Though more than two-thirds of mobile consumers (67.0%) say
location-based coupons are convenient and useful, nearly one-half (44.8%) say they have security concerns about their locations being tracked, according to a survey from Prosper Mobile Insights.
Nearly three in ten (29.6%) mobile consumers (people who use smartphones or tablets) say they are neutral about security issues, whereas one-quarter (25.6%) are not concerned at all.
Below, additional findings from the September 2011 Prosper Mobile Insights Mobile Survey.
Coupon Preferences
Despite such security concerns, more than one-quarter (25.6%) of mobile consumers say they are open to receiving coupons via their device when they are located near a store, though twice as many (51.1%) would prefer to receive coupons via mobile email.
Nearly one-third prefer to search for coupons manually (32.2%), via QR code (31.9%), or via promotional text or instant messages (31.0%). Receiving discounts via social media "check-in" ranks lower among mobile consumers (10.3%).
Overall, 81.9% of mobile consumers say they are open to receiving coupons on their smartphone or tablet in one form or another, whereas 18.1% say they don't want to receive coupons at all on their devices.
Mobile Shopping
Mobile consumers use their devices to conduct a wide variety of shopping-related activities, including the following:
- Browse the mobile Web to research products and services: 76.4%
- Locate a store or store hours: 73.0%
- Research specific products: 48.9%
- Read customer reviews via smartphone or tablet: 45.7%
- Use their smartphone or tablet as a coupon (scanning a bar code, presenting a text message to a cashier): 42.2%
Nearly two in five mobile consumers (39.7%) say they have made a purchase directly via mobile device and 36.2% have scanned a QR code.
Other key findings among mobile users:
- 44.0% say they communicate more impersonally (text/IM) with loved ones as a result of owning a smartphone or tablet.
- 56.0% say they call loved ones more often than they text; 16.4% say they call and send text messages in equal proportions, while 27.6% text love ones more often.
- 88.7% regularly or occasionally use a smartphone or tablet at work, while 86.7% take their devices to outdoor activities.
- 77.0% bring smartphones or tablets along to nightclubs; 75.4% use them in the bathroom; and 71.6% are active on their devices while eating a family meal.
About the study: Findings are from the September 2011 Prosper Mobile Insights Mobile Survey, among 348 smartphone and tablet users polled via their devices, September 22-24, 2011.
