With mobile commerce growing, television is a proving to be a significant influencing factor on consumers? mobile purchases, according to a new report from Interpret LLC.

The report, Utilizing Multiple Screens Effectively: Television's Role in Mobile Purchasing, takes a look at whether TV, as the most popular medium among consumers, can be used by advertisers to drive purchases on mobile devices. The report found that 62 percent of consumers want advertisers to make it easier to purchase products seen on TV.

?We were surprised to learn that consumers are almost as likely to purchase a physical product on their mobile device as they are to simply download a song or other virtual item,? said Jason Lau, a lead analyst at Interpret LLC, Los Angeles. ?Also, most purchases made on a mobile device are made in the home, opening up the opportunity for advertisers to utilize call-to-action TV campaigns that drive consumers to a smartphone or tablet.

?The most surprising finding was that 53 percent of those that made a mobile purchase cited TV as an influence, though it is not the most important factor,? he said.

Prime-time multitasking
Key findings include that 87 percent of consumers who own both a mobile device - smartphone or tablet - and a TV report having made some form of a mobile transaction within the past 12 months.

The most influential drivers of mobile purchasing were word-of-mouth, named by 58 percent of respondents; online content - 51 percent; online ads - 45 percent; TV ads - 43 percent. Additionally, 36 percent cite TV programming as an influence on their mobile purchases.

More than half of consumers, or 53 percent, who have made a purchase on their mobile device cite TV as an influence, with ads slightly more influential than programming.

The report found that 144.8 million consumers multitask while watching TV, especially during prime time, with 54 percent of respondents reporting they multitask between 8 and 11 pm at night.

When the purchase was made after seeing a product on TV, 95 percent said they made the purchase the same week and 39 percent said within the same day.

Consumers appear to be motivated to make mobile purchases by limited time offers, with 61 percent saying they tend to purchase things on their mobile devices when they are limited time offers or deals.

Physical purchases popular
The most popular type of transaction via a mobile device was downloading music through an online digital media store, which 75 percent of respondents had done. Additionally, 70 percent had paid a bill, 68 percent had downloaded a book or magazine, 65 percent had purchased a physical product or service, 64 percent had purchased a mobile accessory such as a ringtone while 54 percent had downloaded a TV show or movie.

Less popular transactions included booking travel, which 40 percent of respondents had done via a mobile device while 39 percent had purchased digital movie tickets, 36 percent had purchased a virtual good or currency through a game and 27 percent had donated to charity.

Of those who had purchased a physical good via mobile device, these purchases were mostly focused on non-essential items such as lifestyle and entertainment goods. The most frequently purchased physical products included vouchers or gift cards, which were purchased by 60 percent. Additionally, 59 percent purchased clothing or shoes, 57 percent electronics and 55 percent entertainment.

Most of these purchases were made at home with 61 percent have made a purchase from a mobile device while at home, 26 percent while on the go and 13 percent while at work.

The results also show that consumers prefer to make purchases via mobile from a brand's Web site as opposed to a branded application, with 70 percent having made a purchase on a retailer's site through their device's browser while 30 percent used a branded app.

The findings suggest that there is an opportunity for brand marketers to do more to drive mobile purchasing via TV advertising.

Interpret recommends brands and retailers focus on establishing the value of making mobile purchases through discounts, limited-time offers and increased convenience. They should also create more explicit calls-to-mobile-action within TV ads and insure that products and services are accessible for purchase on mobile devices.

Additionally, Interpret recommends brands consider integrated campaigns using TV and mobile devices for complementary content.

?Brand marketers should absolutely be doing more to use TV advertising to drive mobile purchasing, as our data shows that mobile purchasers are very valuable consumers,? Mr. Lau said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York