September 9, 2009

InsightExpress Research Reveals Smartphone Users Display Higher Mobile Internet Engagement Levels
Golden Opportunity for Advertisers

STAMFORD, CT -- September 9, 2009 -- InsightExpress, a leading digital marketing research firm, announced today the results of research exploring mobile Internet engagement levels among smartphone owners, as compared to owners of other devices. The study also examined which factors drive mobile Internet users to return to specific sites.

What factors should be considered in order to encourage increased engagement and repeat site visits for mobile Internet users? Design is certainly important, but if visitors are not engaged, then even the most sophisticated mobile site will not succeed. However, the impact of the device itself, and the level at which it allows users to engage with the content, should not be ignored.

The InsightExpress study isolated engagement levels that users displayed while browsing the Internet. Specifically, they examined positive engagement (enjoyment in activity) while on three different devices, a feature phone, a smartphone, and a computer. The researchers found that 68 percent of smartphone users reported feeling positively engaged while using the mobile Internet, second only to the 70 percent of users who were positively engaged while on a computer. Alternately, only 47 percent of feature phone users reported positive mobile site engagement. These results indicate that smartphone users are as engaged with mobile Internet content as those who are browsing the Internet on their computer.

When mobile Internet users were asked to identify the top three elements that most influence their decision to return to a mobile Internet site, they reported:
1. The speed at which the site loads
2. The ease of navigation on the site
3. The quality of the content on the site itself

Among mobile Internet users, several small but telling differences were revealed when comparing smartphone owners to feature phone owners. While both groups prioritized the speed at which a mobile site loads, smartphone users looked next at the quality of the content, ranking ease of navigation as less important. In contrast, feature phone users found ease of navigation almost as essential as their number one concern, how fast the mobile site loads. These differences can be explained by the limited navigation capabilities available with feature phones, making simple interfaces an absolute necessity. Smartphones, with their advanced browsers and inputs, allow for more complex page navigation.

Mobile Web site features that had the least impact on a users decision to make a return visit were the absence of advertising, the ability to personalize, and the number of links, videos or images on the site. Publishers will likely welcome the news that the presence of advertising on a site does not lessen its appeal.

"There's a golden lesson here for advertisers," said Joy Liuzzo, Director of Marketing and Mobile Research. "Mobile advertising presents a unique opportunity to take advantage of high engagement levels and less clutter on the pages. Plus, advertisers enjoy a large share of voice per page since there is often only one advertisement on the page and it takes up more screen space. It's a winning combination for everyone -- interested visitors coupled with increased advertiser presence."

About the Research
In our commitment to providing industry leading education within the advertising space, InsightExpress continues to conduct the Digital Consumer Portrait. This study was conducted in July 2009 among 1,210 respondents that reflect a representative sample of the online US population. Previous topic areas for Digital Consumer Portrait studies include the acceptance of advertising in social networking, mobile behaviors, and consumer economic feedback.

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, please call 203.406.3233.