Tablet users click more ads and shop more online, says study

Post by Steven Cox on 9th February 2012
 in E-commerce, Retail

It's said that size isn't everything, but when it comes to getting actively engaged with online content, it does seem to be the case.

At least, that's the conclusion of a survey by Nielsen Consulting, which found that, however attached people become to their smartphones, those who have invested in a tablet computer click on more ads and buy more products.

It seems that, while the smartphone was considered the first step in changing buyers' behaviour, the tablet has, according to Nielsen's European managing director of telecoms practice, David Gosen, "got the user interface absolutely right".

He was commenting on a Nielsen report into a survey which saw it question 1,762 users of various types of connected device in the UK. More than 1,000 of these were tablet users, and just over 400 connected with the web via their smartphone.

Total Telecom reports that one in 10 of the tablet users said they'd made a purchase as a direct result of content they had seen on their device, compared to only seven per cent of the smartphone users.

Nearly half of tablet users also indicated that they could recall ads which they'd seen on their devices. The corresponding figure for phone users was 37 per cent.

While the bigger screen was one factor behind its greater attraction, said Gosen, so too was the environment in which the content was viewed.  The potential for distraction was greater while out and about, whereas sitting at home using a tablet, "you become mesmerised with what you see".