A new study by researchers at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College showing the differences between how people interact with smartphones and tablets vs. personal computers points out some of the issues that marketers face when trying to advertise to consumers via mobile.
"One of the major reasons consumer behavior is qualitatively different on mobile devices than on large screen devices is how they are used," said Praveen K. Kopalle, PH.D, professor of marketing at Tuck and the lead researcher on the study, in a statement. "The consumer uses large screen devices for web browsing, while mobile devices are used for two kinds of interactions: browser-centric and app-centric, with apps accounting for a majority of mobile usage."
Dr. Kopalle said people with mobile devices use them to perform "life tasks" and that there are a number of obstacles to engaging consumers with ads on smartphones and tablets.
The top four reasons are:
- The screen is too small (72 percent);
- Having something else to do with their device instead (70 percent);
- Difficulty returning to their original page after a click (69 percent);
- Inability to get online (60 percent).