Survey
of
Chinese
Students
Perception
of
Mobile
Ads


This survey aims to give an insight into how Chinese students perceive advertising on
their mobile device. It was conducted in Chinese and included only Chinese students
studying at Tongji University. In total there were 738 participants. These were mainly
undergraduate students (61.38%). But there were also MBA students (9.35%) and
others who did not specify (29.27%).

The survey was mainly conducted on paper, either handed out by professors to their
students or by hand at the entrance of the university, (80%), or over the Internet
(20%).

We are going to start by looking at Undergraduates students. This is as they represent

the biggest group, their average age is 21.5 and they virtually all have an Internet
connection (98.67%).

They mainly have Nokia phones (49.87%) followed by Sony Ericsson (15.79%),
Samsung (12.78%), Motorola (9.02%) and Sharp (6.02%). The vast majority have pre
pay (94%) accounts and are on China Mobile (99.34%). Their average spend on
mobile communications is between 20-40 RMB (31.58%) and 40-70 RMB (40.13%).
When asked where they used their mobile phones (they were required to give 3
answers), they answered in their homes (55.33%), when going somewhere (55.33%),
before going out with friends (40.00%), in class (40.00%), in bed (39.33%). This
shows that the mobile phone is the only device that consumers take with them
everywhere they go in their daily life.

Also when they were asked when in the day they used their mobile phones (they were
required to give 3 answers), the majority answered at periods after lunch (71.9%).
When they were asked if they were willing to receive ads on their mobile phone,
47.37% expressed an interest in receiving the ads. This figure is far higher than
figures that I have previously seen in the west and shows that the mobile device is the
write medium to connect with students. However 53% stated that they were not
interested, and of those who were interviewed face to face the main reason given for
this was fear of spam.

This then increased to 60.67% if they received an incentive in exchange for viewing
the ad. The increase is not at all surprising and shows that there is a clear interest from
students to receive advert on their mobile phone. What was particularly interesting
with this was that men were only slightly moved by the offer of an incentive while the
interest from women increased by 43.77%.
This figure then reached 69.13% when they could control who advertised to them.
This sends out a clear message to brands, which is “yes I want to receive adverts from
you but I want to control them and I do not want to be spammed”.
When asked what types of ads they would be willing to receive, 61.74% said yes to
adverts on specific areas of interest to them.

And 64.67% said yes to adverts from specific vendors or brands. Both the last two
statistics show the need to target consumers rather than mass spam.
When asked to rank from 1-6 what would lower the annoyance associated with
watching adverts on their mobile phone, the ability to provide profillable information
on your areas of interest so that you only receive specific ads came out top (average
rank 2.2), followed by discounted plan (3.3), the ability to opt out (3.5), the control
over the number of ads received (3.7) and lastly the control of the time at which the
ads are received (4.6). Once again this clearly shows the need for targeting as opposed
to mass spamming of consumers.

Value Average Rank

Provide profile of your areas of interest so only specific ads are sent 2.2

Choose specific times when ads are received 4.6

Choose the number of ads received in a given time period 3.7

Ability to opt out 3.5

Different/ Discounted plan if ads are included 3.3

Choose the types of ads received 3.6

When asked if they would be willing to provide profile information (and under what
condition), 62.86% answered that they would be willing to. This clearly points to the
need for brands to build consumer profiles rather than spam potential consumers.
We are now going to look at MBA students. This group was much smaller,
representing 9.35% of the surveyed population, had an average age of 29.5 and they
virtually all have an Internet connection (100%).

They mainly have Nokia phones (38.08%) followed by Sony Ericsson (23.80%),
Blackberry’s (20.3%), Samsung (14.28%). Unsurprisingly there were more
Smartphone’s than with undergraduates.

Slightly surprisingly the vast majority have pre pay accounts (85%). This is surprising
compared to the west but fairly common in China. All the students surveyed were on
China Mobile.

Unsurprisingly their average spend on mobile communications is much higher than

that of undergraduates with 39.13 spending over 100 Rmb and 30.43% spending
between 70-100 Rmb per month.

One of the most surprising things was that we expected there to be less of a will to
received mobile ads. This was not the case with 60.87% expressing an interest in
receiving mobile ads as opposed to 47.37% with undergraduates. However the key
difference is in the level of interest with no one being very or extremely interested.
This shows that the mobile device can also be used to target an older population.
This difference was also visible when offered an incentive, with 65.22% expressing
an interest compared to 60.67%.

This trend was repeated when it came to ads that they could control, with 73.91%
expressing an interest as opposed to 69.13%.
Another interesting trend that we noticed was when we removed people who had said
that they were not willing to give out personal information to brands (i.e. people who
could be considered to be “anti” advertising) the expression of interest in receiving
ads on their phone increased substantially.

When asked if they would like to receive ads on their mobile phone, the increase was
of 18.39%.

When offered an incentive the figure rose by 11.41%.

And when given the option of controlling these ads the figure increased by 16.06%.

Coming back to the complete survey results, concerning people who had said that the
places where they used their mobile phone the most, were places that involved
another activity (i.e. eating, watching TV, on the toilets or out with friends). I noticed
an interesting trend in that these people tended to be more likely to own a
Smartphone. This would suggest that owners of these devices find it harder to
disconnect from their phone.
Conclusion:


The survey has shown that there are very few differences between Chinese students
and Western students in that they are all comfortable with the idea of receiving brand
messages on their mobile devices. However, just like in the West, Chinese students
want to retain control of their device.

It also shows that the power of mobile advertising can also be used by Brands to
target Chinese students who are receptive to mobile ads. But two clear points temper
this message, firstly students want to be able to control the ads and the type of ads that
they get sent, and secondly students do not want to be spammed by brands that they
are not interested in.

Spam is a major problem in China, even though China Mobile is the only mobile
operator worldwide to have closed the ports of spamming companies, and this is
something that will have to be sorted out.

I was recently talking to a brand that was just sending out messages to random
numbers that they had got from who knows where. This is not good for their brand
image, and I expect that over time they will understand this. But clever brands will
work this out quickly and reap the benefits of this strategy.

This means that brands should not mass spam consumer but, over time, build a
rapport with them while learning about what their interest are and giving them things
that they want. This will lead to not only a more positive brand image but also a better
ROI for the brand.
About
the
Author:


David Holding - Parsons is a specialist in mobile advertising having worked for a

leading mobile advertising agency in the US and Asia. He has also been writing for
MobiAD News since it’s founding 4 years ago.

David currently resides in Shanghai where he is starting up a new advertising-based

mobile service. He is bilingual in English and French and holds a BA from Euromed
Management in France and Tongji University in China.

He can be contacted at david@anyscreenproductions.com