Do summer vacations drive mobile Web browsing?

By Giselle Tsirulnik

August 26, 2009

Summer lovin'

A recent study by Opera Mini found that Web usage spikes in the summer months. Mobile Marketer interviewed industry experts for their opinion on why this is happening.

This month's Opera Mini State of Mobile Web stats indicate that countries are experiencing higher usage than downloads would indicate. Is this a vacation effect? Seeing Aruba and Australia on Opera's list could lead one to believe that these numbers represent vacationers.

Here is what industry members had to say:

Brennan Hayden, vice president at WDA, East Lansing, MI
Yes, summer increases mobile browsing. So does winter, spring and fall. The fact is mobile browsing is exploding wherever you look, and nothing is likely to stop it.

In the past, before the mobile Web actually worked, people took a break from their [mobile] phones on vacation. These days, the phones are actually kind of fun.

The calls might get sent straight to voice mail, but the browser stays on. And for those workaholics, well, laptops are very uncool on the beach, so the mobile browser saves the day.

Appetite for information doesn't go down during vacation for most people, but the nature of their information cravings change in obvious ways.

The mobile browser is the most readily available way to get their fix. At home, the mobile was possibly the second choice, but on vacation it is often the only choice.

Page views literally migrate from the PC to mobile.

Flora Vaysanova, national account manager at FonLabs, New York
As people search for things to do and places to go in the summer, like concerts, parties, night clubs and the like, their mobile devices become increasingly important.

Mobile Web browsing provides singular utility, in that once you've found what you're looking for, you can get directions or place a call directly to the location, right from your mobile device.

Brands and marketers can leverage the inherent utility of mobile searches, by delivering mobile Web sites (optimized for mobile screens) and adding offers to their mobile landing pages, which can be redeemed by the end-users performing these searches.

For example, if you're looking for a place to watch the upcoming Mayweather vs. Marquez fight, you'd probably respond favorably to a 2-for-1 drink special offer from a bar broadcasting the fight that night.

Susan Marshall, vice president of marketing at ChaCha, Indianapolis
During the summer, we hear from millions of bored teens and young adults who are looking for things to do, social interaction and engagement through their mobile phone.

If mobile marketers are smart, they can take advantage of this and drive engagements with their products and services through all a variety of mobile marketing and advertising.

And since the under 25 crowd is three times more likely to respond to mobile advertising, advertisers are seeing double-digit increases in brand metrics and direct response.

Tom Limongello, senior director of business development at Crisp Wireless, New York
Summer is about just going, not pre-planning or going inside to check something on a laptop.

I'm always on http://mta.info checking out LIRR trains to the Hamptons because it works better than the desktop site and because it means potentially starting the weekend earlier.

I'm going out more and checking-in on foursquare and particularly this summer, the crap weather has made me check weather in Safari more often than I usually do.

Jed Alpert, founder of Mobile Commons, New York
During the summer people are away from there computers. They are likely at the beach or traveling. The more people are away from their computers, the more they will be staying connected by mobile.

Summer is the time to make sure that outdoor and out of home marketing venues have a strong mobile calls-to-action.

Brands and venues should be using mobile to engage people where they are in the summer and to convert that interaction into a long term and meaningful customer relationship.

Comments on "Do summer vacations drive mobile Web browsing?"

1. Tim McQuillin says:

   August 27, 2009 at 11:26am

   I think being in an unfamiliar environment and doing impromptu activities drives additional mobile web browsing. You more often don't know an address, phone number, working hours, driving numbers, etc. if you are doing things in an unfamiliar place or going to a place for the first time.
   
   It would be interesting to cut this data by location to know if people more often browse the web when they are away from their neighborhoods or home cities or even countries.
   
   I'm not sure if this explains the seasonality or not, but I certainly think there is a correlation between vacations and higher mobile web browsing.

2. Mark Jaffe says:

   August 26, 2009 at 6:18pm

   This study is further evidence that consumers are rapidly adopting the mobile device as a lifestyle medium rather than as simply a communication tool. Advertisers and marketers need to adjust their communication to reflect this new reality so the message does not seem inconguent with the mobile medium.