- Research identifies 10 distinct mobile user profiles based on app choices
- Negative correlation between app preference and associated ad engagement
- New app-based targeting technology will serve ads according to user group
London – Opera Mediaworks, the world’s largest mobile advertising platform, has unveiled the results of a study – the first of its kind – identifying mobile users’ personalities as defined by the kinds of apps they have and how those different personalities interact with mobile ads.
The results reveal that the relationship between a mobile users’ app portfolio and ad categories they interact with is not linear. For example, a user with a high number of entertainment apps is less likely than other users to engage with an entertainment ad. To help agencies and advertisers better target end users according to these behavioural preferences, Opera Mediaworks has launched a new app-based targeting technology. This will help advertisers to target groups of Android and iOS users based on the apps they have stored on their devices in order to achieve the highest possible levels of engagement.
Conducted by The University of Nottingham Advanced Data Analysis Centre, the research, The App DNA Behavioural Study, categorised 2.3 million UK iPhone users mobile users into 10 different personality types* – Savvy Shoppers, Cultured Elites, High Rollers, Average Joes, Fact Finders, Health Aware, Intelligent Producers, Smart Explorers, Intrepid Explorers and Career Minded. The behaviour of each group towards different mobile ads was then monitored.
The study clustered in-app ad interactions and categorised ads as lifestyle, entertainment and finance.
Key findings include:
- Savvy Shoppers and Health Awares are least likely to interact with any mobile ad
- Users with fewer video apps are more likely to watch a video in the expanded ad
- All personality groups are twice as likely to click an entertainment ad than any other ad category
- Average Joes are 75% more likely to click on an entertainment ad than any other ad and are 4.3 times more likely to interact with an entertainment ad than a finance one
- Intelligent Producers are over five times more likely to watch a lifestyle video to completion than Fact Finders
- High Rollers are 43% more likely to click on a finance ad then other ads
- Fact Finders are 53% less likely to interact with an entertainment ad than others
Mark Slade, Managing Director, EMEA of Opera Mediaworks, said: “Our mobile phones are glued to us all day and in many ways represent our digital DNA. The apps we have reflect our personality and these in turn impact the type of ads we tend to interact with.
“Identifying and applying user profiles to ad targeting can significantly increase the probability of users interacting with mobile ads. This will offer real value to brands, advertisers and agencies alike and is the reasoning behind the launch of our app-based targeted technology.”
As much as 70% of Opera Mediaworks’ ad impressions (3 billion UK and 64 billion global), are in-app. This will grow significantly over the next few years as the number of apps downloaded in the UK is expected to rise to 15.5 billion by 2018.
For more information, the whitepaper with more detail on the 10 user profiles and how these differ in terms of ad engagement go to: http://mobilenext.info/2014/07/29/the-app-dna-behavioural-study.
* The 10 personalities are described as follows:
Savvy Shoppers – users with mostly lifestyle, finance, retail and food & drink apps;
Cultured Elite – users with mostly music, photo, video and social media apps;
High Rollers – users with mostly games, gambling and sports apps;
Average Joes – user with mostly photo, video and social media apps;
Fact Finders – users with mostly reference apps;
Health Aware – users with mostly medical and weather apps;
Intelligent Producers – Users with mostly educational, news and productivity apps;
Smart Explorers – users with mostly navigation and utilities apps;
Intrepid Explorers – users with mostly travel and productivity apps;
Career Minded – users with mostly business apps
Methodology:
The study clustered 9.6 million ad interactions by 2.3 million UK iPhone users (3.4% of the UK population) over a two-month period. The top 820 apps were paired with corresponding iTunes categories. Ad categories investigated were lifestyle, entertainment and finance.
About Opera Mediaworks
Opera Mediaworks powers the mobile ad economy through technology innovation, transparency and trust, to create vibrant marketplaces for publishers and advertisers across the globe. This enables advertisers to efficiently reach their target audience and publishers to improve their monetization. Opera Mediaworks operates the world’s biggest brand-focused mobile ad network, serving 23 of the 25 top global brands. We also deliver the world’s leading mobile ad server and monetization tools to 17 of the top 25 media companies worldwide. Our mission is to deliver relevance in the medium where it matters most — on mobile devices.
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, Opera Mediaworks has offices in New York, United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Russia, Ukraine and Norway. Opera Mediaworks is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Opera Software ASA, which is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol OPERA. Learn more about Opera Mediaworks at www.operamediaworks.com.
