Arbitron, Jacobs Reveal Study of Smartphone Users

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, September 30, 2010 | 2:08pm CT

Arbitron and Jacobs Media unveiled an ethnographic study on Thursday exploring the impact that smartphones are making on Americans' everyday behaviors and their use of traditional media. Most importantly for radio, the study also highlights the unique position that radio is in to "capitalize" on the new mobile movement.

The 60-minute video project, entitled "Goin' Mobile," profiled 18 smartphone owners -- all within the age range of 18 to 49 and located in Los Angeles, Dallas, Cleveland Baltimore.

It captured on video a full day of their normal activities -- at home, at work and in the car. Although the focus of the study went well beyond multimedia usage, the research concluded that increasingly, consumers are taking advantage of the growing array of mobile apps, with online radio service Pandora, the most common smartphone app next to Facebook.

Among some of the study's other conclusions, here are those of most interest to radio broadcasters:

• Radio listening is impacted by in-car smartphone activity, making it all the more important for the industry to adopt a mobile presence.
• In the workplace, smartphones are often used to help boost productivity. For radio, there exists an opportunity to create apps that connect listeners to businesses, in order to help boost radio's share of overall advertising dollars, while taking advantage of the streaming opportunity for workers on the job.
• Nearly every "Goin' Mobile" respondent used Facebook on their smartphones, making it even more "imperative for the industry to expand its presence on social media platforms."

Apple iPhone android smartphone owners are far more likely than other smartphone users to be immersed in apps. Jacobs concludes that radio companies need to design apps with customer needs and desires in focus, in order to win downloads and "time spent using" on smartphones.