Light PC Internet Users 30% More Likely to Access Mobile Web

Light PC internet users in the US are 30% more likely than heavy PC internet users to use their mobile devices to access internet content, and are more likely to seek content that appeals to those with more active lives, according to first-of-its-kind, cross-media research from comScore.

In total, 42 million people used their mobile devices in October 2008 to access news and information content on the internet, an increase of 57% from the same month in 2007, comScore said.

comScore’s cross-media panel also finds that 15.2%of light PC internet users access news and information on their mobile device at least once a week, compared with a lower 11.7% of heavy PC Internet users.

Regarding gender, mobile internet users are more likely to be male (58%) and to be between ages 18 and 44. Possibly reflecting this demographic skew, comScore notes that heavy mobile internet users show a high engagement with websites that provide information that is appealing to people with more active lifestyles:

• Regional/local content
• Entertainment
• Sports information

In contrast, light mobile internet users are heavier users of the PC to access internet content and are heavily engaged with the following types of content:

• Education
• Conversational Media
• Travel
• Business / Finance
• Retail

“The findings affirm that mobile internet users comprise a substantial segment of the population, and suggest that a significant portion of these people are using mobile to supplement their at-home online media diet,” said Brandon Starkoff, VP/mobile activation director at  Starcom USA. “Understanding these emerging mobile behavior patterns is valuable to marketers looking for opportunities to increase scale and deliver valuable consumer experiences.”

About the study: The study was conducted using a sample of individuals who were members of comScore’s PC panel of online users and who were also participants in comScores monthly mobile survey. The findings represent digital media usage for the three-month average ending October 2008. For purposes of the study, comScore defined “heavy” PC Internet users (20% of the panel) as those who viewed, on average, 6,701 pages in the month, and “light” users (50% of the panel) as those who viewed, on average, 1,104 pages in the month. Heavy users accounted for 43% of overall page views, while light users and accounted for 18% of page views. The balance were classified as medium users.

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