Research gauges consumer sentiments toward app usage, brand equity, and in-app advertisement.
GetJar, the world’s largest open app store with over 1.5 billion downloads, today released data from their commissioned global survey, giving insight into the preferences and attitudes of mobile phone users. The survey points to the growing demand for Android, reporting almost 40 percent of respondents said they will switch to Android when they purchase their next phone, compared to the 18 percent who said they would like to switch to the iPhone.
“The survey results make it clear that all eyes are on Android, as well as the importance of brand equity in the increasingly competitive mobile app space,” said Patrick Mork, CMO of GetJar. “In addition, the data also reveals that brand marketers and advertisers also have a reason to be hopeful about consumer’s appetite for in-app advertisement.”
App usage is clearly on the rise with the survey results showing almost 34 percent of consumers spending one hour or more using apps per day, compared to 49 percent who spend the same amount of time watching television. Fifty-eight percent of respondents use mobile apps more than once a day.
The importance of brand equity was pushed to the forefront, as almost 80 percent said that the quality of the brand’s app makes the brand more trustworthy. Furthermore, 72 percent of those surveyed said they were more likely to engage with a brand if they had a good app.
Advertisers have reason to be hopeful. Seventy-three percent of respondents said they have downloaded an app with advertising in it, and almost 60 percent said they’d do it again. Almost one in four made a purchase after having clicked on a mobile ad.
Discovery continues to plague app publishers. Only 25% discovered the apps they were looking for using actual app stores. Nearly 50% had actually discovered apps while browsing online and nearly 17% had discovered apps through friends or social media.
Other survey results include:
Gaming apps are the most popular, followed closely by social networking apps
The amount of free apps and the ease of search topped the list of things users look for in an app store
The cost of an app was the biggest deciding factor in whether to download an app or not
The pro-Android sentiments unveiled by the survey are especially important for GetJar, as the company recently announced it has secured $25 million in Series C funding from Tiger Global Management. They plan to aggressively expand its offering to Android publishers in order to secure its position as the premier “open” Android Market alternative while continuing to support other smartphone platforms such as Blackberry and IOS.
