What men want: Mobile Coupons
InsightExpress, a Dallas-based marketing agency, has created a qualitative portrait of the digital consumer that has a number of interesting surprises.
One is the importance of mobile and the second is the emergence of the male shopper. This data is great to show the mobile opportunity for businesses that target men.
Joy Luizzo, senior director, says the June 2010 Digital Consumer Portrait study was created via survey of more than 1000 internet users (see below).
Clearly, mobile shopping has arrived: 82% say they have used their mobile phone while shopping, so clearly the phone is close by and ready for action.
While it's no surprise the consumers want deals and coupons, a whopping 45% of people say they want coupons sent to them by text, so they can use them via their phone more easily.
And the biggest whopper: men over-index in usage of smart phones for shopping. Yes, men - primarily 25 to 34 year olds - are the primary market using phones to assist with shopping. And how they shop is different too.
Consider the male.
53% of male consumers surveyed have a smart phone, higher than the females. But they also over-index in coupon usage and here's what they are buying with coupons:
• Electronics store 30% (general population 10%)
• Clothing store 33% (general population 15%)
• Department store 30% (general poplation 15%)
• Service location - 16% (general population 7%)
They are also more interested than females to hunt for coupons. In fact, 51% prefer to find coupons themselves via an app (28% general population), and 39% want to be able to text and receive a coupon while they are at the store (27% general population).
So how are they using their phones in stores? 17% of mobile users have shown a clerk in a store a picture of a product on their mobile phone. But in fact one third of males 25 to 34 years old have shown a clerk in the story a picture of a product on their mobile phone.
“I want this please” is the version of male shopping this behavior describes, and largely fits the stereo type of the hunter “in and out” of the store quickly, versus the kind of shopping who views it as entertainment.
Why wouldn’t they just buy goods online? Are they late for a birthday? Left the Christmas shopping for the last minute?
Luzzio says the male shopper has researched the product and coupon, but wants to "see it and touch it" before buying, whether a birthday present or a altimeter for a hike with the group. Some larger goods are hard to ship such as bikes, auto, furniture and camping gear, but this is mostly simply the natural caution of looking at the item in the real before purchasing.
Suggested categories for local mobile advertising are first and foremost businesses willing to offer some form of mobile coupon. But the real insight here is that businesses with audiences that skew to the male will do very, very well in this new space. Here are a few categories that are starting to show up on mobile devices:
•Auto services
•Electronics
•Credit unions (see this mobile auto loan campaign aimed at 24 to 34 year old men)
•Sports events and equipment
•Ski travel
•Beer distributors
Mobile coupon conversions are also consistently higher by two to three times than online coupons, and do not appear to be cross-over business. That is, people appear to be either coupon printers/cutters or prefer to show it on the phone.
All in all, mobile coupons look like a good way to capture the elusive male.
About the Research
This data was gathered as part of InsightExpress’ Q2 2010 Digital Consumer Portrait, a quarterly study of 1,000 – 1,500 US consumers conducted since July 2007. For Q2 2010, a total of 1,300 surveys were
completed by a sample representative of the US online population. For more information on this study or other mobile research, please contact Joy Liuzzo, Senior Director, Marketing & Mobile Research, at
203.252.7005 or jliuzzo@insightexpress.com.
Keywords
male, men, mobile, coupon, insightexpress, statistics
