Experian believes it has identified four distinct and key groups of consumers that brands should consider when marketing on mobile, derived from the Simmons national consumer survey in the US.

The ‘Social Butterfly’, women aged 18 to 34, are almost five times as likely than average to access social networks on their mobile – with this identified as ‘their main source of retail information’. They are also twice as likely as the average to buy something they see advertised on their smartphone.

The ’Working Professional’ is a career-focused individual – usually male aged 35 to 44 – who is 80 per cent less likely than average to want to see ads on their phone, as they use it mainly for work purposes. While they don’t talk about brands socially, or buy brands highlighted on social sites, they are more than twice as interested in buying using their phone than the average consumer.

Although gaming is widely accepted as a cross-gender, cross-generational activity on mobile, the ‘Gamer’ is identified as a young single male aged 18 to 24. They are 90 per cent more likely than the average consumer to purchase a product advertised on their mobile and this group is the least likely to see advertising as annoying or a waste of time. They are also 60 per cent more likely to buy a product because a celebrity uses it. 

The ‘Everything Tech’, or early adopter, is aged 18 to 34. Tablets are the device of choice, most often used for steaming and downloading video, the research found, but being able to access content on the go is also extremely important. This group are almost ten times more likely to be interested in receiving ads on their devices, especially with a value exchange model, and 60 per cent would purchase a product they have seen advertised. Brand loyalty is lowest with this group.