Consumers under 35 - that is, those in Generations X and Y, the latter also referred to as "millennials" - tend to prefer using mobile applications over Web browsers on smartphones, as compared with older mobile users, a new study shows. Data collected by market research and consulting firm Parks Associates, found that this young demographic is starting to ditch the Web browser in favor of apps, and are especially put off by mobile websites not designed for the small screen.

The preference for native mobile applications is growing among this under-35 group, said Harry Wang, director of mobile product research, Parks Associates, because apps don't require users to enter in Web addresses or force them to deal with slow browser speeds, he explained.

"The mobile experience is all about convenience and instantaneous access," Wang said. "The advantages of mobile apps could lead to a new content distribution environment for paid and ad-supported media services."

Although Wang contended that mobile apps will not completely replace Web browsers, distributors that rely too much on the mobile Web may lose audience and revenues.

While that statement may have developers running to download native SDKs (software development kits) for iPhone, Android and other platforms, a word of caution from us: this research was based on a survey, where apparently the question asked was: "I prefer apps over a Web browser when accessing mobile content. Agree? Disagree?"

As you know, surveys that ask users to identify their own behavioral patterns aren't as viable as those that actually measure the behavior itself.

It's also worth pointing out that these findings contradict two other reports we've seen this year. One report was from a mobile search company (and app maker) Taptu, which said that the future of the mobile Web is likely to be dominated by cross-platform browser-based mobile websites, not native apps. Adobe, too, released a report in October saying people prefer the mobile Web to apps.

In other words, take this latest with a grain of salt until more research arrives. But do consider that there is likely an obvious truth here: native mobile apps will always be preferred when the mobile Web experience (slow loading times, no mobile site) remains poor.

NOVEMBER 10, 2010 

Marketers get on board with best practices and strategic thinking

According to the second annual “State of Online Branded Communities” study by full-service social engagement firm ComBlu, which examined practices in the online communities of major brands, marketers have adopted a wide variety of best practices and begun to integrate their online community efforts across a variety of social media.

In 2009, just under a third of communities studied were integrated with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or other social sites that the marketer had a presence on. By 2010, the proportion had more than doubled, to 68%.

Comparing a variety of features studied in 2009 to levels of adoption in 2010, the study found online branded communities had increased adoption of best practices across the board. Some of the biggest jumps were in availability of faceted search, inclusion of rich media content, integration with social media and the use of “fun” engagement tools.

Newer best practices studied this year included share features (used by 61% of communities) and brand advocacy programs (used by just 20%).

The report said that lack of engagement and recognition of brand advocates and experts was a failure to take advantage of some of the brand’s most valuable assets.

“If activated properly, community members become the face and voice of the customer—and ultimately of the brand—across the social cloud,” said Kathy Baughman, a principal at ComBlu, in a statement.

NOVEMBER 5, 2010 

Products that convey personal achievement and social interaction are valued

Research has suggested that cause marketing appeals to US consumers, and that millennials in particular care about social and environmental issues.

Data presented by Resonate Networks at the October 2010 Pivot Conference in New York City confirmed the importance of such issues to young adults. Consumers ages 18 to 34 are more likely than their older counterparts to care about a variety of issues, including various civil rights and environmental concerns.

However, those beliefs don’t necessarily translate to purchase decisions that support causes they care about. Millennials placed less importance than older consumers on various corporate-citizenship practices when actually purchasing products.

While millennials do care about societal issues, personal achievement and social interaction are also key values. Quality, value and other utilitarian aspects are still top product attributes, but to a lesser degree than for their elders. At the same time, millennials are more image conscious. Superficial traits like looks and prestige are valued less overall by younger people but still mean more to them than to older generations.

Resonate said that millennials need “external validation” and “value products and services that convey their success to others while rewarding themselves.”

This does not mean they don’t care about others. But a successful marketing approach combines these traits, for instance, by encouraging users not only to donate to, say, Haiti but also to broadcast their donation to their friends on Facebook.

Brands must give millennials the opportunity to express themselves, according to Resonate, a concept backed up by other research as well.

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Mobile users spend 1.4 times as many hours using social networking sites than reading and responding to e-mail, according to a recent study by research company TNS. On average, users spend 3.1 hours per week on social networks, versus 2.2 hours on e-mail.

