Monday, April 18, 2011

Mobile apps: Who’s using who isn’t…

By momasolutions
It may seem as if everyone is using apps, but the facts are that most apps are not used more than one month past the download date. This makes advertising in or through apps a questionable tactic unless the marketer goes in looking at all the angles – including who specifically is using apps and who is not.
A recent report from the Pew Internet Project indicates that while 23% of US adults now have a cell phone but no landline phone only about 43% are using apps via a smartphone. Of the entire US cell phone population (about 83% of the total population) this means that only about 35% are using apps at any one time. Only about 24% are ‘active’ app users – meaning they utilize apps often. Many of these apps are used once or twice and deleted or simply remain unused on a smartphone.
So, which apps have the best shelf life, through downloads, and which demographics are most likely to download apps for use? This report indicates that Games are the most popular downloadable app with 60% of consumers downloading them. News/Weather and Maps have the attention of about half of the app population and Social Networking apps are used by about 47% of consumers.
What are consumers most likely to do with an app?
• Take a picture (76%)
• Send/Receive texts (72%
• Access the Internet (38%)
• Play Games (34%)
• Send/Receive email (34%)
“An apps culture is clearly emerging among some cell phone users, particularly men and young adults,” said Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research at the Pew Internet Project. “Still, it is clear that this is the early stage of adoption when many cell owners do not know what their phone can do. The apps market seems somewhat ahead of a majority of adult cell phone users.”
From a demographic standpoint, the most likely consumers to use apps are men (57%) between the ages of 18 and 49, Caucasian with at least a college degree.

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