According to the latest Mobile Audience Insights Report from JiWire, 80 percent of mobile users prefer locally relevant advertising and 75 percent are more likely to take an action after seeing a location-specific message. The survey also found that 21 percent of consumers search for a coupon on their mobile device while in a store.

“The report discovered that 80 percent of the on-the-go audience prefers locally relevant advertising and 75 percent are more likely to take an action after seeing a location-specific message,” said David Staas, senior vice president of JiWire, San Francisco. “This validates the importance for businesses to ‘locationize’ their brands by engaging with their consumers using location-based content.

“It is very interesting to see the increase in smartphones and tablets – relative to laptops – for people who are connecting to public Wi-Fi,” he said.

“This proves that people are on the go and connecting to their mobile devices more and more. Specifically, 33 percent of people in the United States, and 47 percent of people in Britain are using their smartphones to connect to public Wi-Fi as opposed to 3G.”

Comparison shopping
The top three actions mobile users take after seeing a location-specific ad include clicking on location-specific ads, searching for the nearest location and conducting additional research.

Interestingly, the action mobile users take varies by smartphone device type, with 22 percent of iPhone users most likely to conduct additional research after clicking an ad, 25 percent of Android users most likely to search for the nearest location and 21 percent of BlackBerry users most likely to immediately make a purchase.

The report also took a look at in-store comparison shopping via a mobile phone and found that this has become the No. 1 mobile behavior across all ages and genders. JiWire found that 34 percent of mobile consumers use their phone for online information while inside a physical store.

Additionally, 39 percent of consumers ages of 25-34 are most likely to comparison shop in-store, with 13 percent making a purchase on their mobile devices instead of in the store.

Mobile coupons
The report also points to the strong inroads being made by mobile commerce, with 18 percent of consumers having redeemed a mobile coupon in the past 90 days, just slightly below the 22 percent who have redeemed newspaper coupons.

Digital coupons are increasingly mobile thanks in part to the growing penetration of smartphones and consumers’ reliance on their mobile devices for a variety of shopping activities, according to the report. It also found that 21 percent of consumers searched for coupons while in a store.

“Merchants and local businesses need to realize that consumers are rapidly becoming mobile shoppers,” Mr. Staas said. “Their purchase decisions are not finalized when they arrive at the store, and in-and-around store promotions can help drive more conversions and sales.

“As people feel more comfortable making large purchases on their devices, we will see more and more consumers going to a store to review or try a product, but then buying from their mobile devices,” he said. “This commonly-referred-to showrooming effect will demand that media planners make changes in their buying plans to address an increasingly mobile audience.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York