In most mature markets — such as the U.S. — the trend is reversed on PCs; consumers spend more time on e-mail (5.1 hours per week) than social networking (3.8 hours).

The study, which tracked the online activities and behaviors of nearly nearly 50,000 subjects between 16 and 60 years of age in 46 countries, cited “the increased need for instant gratification” as well as “the ability to offer multiple messaging formats, including the instant message or update function,” for the popularity of social networking platforms on mobile devices. More consumers, both in the U.S. and abroad, expect to spend even more time accessing social media on their mobile devices in the future, rather than their PCs.

In addition to the mobile use patterns cited above, the survey found that those who had Internet

In general, consumers proved more engaged and comfortable with social media in rapid growth markets, particularly in Asia, than those in more mature markets. In areas of rapid development, social networking takes up more of users’ time (5.2 hours per week) than e-mail (4.2 hours) on PCs.

The heaviest users of social media live in Malaysia (9 hours per week), Russia (8.1 hours) and Turkey (7.7 hours). 88% of online users in China and 51% in Brazil said they have written their own blog or forum entry, compared to a little less than a third in the U.S.

More than 85% of online consumers living in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam have uploaded photos to social networks or photo-sharing sites, while only 28% and 48% have done so in Japan and Germany, respectively.

TNS Chief Development Officer Matthew Froggatt explains that social media is less popular in more developed countries because consumers have learned to take much of what the Internet has to offer for granted.

“However, in rapid growth markets that have seen recent, sustained investment in infrastructure, users are embracing these new channels in much more active ways.  The digital world is transforming how they live, develop and interact and online consumers in these markets are leaving those in the developed world behind in terms of being active online and engaging in new forms of communications,” he says.

Forrester’s Social Technographics Profile analyzes consumer social behaviors and trends on an annual basis. Forrester classifies social network users by type: Creators, Conversationalists, Critics, Collectors, Joiners, Spectators and Inactives. In the past year, their research shows no measurable growth in the Creators category — the audience that creates social content.

In the U.S., the Creator audience has actually dipped a percentage point from 24% in 2009 to 23% in 2010. Japan was the only country measured to show a rise in Creators, growing from 34% to 36% in the past year.

When it comes to social media, it would seem then that the average user feels most at home taking more passive actions, and that a majority of content creation is primarily limited to the existing content creator crowd. As Forrester reports, “One-third of online consumers in the U.S. regularly watch user-generated videos on sites like YouTube. But only 10% of U.S. online consumers upload videos they’ve created to public sites.”

Still, social networking is on the rise, according to Forrester. In the Joiners category (those that join social networks), most countries surveyed saw significant increases, including the U.S., which jumped from 51% to 59% between 2009 and 2010.

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The geolocation space is the one to watch right now — celebrities are flocking to Foursquare

1. Hollywood Has Come Calling

Much of Twitter’s meteoric rise to the top of the social media food chain can be attributed to celebrity adoption. Sure, we geeks got Twitter

Now, celebrities are slowly but surely turning their attention to location-sharing services. Foursquare is having its Hollywood moment as newbies like Ellen Degeneres and 50 Cent find a purpose for checking in while out and about.

Foursquare’s celebrity roster also includes Arnold Schwarznegger, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Ryan Seacrest, Pee Wee Herman and Don Lemon. Even Martha Stewart appears to have taken a liking to the service.

As influential celebrities unlock the value of Foursquare, the startup’s street cred is gaining momentum and attracting the attention of even more A-listers. We may soon find rapper Snoop Dogg checking in to Foursquare, and it sounds as if Questo of The Roots is on the inevitable path to becoming a Foursquare user as well.

Celebrity interest in location-sharing is bound to accelerate, and will only help to further propel the trendy behavior to a more mainstream audience.

2. Location as a Feature

Your location is an important frame of reference for pretty much everything you do. Whether you’re sharing photos, scouting out a place to eat, searching for a movie, or simply lounging at home looking for something to do, where you are in the world matters.

