Mobile ranks first in media consumption among Americans with 2.4 hours of the 9 hours spent consuming media on mobile devices—this is more than a quarter of time spent on mobile, outpacing TV (2.35 hours), PCs (1.6 hours) and any other channel.

Not only that,  mobile media consumption is the most influential channel for the U.S. consumers

purchasing decision process from beginning to end.

So says InMobi, the largest independent mobile advertising network, in its U.S. Mobile Media Consumption Report for Q2 2012 developed in partnership with OnDevice Research.

Mobile is Easy and Ever-Present

Mobile has been thoroughly adopted across the U.S. consumer market due in large part to three convenience factors. 65% of users say they prefer mobile because “it’s easy to use,” 56% say that they use mobile most because it’s constantly with them, and finally many agree that a mobile device is a more private way to consume information and communicate.

These factors align to make mobile easy to use while doing other activities—70% use their mobile device while watching TV, confirming it’s an always-on connected device.

From Morning to Night, At Home and On the Go

The report supports this finding further by revealing that U.S. consumers are tapping into their mobile world more often and consistently throughout the day to keep up-to-date using mobile search (71%), and stay connected by using mobile internet (64%).

The report’s findings indicate that U.S. consumers are typically in casual settings when using their mobile device, most often lying in bed (77%), watching TV (70%), or waiting for something (65%).

This correlates directly with the timeframes found in this report—showing most mobile usage during early morning and early evening hours (while waiting on one’s commute) as well as throughout the evening (during prime time TV or resting at home).

Interestingly, the report finds on average females access their mobile more than men in most cases, the most drastic differences are while in bed (84% vs. 70%) and while shopping (40% vs. 26%).

Mobile Ads Welcome—and Influential

The report finds that U.S. mobile users are acclimating to mobile ads; they now have the largest impact throughout the purchase process for U.S. consumers –with 59% of consumers saying they are influenced by mobile ads, followed by 57% influenced by TV ads.

Mobile advertising is proving to be effective, as the majority of U.S. mobile users admit they’ve been introduced to something new via their mobile device (53%) and a significant number are ending up buying goods on their mobile device (21%), making mobile media consumption the most influential channel for U.S. consumer’s purchasing decision process from beginning to end.

M-commerce Grows and Matures

Mobile advertising drives mobile buying. In less than one year m-commerce has grown 21%—up from 38% to 59% since Q4 2011.

Commerce behavior is extending past digital goods, and now includes physical goods, services and bill payments and it is predicted that 71% will spend money on a mobile related activity over the next year.

Anne Frisbie, Vice President and Managing Director, North America for InMobi said, “We expect the trend of ever increasing media consumption on mobile devices to continue, and even accelerate as advances in mobile rich media deepens user engagement by offering a better overall user experience. Marketers are taking notice and are increasingly investing in mobile to target consumers where they are spending most of their time consuming media.  ”

Marketers, Take Note!

Marketers can optimize their mobile strategies by integrating mobile campaigns into other channels, including pairing in-app and mobile web advertising with promotions in physical retail stores, and online and print advertising.

Profiles of leading mobile users today:

 

Related Stories:

• Tablet & smartphones generating strong ad engagement
• TRENDS: Mobile gets more media time than TV
• Mobile ads proving effective, consumers more receptive
• Want to reach Hispanic consumers: use digital channels
• TV viewers who surf while watching prefer tablets to laptops

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Tags: InMobi, m-commerce, Mobile Media Consumption report, purchase decision process, Q2 2012