MMA-Lightspeed Research Study Reveals Strong Consumer Preference To Visit Free Mobile Internet Sites, Demonstrating Major Opportunity for Advertisers

London, Paris and Berlin: 22 September, 2010 - The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) (www.mmaglobal.com) and research partner, Lightspeed Research (www.lightspeedresearch.com), today released results of the latest UK, French and German Mobile Consumer Briefing reports on mobile Internet usage. The research shows high interest in mobile websites, with an average of 28% of European mobile consumers expecting to access websites once a week or more using their mobile phone over the next year. British mobile consumers emerged as the most likely to use the mobile Internet regularly, with 36% stating their intentions to do so over the next 12 months, followed by Germany at 27% and France at 20%.

Free access to websites on the mobile Internet emerged as a major driver for usage, with 56% of consumers in France and the UK, and 35% in Germany, stating that they would be very unlikely to use websites which charged them a fee. Fast loading times of websites to the mobile device and simple viewing and navigation were also key amongst French, German and British mobile consumers, with relevant and useful content whilst on the move also featuring highly for Germans.

Other key findings included:

• News, weather, social networking and mobile search were cited as the sites mobile consumers were most likely to access over the coming year, with maps and directions being the most desired content in the UK and France, and headlines in Germany.
• On average, 30% of mobile consumers (30% UK, 25% France and 36% Germany) were willing to receive alerts from websites of interest on their mobile phone, with 38% preferring these to be via SMS rather than email.
• Mobile search engines emerged as the most popular means of accessing websites on the mobile handset in all three countries, followed by bookmarking in the UK and France, and alerts and notifications in Germany.

“The survey results have shown that there is a clear and growing market opportunity for the mobile Internet,” said Peter A. Johnson, vice president of market intelligence, MMA, and author of the study. “The high usage of the mobile device for accessing websites is opening up as a key channel for advertisers. To make the most of this opportunity, site owners and developers need to ensure their websites are well-designed for mobile, user-friendly and easily discoverable using mobile search engines.”

“With almost a third of mobile users intending to use the mobile Internet in 2011, it is becoming a very attractive medium for brands and advertisers to engage with consumers,” stated Ralph Risk, Lightspeed Research Marketing Director EMEA. “Understanding how their customers use the mobile Internet is key to designing effective and interesting content.” 

Editor’s notes:

Conducted from August 20th-24th 2010, the research surveyed respondents in the UK, Germany and France who owned a mobile phone about their expected mobile internet usage. The survey covered brand of mobile phone, current mobile phone operator, message (text) plan used, frequency of mobile internet access, mobile site visited, means of entering sites, content visited on their phone, feature to increase likelihood of visiting sites, paid subscriptions and reasons for not visiting mobile sites.

 A monthly online survey of British, French and German consumers’ mobile marketing behaviours and opinions conducted on the Lightspeed Research omnibus, the MMA Mobile Consumer Briefing features input from 1,000 adult consumers in each market, screened to be demographically representative of the adult consumer population as a whole. Each Consumer Briefing includes a 2- to 3-page executive summary, all survey questions and up to 50 tables of detailed results. Survey responses are provided both in aggregate and in cross-tabulation by standard audience demographics, such as age, gender and income, as well as wireless carrier and handset manufacturer.

MMA Mobile Consumer Briefings on this topic are also available for the US market. To learn more about the MMA’s market research benefits, visit the MMA’s Research Home Page.

About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) 
The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit trade association representing all players in the mobile marketing value chain. With more than 700 member companies, the MMA is an action-oriented organization with global focus, regional actions and local relevance.  The MMA’s primary focus is to establish mobile as an indispensible part of the marketing mix.   The MMA works to promote, educate, measure, guide and protect the mobile marketing industry worldwide.  The MMA’s global headquarters are located in the United States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM and Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com.

About Lightspeed Research
Lightspeed Research delivers valuable data to help clients make informed business decisions.  With proprietary online panels throughout the world, our verified, engaged, and deeply profiled survey respondents can support research studies that vary in scope and complexity.  Lightspeed Research’s expert Client Operations Team offers data collection services including survey design, sample management, programming, and reporting.  The company has offices throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia Pacific.  Lightspeed Research is part of Kantar, the information insight and consultancy division of WPP.  For more information, please visit www.lightspeedresearch.com

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

MMA:
Jen Hibberd, Alex Moorhouse, Robert Haslam – Mi liberty
E: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 207 751 4444

Lightspeed Research:
Charlotte Herbert, PR Consultant - Greenfields Communications
E: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 7870 204 242

Ralph Risk, Marketing Director Europe – Lightspeed Research
E: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7896 1950