Deals, directions, brands, all popular reasons for searching via mobile in the UK
eMarketer forecasts that between 2012 and 2016 the number of smartphone users in the UK will more than double, from 19.2 million to 41.9 million. As increasing numbers of consumers in the UK adjust and adapt to these new tools, their behavior will change accordingly. A recent study of UK mobile internet users by the Direct Marketing Association UK shed some light on how smartphone users in the country are conducting mobile internet searches.
The DMA study found that most UK smartphone users (68%) searched using dedicated apps such as those from Google, Bing, etc. Mobile searchers in the country were also slightly more likely to use a brand or store app (such as one from Amazon or eBay) than a mobile web browser to find what they were looking for.
In terms of what they were searching for, 54% of respondents cited news, making it the No. 1 mobile search category. Three out of 10 also said they commonly searched for information on local shopping using their phones—further evidence that mobile and local technologies are a natural fit for each other. Close behind in terms of search popularity were searches for movies and music, at 28% and 27% of respondents, respectively.
As for why respondents were searching in the first place, practical considerations dominated. The top reason listed for using mobile search was for offers and deals, cited by 50% of respondents. Directions came in just 6 percentage points behind, followed by a desire to find information about a brand (40%)—a finding sure to be of particular interest to marketers.
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