Generation C most receptive to mobile advertising

M-commerce among America's 18-34 year olds is booming. Almost half (47%) had clicked on a mobile ad in the past three months, found RadiumOne's survey of over 500 Generation C respondents, and 50% had shared offers such as coupons, sales and ads, via their smartphone.

"Generation C is the one that is very engaged, very open," says Kamal Kaur, vice president of mobile and display at RadiumOne. "They're bargain shoppers and know platforms in and out, making a transition between mobile app and back to PC and other environments."

Over half of the Generation C respondents said they had made a purchase from a smartphone or mobile device in the past six months, of which 32% made between one and three purchases, 14% between three and six purchases, and 9% making six purchases or more.

"The results of our survey shed light into how brands can better communicate and interact with one of the most mobile and influential consumer groups of our time," said Kaur. "Social sharing across trusted connections and viral buzz via smartphones and tablets are extremely influential to the Gen-C population, requiring new rules of engagement between brands and this highly sought after demographic."

Additional findings from the survey include:

- 79% of respondents stated mobile purchases are largely driven by personal recommendations (41%) and sales based content (38%);

- More than half (55%) of respondents used their mobile device to comparison shop at least once per week. Of those, 33% use it 1-3 times, 14% use it 3-6 times and 8% answered 6 or more;

- 39% of respondents viewed between 1 to 5 videos each day on their smartphone while 9% viewed more than 5 videos a day;

- 37% used a smartphone and 19% used a tablet device while watching T.V.

"As Generation C continues to rely on their phones more and more, there is no doubt that their tastes will be refined and advertisers will create new ways to interact with this growing audience," write Kaur in a company blog post. "Advertising campaign messages and branding schematics applied to traditional and display campaigns may in fact have to be re-directed to suit the tastes of the next generation of mobile consumers."

Tags: demographics, Generation C, mobile advertising, mobile marketing, mobile use, smartphone, social sharing