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41.2 per cent of respondents to a GetJar survey of 2,500 consumers said they will switch to Android when they buy their next phone, compared to 15.6 per cent who said they would like to switch to the iPhone.
GetJar carried out the survey in February. It also found that 35.5 per cent of consumers are spending one hour or more using apps each day, compared to 50.6 per cent who spend the same amount of time watching television. In fact, 17.4 per cent said they were using apps for more than two hours each day.
The importance of brand equity was highlighted, with almost 80 per cent of respondents saying that the quality of the brand’s app makes the brand more trustworthy. Furthermore, 72 per cent of those surveyed said they were more likely to engage with a brand if they had a good app.
Advertisers have reason to be hopeful. 73 per cent of respondents said they have downloaded an app with advertising in it, and almost 60 per cent said they would do it again. Almost one in four made a purchase after having clicked on a mobile ad.
But app discovery remains an issue. Only 25 per cent discovered the apps they were looking for via an app store. Nearly 50 per cent had discovered apps while browsing online and nearly 17 per cent had discovered apps through friends or social media.
The survey also revealed that gaming apps are the most popular, followed closely by social networking apps. The amount of free apps and ease of search topped the list of things users look for in an app store. And the cost of an app was the biggest deciding factor in whether to download an app or not.
GetJar says the pro-Android sentiments unveiled by the survey are especially significant. The company recently secured $25m in Series C funding from Tiger Global Management, and plans to aggressively expand its offering to Android publishers in order to secure its position as the premier open Android Market alternative, while continuing to support other smartphone platforms.
“The survey results make it clear that all eyes are on Android, as well as the importance of brand equity in the increasingly competitive mobile app space,” says GetJar CMO, Patrick Mork. “In addition, the data also reveals that brand marketers and advertisers also have a reason to be hopeful about consumer’s appetite for in-app advertisements.”