Location already factors in to most mobile search experiences, and it’s becoming an even more prevalent feature inside apps with other core purposes. Yelp

Mobile app Qrank takes the age-old fun of trivia and incorporates location into the mix for live, location-based trivia contests. PadMapper

Foodspotting uses location to display nearby restaurant photos and create a window-shopping-like experience.Mopho’s mobile photo sharing application distinguishes itself with location — users can share their location with a photo and discover nearby people and photos. Picksie predicts activities for you via iPad, using location to zero in on the best recommendations. And the list goes on.

The trend is also trickling over to websites with the help of geo-aware browsers. Web and mobile applications are now, more than ever, incorporating location as an experience-enhancing feature for differentiation in increasingly crowded markets.

3. Automatic Background Behaviors

With most smartphones capable of supporting applications that continue to run in the background, a new host of mobile applications are cropping up that log your location as a background process while you trek about.

The basic idea — real-time location tracking — isn’t a new one. Both Loopt and Google Latitude have been experimenting with this for years. But the rise of background location and increased user interest in location-sharing together serve as a catalyst for developer interest.

Several app makers, for instance, are attempting to make the checkin experience a more passive and implicit one. While Foursquare and Gowalla

Loopt also leverages background location on iPhone and Android to determine the proximity between you and your Loopt friends, sending automatic alerts should a friend happen to be in the vicinity.

For now, you’ll risk draining your battery for the convenience of running location apps in the background, but we suspect that application developers will work to better optimize the experience in their respective apps. As applications become better optimized for geolocation purposes, look for these automatic behaviors to become more sophisticated in function.

4. Personal and Peer-to-Peer Location-Sharing

Advancements in mobile phone location technology not only allow for automatic background location behaviors, but also facilitate real-time, private location sharing for more practical purposes of a personal variety.

Geofencing technology powers most of these features — a geofence is nothing more than a virtual perimeter for a geographic area. Simply put, newer location-based applications enable users to build virtual fences around areas of interest. Those fences can be static or dynamic in nature, and possess properties that trigger behaviors such as notifications and automatic location updates upon zone entry or exit.

In Neer, geofencing is used behind-the-scenes to update a user’s whereabouts and trigger follow-up behaviors. When a Neer user enters or leaves a pre-defined, geofenced region, the application will update accordingly. Friends and family will receive automatic notifications, should the user so specify.

Geoloqi offers another approach to private location-sharing. The full-featured mobile and web platform also taps into to geofencing technology so users can leave themselves geo-located notes and perform time-saving automatic location-specific activities — think sending and receiving SMS messages when you enter or leave designated areas.

These private location-sharing activities could come in handy if you want to automatically notify a friend that you’re on your way to their house, or auto-email your boss that you’re running late. The service is currently limited to beta testers, but it certainly highlights the practical potential of background location for personal and peer-to-peer use.

5. Location as a Platform to Make a Statement

MTV recently worked with Foursquare to create the Get Yourself Tested badge. The proactive initiative is designed to encourage sexually active young adults to check in when they visit a clinic, and help to remove the stigma around the experience. The campaign is working — in just a few weeks time, Foursquare has doled out more than 3,000 Get Yourself Tested badges.

Whether or not you agree with the mission behind the Get Yourself Tested campaign, MTV is successfully using Foursquare as a platform to promote a cause they believe to be important.

Last year, Foursquare teamed up with Pepsi to launch a check in for charity initiative in the New York area. Foursquare user activity over the course of one weekend helped raise $9,200 for CampInteractive. The campaign also caught the attention of an anonymous donor who stepped in to donate $50,000, putting the funds raised for the non-profit during the weekend promo just shy of $60,000.

Location-based cause marketing has also found a home on Gowalla. The location-sharing challenger, which takes a stamp-based approach to city exploration, recently partnered with TOMS Shoes on their One for One movement — TOMS matches every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes for a child in need. The partnership was designed to raise awareness around TOMS Shoes’ one-millionth shoe drop and promote the cause through checkins. Gowalla estimates that it helped to expose the campaign to more than 522,000 people.

Gowalla is also linked with LIVESTRONG. During the Tour de France, Gowalla users could check in to share their messages of hope and inspiration for those affected by cancer. Those messages were painted on the streets thanks to the help of a Nike/LIVESTRONG Chalkbot.