College Kids Embrace Smartphones, but Don’t Want Ads on Them

4/1/2013

Nearly three in four college students (73%) use smartphones, up from 27% in 2009, according to Ball State’s Institute for Mobile Media Research. Meanwhile, 83% of college smartphone owners are displeased with mobile advertising, up from 68% in 2012. The same percentage (83%) who received ads are “very concerned” or “concerned” about how a business got their phone number, up from 52% who felt this way in 2009. Also:

  • 24% of college smartphone and 40% of cellphone owners are not interested in receiving coupons or discounts on their phones;
  • The top activities among college mobile users on their devices include checking weather (87%), reading news (61%), checking movie listings (52%), accessing websites for entertainment or concert information (52%), and purchasing products (49%);
  • 51% of students make at least one call a day using their device, down from 89% in 2009;
  • 57% access search engines at least once a day using these devices;
  • College smartphone owners are almost twice as likely today as in 2009 not to accept ads on these devices even if they are paid to accept them (50% versus 27%);
  • Parents pay the bills for 68% of college smartphone users and 70% of cellphone users; and
  • 30% own a tablet, most commonly an iPad (17%) and Galaxy (2%); 2% plan to buy a tablet in 2012.

Source: Ball State’s Institute for Mobile Media Research, Michael Hanley, Advertising Professor, 2000 W. University Ave., Muncie, IN 47306; 317-816-0842; mhanley@bsu.edu; www.bsu.edu.

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