2015 RJI Mobile Media Research Report 3

Owners responded more frequently to embedded ads using large-screen smartphones than with other devices

Owners of phablets were much more likely to respond to advertisements embedded in news stories and videos than owners of standard smartphones, tablets and personal computers, according to the latest Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute mobile media poll.

Nearly 6 in 10 phablet owners (57 percent overall) who had consumed content provided by news organizations on their large-screen smartphones said they had responded to one or more ads embedded in news stories or videos in the week prior to participating in the survey. Nearly one-quarter (24 percent overall) said they had responded to five or more embedded ads in the same week. The average for phablet owners was 3.0 responses.

By comparison, 4 in 10 owners of standard smartphones (40 percent overall) said they had responded to at least one embedded ad and only 13 percent overall said they had responded to five or more embedded ads. The average for standard smartphone owners was 1.7 responses. Forty-seven percent of tablet owners and 41 percent of personal computer owners said they used these devices to respond to one or more embedded ads in the past week.

Age also was found to be a significant factor in smartphone owners’ responses to embedded ads. Smartphone owners between the ages of 18 and 44 were more than twice as likely as owners ages 45 or older to respond to embedded ads on both phablets and standard smartphones as well as on tablets and personal computers.

This survey was conducted for RJI in June 2015 by Ipsos, one of the world’s largest independent market research companies. It included 1,001 adults from all 50 states who owned smartphones. Forty-one percent indicated that they had a large-screen smartphone (phablet). Tablets were used by 53 percent of phablet owners and 39 percent of standard smartphone owners. Personal computers (desktop or laptop) were used by 69 percent of phablet owners and 73 percent of standard smartphone owners.