with smartphone owners (11%) are using their devices to watch TV. On the other hand, in BRIC countries, the 19% of smartphone owners and 70% of tablet owners are using their devices to do so (IpsosMediaCT, 2014).

These marked differences are due to historical patterns of BRIC markets having skipped fixed broadband and moved straight to mobile connection. Media planners need to be mindful of these market differences as this may present significant opportunities for brands to capture a consumer’s attention and click through to optimized content for that device.

It appears that online consumers in BRIC countries use their mobile and tablet devices more to listen to music than consumers in the UK. According to the survey, 36% of smartphone owners and 33% of tablet owners in the UK use their devices to listen to music. In the BRIC countries, due to a younger demographic population, 55% use their smartphone and 41% use their tablet (IpsosMediaCT, 2014).

The UK consumers use their smartphone less for gaming (33%) compared to the other consumers and especially to consumers in India who use their mobile to do so (47%). That may be because in India mobile gaming is dominated by “free to play” or “advertising models” and currently very limited in-app purchase. However, gaming on a tablet is highest overall in the UK (57%), and with global sales of tablets projected to outperform PCs in 2015, mobile gaming is seen as a growing trend in expanding markets like Asia and particularly Japan.

Moreover, Millward Brown’s (2014) “AdReaction—Marketing in a multiscreen world” survey disclosed very interesting results showing the change behavior in the digital multiscreen era. This global survey was conducted with more than 12,000 multiscreen users, aged 16 to 45, across 30 countries. We present the major findings indicating the shift on the consumer’s behavior:

Do you want more evidence of the new multiscreen behavior era? Another set of interesting findings comes from IAB Australia (2013) Multi-Screen Research confirming that the game has shift field from single to multiscreen behavior. These facts and numbers are challenging marketers to be responsive to the new multiscreen era and to make the appropriate adaptation on marketing strategies:

All these important facts underline the need of shifting the focus from a static consideration of the consumer’s behavior to a more holistic approach incorporating the mobile era and multiscreen behavior and their consequences. TV ads are not enough to capture consumer attention and have to be placed also in complimentary screens; smartphone confirms the impact of TV and whatever second screen strategy should be the first line of approaching the youth and the SoLoMo consumer. Traditional marketing activities and tools seem not to be enough to attract the consumer in this new context. Marketers have to take into account the multiscreen and multitask consumer behavior if they want to develop a competitive offer. Mobile marketing strategy is a crucial part of an integrated strategy aiming to target to the prospect consumer delivering an appropriate experience. In the next paragraph we will go through the major elements of a mobile strategy.

Mobile Marketing Strategy

The mobile era has created a new context in the marketing strategy formulation and implementation. There is an urgent need for rethinking the old rules and axioms. The aim is to compose a bundle of marketing activities using traditional and digital media. Mobile marketing strategy follows and supports “the big picture strategy” (Adobe, 2014).

It is apparent mobile devices have become the extension of our lives, an “alter ego,” in such a way that marketers have to adapt their marketing strategy in the mobile era in order to provide a competitive offer with differentiation advantage. Mobile devices have an amazing characteristic: personalization! Marketers can capitalize on this and offer a customized experience to their consumers at a time and location they have chosen.This ability alone is not enough. Marketers have to understand consumers’ mobile behavior and to provide them with the appropriate web services and mobile applications, making their shopping trip comfortable and supportive. As we have discussed in previous chapters, the dynamic technology environment has created a new web reality with four dimensions: personal, social, local, and mobile.

Social media is too important to be left in choice. Social media are everywhere anytime, and taking into account that traditional advertising and communication media lose the ground of the consumer’s trust, it is obvious they increase marketing value. The World Wide Web has knocked down the walls of time and place: news, comments, sales promotions, sales calls, reviews, activities, situations, even moods are transferred digitally everywhere upon our request or not. Our 24/7 companion, the mobile device provides this cyber world in a personalized manner and makes our experience more unique.

Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets are responsible for the dust on the PC. The access to web through mobiles is transcending our “best friend” at home or work, the personal computer/desktop. This is true, and the only thing you have to do is to go back to the previous paragraphs and see the facts from the surveys. Moreover, as you came across Chapter 3, nowadays consumer is acting in a more local manner. It is not enough for marketers to provide accurate content at a time that consumer wants but also apparent to offer a local context and competitive proposition.

