No one wants to fly on Spam Airlines. Or to have any doubts that their purchases are safe and secure.
As a result, it should come as no surprise that “resistance to spam and irrelevant messages are two reasons why mobile consumers fail to engage with mobile travel ads,” according to the researchers behind a new study.
The study in question, carried out by mobile research firm On Device for mobile marketing company MobPartner, is based on a survey of 1,000 mobile users in August.
Mobile users who do travel research and planning — whether on mobile or laptop — want to experience trust and relevancy.
“Some 38 percent of respondents who had not yet engaged with a mobile ad related to travel, were reluctant to do so because they were worried about spam, according to the study, while 33 percent said such ads were irrelevant to them,” noted the report summary.
Trusted brands fared best. Fully 32 percent of surveyed mobile users indicated they are willing to click on a mobile travel ad if it came from a trusted brand. About 25 percent of those who had responded to an ad said they subsequently made a vacation-related purchase.
“Trusted brands, good offers and relevance are the biggest drivers for engagement with mobile ads related to travel,” says Alexandra Travlos, client service analyst at On Device Research in charge of the study.
The most viewed? Travel ads that are mobile video ads 33 percent). And 32 percent said they had responded to an ad within a mobile game or application. Traditional banner ads garnered 30 percent.
“Once initial barriers are overcome and trust is established, users appear eager to make use of travel-related ads to get information and even book travel,” says Djamel Agaoua , CEO of MobPartner. “This speaks to the need for offering truly helpful and relevant travel ads.”
Another interesting insight from the study is that, even though smartphones were cited as the top device for travel research, most people still prefer to do early research such as planning and booking on a laptop. Why? Reasons included a greater sense of security, greater ease of comparison, ability to print out information, and the fact that many travel related companies have not optimized their mobile websites.
