Students Want Mobile Ads? Or Students Want Money?

from the different-ways-to-read-the-results dept

Given the way most people feel about email spam, it's not hard to understand why study after study after study has shown that almost no one wants mobile spam. Due to the way people use mobile phones, it's just that much more intrusive. So, it was a bit surprising to see a headline claiming that Students Ready to Accept Cell Phone Ads. Once again, you need to look at the details to figure out what's going on here. Basically, the study was saying that students would accept ads in exchange for money -- which really isn't that surprising given the financial status of most students. That doesn't mean they'd pay attention to the ads. In fact, that's the worst kind of ad viewers for advertisers. The advertisers would have to pay extra, and the ad recipients would mostly just be doing it for the money anyway -- and thus, much more likely to ignore the ads. Mobile advertisers need to learn that the only type of advertising that's going to work is advertising that's pull, not push (that is, the user needs to specifically request it at that moment, not "opt-in" to be bugged periodically). Even so, there are other problems with this study as well. It claims, excitedly, that only one-third of students claimed they were "annoyed" with ads they had received on their phones -- an absolutely stunning drop from 92% who were annoyed just ten months ago. However, it looks like, perhaps, there was something wrong with the way the question was worded. Only one-third said they were annoyed by the ads they received, yet 55% said they were less likely to buy a product that was advertised via a mobile phone ad. So, they weren't annoyed by it, but it made them less likely to buy? It's tough to have faith in most of the rest of the study after that.
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  1. identicon
    jonny, 12 Dec 2005 @ 8:46am

    who doesnt

    allow or accept advertising bundled for the money. In one way or another it allows whatever product to be cheaper or free. But given the choice nobody would really want ads, would they? Whether they are annoyed by them I guess is another matter. I would probably only want ads if I was interested in buying something...But then again how would I know that women would find me much more attractive if I used a certain brand of deoderant.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Michal Palczewski, 12 Dec 2005 @ 9:31am

    less annoyed

    I wouldn't be annoyed by an add at all. It would be a reminder to me that I'm getting paid for doing nothing.

    I know there are plenty of companies that just don't understand how to advertise. If you empower your customer to find your product they will buy it. There have been alot of times when I wanted to buy something and would buy it that day, if companies had made it easier for me to buy something, or companies made it easier for me to find their product.

    Recently on a big ticket item. I walked out of a tv store because of poor customer service. I found better service at Best Buy!! at a better price.

    I find it funny that in general customer service is treated as a loss item, while advertising and sales are where companies put their money. I find one way more affective to get me to buy stuff then the other.

    link to this | view in thread ]

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