A new research study co-authored by an Indiana University professor suggests that interactive applications for mobile phones such as Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android may be some of the most powerful forms of advertising yet developed.
The study confirms that using branded mobile phone apps increases a consumer’s general interest in product categories and improves the attitude they may have toward the sponsoring brand. The researchers also found that mobile apps which are informational in nature or utilitarian were more likely to engage users than those where the app focused on entertainment or gaming. Apps could be a way for advertisers to reach across traditional product or gender boundaries to appeal to new types of customers. Unlike viewing information through a print ad, media spot or a website, consumers will process a company’s messages more deeply if they do so using an app that they’ve decided to download to their mobile device.