Study: Consumers don't go mobile with Web 2.0

Before putting all the aspects of Web 2.0 into mobile campaigns, marketers should pay attention to a recent study from Avenue A|Razorfish. According to the study consumers love web 2.0 but so far haven't begun incorporating Web 2.0 into their online mobile habits enough to make advertising Web 2.0 on mobiles effective.

by Kristina Knight

Researchers polled a group of "connected consumers" over the age of 20 who spent at least $200 online in the prior year and who visited social networking websites. They found that 64% said they never used their mobiles to check news, weather or sports headlines, 76% do not use mobiles to watch video and 68% don't use their mobiles to listen to music. Also interesting is that 58% said they don't check email on their mobiles. However, about 53% said they do take pictures with phones and then share them on the web.

Does that mean that no Web 2.0 resources should be used on mobile advertising platforms? Not at all, but it is an indication that mobile advertising as not yet reached the point where mobile ads should all include Web 2.0 features. Instead, advertisers should take a more broad approach to mobile advertising.

On the Web, though, users are becoming more comfortable with Web 2.0 features. According to respondents 95% have watched an online video clip and 49% have uploaded their own video clips. Roughly 70% of connected consumers are regular blog readers and 41% have their own blogs. Connected consumers also seem to prefer user reviews for products with 55% saying they rely on user reviews "most" when making purchasing decisions.