Out-of-home (OOH) media outpace other traditional media in reaching smartphone users in the hour before they engage in specific mobile activities such as mobile shopping, mobile search, and mobile social networking, according to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) in a recently released study conducted by RealityMine.
The study was based on a sample of 1,837 smartphone users (aged 18-64) whose location, mode of transport, media activity behavior, purchase behavior and emotional context were collected via a smartphone eDiary at each half-hour throughout the day during a week-long period.
The results indicate that:
- OOH media reached panelists in the hour prior to 43% of mobile shopping activity, ahead of TV (27%), AM/FM radio (12%) and print newspapers (3%);
- OOH media similarly reached participants in the hour before 32% of mobile search activity, outpacing TV (26%), AM/FM radio (9%); and print newspapers (2%);
- OOH media reached panelists in the hour prior to 28% of mobile social media activity, matched by TV (27%) in this instance, but ahead of AM/FM radio (8%) and newspapers (1%); and
- OOH media reached participants in the hour before 34% of brand-related social media activity, again on par with TV (34%) and ahead of AM/FM radio (15%) and print newspapers (7%).
In each of these cases, OOH media exposure was greater for transit/bulletins/street furniture than for place-based media.
(Also, brand-related social media activity includes location-based services or interacting with brands, products, services, celebrities, personalities, fan pages, non-profits, charities or cause-driven organizations.)
OOH advertising has previously been touted for its ability to spur mobile behaviors. A couple of years ago, a CBS Outdoor study claimed that a significant percentage of urban Europeans responded to OOH advertising through various mobile activities, such as downloading an application (13%), scanning a QR/barcode (11%), redeeming a voucher with a mobile device (8%), and using a mobile phone to make a purchase (7%).
According to the OAAA study, OOH isn’t effective in just reaching consumers prior to mobile activities. It also outpaces other traditional media in reaching smartphone users in the hour prior to QSR visits and mall visits, and in the same half-hour as considering purchases in the automotive, fashion and apparel, and fast food categories.
In other words, these media (in most cases transit/bulletins/street furniture rather than place-based) could potentially influence consumers’ purchase decisions in these and presumably other categories.
Indeed, the study found that overall, OOH media reached consumers in the same half-hour as 68% of purchase activity.
Separately, the OAAA reports that OOH advertising revenues were up by 4.7% year-over-year in Q1, the 20th consecutive quarter of growth. The fastest-growing advertising categories were government, politics and organizations (11.5%), financial (10.5%) and media and advertising (9.4%).