Walked Into A Wall Lately? You May Be a Mobile Pioneer

According to new research from InsightExpress, a leading provider
of digital marketing research, mobile consumers can be segmented into
three new and distinct behavioral profiles: Mobile Pioneers, Mobile
Wannabes and Mobile Traditionalists. This research, the third
installment from the company’s ongoing mobile
research program, indicates that when it comes to usage, two ends of the
mobile spectrum exist.

The Mobile Pioneer (15 percent of the market) is ahead of his peers in
terms of mobile behavior, and uses advanced features weekly such as
Internet, unique applications, and/or video. The majority of Mobile
Pioneers are under 35 years old, one third of them have a smartphone*,
and they skew male, single and minority. The Mobile Wannabe (25 percent
of the market) has tried some advanced features and would like to use
them more. Less than half are under 35, and only 5 percent own a
smartphone. The Mobile Traditionalists (60 percent of the market) are
content to use their mobiles for phone calls and texting, and two thirds
of them are over 35 years old.

Which behaviors separate the Pioneers from the rest of the pack? Almost
two thirds (62 percent) had sent a text message to someone in the same
room, compared to 39 percent of Wannabes and 26 percent of
Traditionalists. A healthy 57 percent of Pioneers had taken a picture of
a product using their phone and sent it to someone to get an opinion,
compared to 30 percent of Wannabes and 16 percent of Traditionalists.

While the Pioneers set the trends, the Wannabes popularize them, making
these individuals particularly interesting to marketers. This group is
likely a barometer of future usage trends that will be adopted on a
wider scale. For example, while 79 percent of Pioneers had taught
someone else how to use their mobile phone features, Wannabes were not
far behind with 65 percent having done so.

Staying ahead of the mobile curve can also be dangerous. Mobile Pioneers
were most likely to have walked into something or someone while using
their device, and most likely to have thrown their mobile phone at
someone or something. Luckily, all three profiles stated that they had
added ICE (In Case of Emergency) to their phone’s
contact list (35 percent of Pioneers, 25 percent of Wannabes and 22
percent of Traditionalists).

Advertisers should be interested in Pioneers and Wannabes because these
groups are more likely to agree that:

• Most advertising is relevant to them
• They believe that products that are advertised are a lot better than
  ones that are not advertised at all
• Advertising keeps them up-to-date on products they would like to have
• They have told someone about an advertisement they liked

“Knowing which type of mobile consumer you are
contacting, or want to contact, is a big piece of the mobile marketing
puzzle,” said Joy Liuzzo, Director of Mobile
Research at InsightExpress. “The Wannabes are
especially fascinating since they are eager to learn about and use
advanced features. With this research, we continue to drive the
conversation about current usage profiles and where mobile behavior is
headed.”

About The Research

InsightExpress fielded an online survey to 1,516 mobile device owners
age 18+ in January 2008. The survey data has a margin of error of
between 3-6 percent, assuming a 95 percent confidence interval.

* Defined as Blackberry or smartphone (iPhone, Treo, etc).

About InsightExpress

InsightExpress is a leading provider of high-quality, digital marketing
research and plays a preeminent role in the measurement of advertising
effectiveness across online, mobile and other media. Through its
patented technologies, proprietary solutions, world-class expertise and
time-tested research principles, InsightExpress transforms the way
advertisers, agencies, publishers and researchers optimize their
marketing activities. InsightExpress is headquartered in Stamford, CT,
with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. For more
information, visit www.insightexpress.com
or call 203-406-3233.