All these dimensions of the new web reality lead to the “era of engagement” (Adobe, 2014). In this new era, marketer confronts a blear situation when mapping consumer online and offline behavior, and the challenge is becoming more adventuresome.

Yesterday’s thoughts and experimental attempts are today’s axiom. The current target audience—the consumer—seeks for a marketing offer which will give them a similar personalized experience regardless the place and the time they are: on the web in general, on Facebook, or in store. The challenge for the businesses and marketers is to incorporate all these elements and factors affecting consumer behavior into a mobile marketing strategy, adopting the appropriate effective tools.

But which of these marketing tools will provide an attractive experience to the loyal as well as the prospect consumer? Before the disclosure of the necessary attributes of a mobile marketing strategy it is crucial to discuss some “rule of thumb” floating in the marketplace.

The mobile applications are not a panacea. Applications probably attract a proportion of the potential consumers and may work better with the loyal consumers, but this is not the “only” issue. Evidence from global surveys suggests that the majority of the potential consumers prefer to use the web page of the retailer or manufacturer (Ericson et al., 2014) than to download and install their applications. Marketers first have to develop a friendly mobile web page, and then their applications could provide supportive elements and features to the consumer with caution: whatever the features provided, they have to be valuable to the consumer; an application for the application is without sense.

Moreover there is a lot of noise about some “trendy” mobile sites. An overloaded mobile site does not necessarily lead to marketing effectiveness. Again, findings indicate that consumers want simplicity and efficacy: easy checkout, a handy way of putting their preferences into their basket or dropping them, and of course a suitable-for-mobile site navigation (Ericson et al., 2014). These three features are not new ones but till nowadays are the major causes for the consumers to leave a site.

Another serious concern in the marketplace is the “showrooming” effect. The consumer visits a store to see the product, and maybe he or she will purchase it from another bricks-and-mortar store or online shop. This is not a myth, since almost half of the consumers use their smartphones in a physical store and most of them absolutely compare the prices (Ericson et al., 2014). But this is one side of the moon. At the same time that consumers compare prices when they are in a store; they also prefer in-store customer service and convenient. Further the in-store customer service has been more demanding: consumer has made a thorough search, compared prices and product attributes, and put the step in the store to find the expert floor sales people providing a personalized experience (Ericson et al., 2014). Moreover probably he or she wants to communicate with a mobile sales assistant in order to feel that the store is the right one for his or her needs.

The secret behind these concerns is a responsive mobile website reflecting features and characteristics that any consumer wants. A mobile website will be a part of an integrated digital communication strategy delivering a coherent content to all various channels: website, social media, mobile applications…an omnichannel marketing strategy.

Mobile marketing strategy has to be structured on the understanding of consumer shopping journey. In the next lines the major dimensions of this fascinating journey are presented:

    •  Look at the data: size and composition of your mobile audience; types of mobile devices they use and relative operating systems; the ways of using their mobile devices; how they search and where they search; which social media they use; what kind of check-in behavior they have; the degree of accepting promos, coupons, and ads; the payment methods they prefer; the usage rate of QR codes.

    •  The content and the services to be delivered to the consumer must be personal and consistent across channels. Meaningful targeting is also desirable: the right message to the right audience.

    •  Adaptation, adaptation, adaptation: Begin with developing a mobile website appropriate for different types of devices. One single platform incorporating properties and applications that operate under various mobile devices could solve many future operational and technical obstacles.

    •  Keep it simple: a mobile-friendly interface offering simplicity in navigating, searching, and browsing.

    •  Listen to the consumer: feedback is as important as the right message to the right audience. Mobile means communication and in turn means ways of getting the feedback from the consumer and responding in real time with accuracy.

    •  Communicate consistent content across all channels attempting to create conversations.

    •  Integration: mobile marketing strategy is a part of the “big strategy.” The isolated marketing activities are only waste of time and money (scarce resources).

If you want to acquire loyal consumers, first you must understand their behavior and needs and then translate them into a targeted mobile user personal experience. Analyzing the consumer’s physical and digital behavior is the key for the marketers to provide a competitive experience and hopefully giving an advantage to their offer.

The winners in the new Social, Local, and Mobile marketing era will be those who develop a thorough understanding of the shopping decision journey that consumers undertake and what really matters when it comes to shopping.