METRICS Study: Consumers struggle with mobile content access/discovery

Eighty percent of subscribers in the U.S. and U.K. report some difficulty or problem when trying to access mobile content according to a new survey published by Qualcomm’s Xiam Technologies discovery solutions unit and conducted by TNS Global. Time spent searching/downloading is the most commonly cited issue, followed by device/interface issues. In fact, users report they are unsuccessful in accessing mobile content about 27 percent of the time. In addition, 63 percent of respondents said they would purchase more content if discovery was less of a challenge–the survey reports that 68 percent of subscribers depend on mobile search engines to access content, with 58 percent directly entering URLs and 41 percent turning to their operator’s content portal.

Users tell Xiam/TNS they would increase time spent each week accessing mobile content by over an hour (a 55 percent jump) and monthly spending by $8 (a 148 percent increase) if their content was personalized. Weather is the type of content most commonly accessed via mobile device, with 67 percent of subscribers now embracing weather-related apps and services followed by maps (55 percent), social networking (52 percent) and games (also 52 percent).

Have a look at some graphical representation below :

Users reporting problems accessing data

Across the board, some 80 percent of all users report some type of problem accessing or using data and websites on their mobile phones.

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Slow or hard to find information

The biggest culprit is slow or hard to find information. In all cases, more than 61 percent of users reported this issue.

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Phone or interface issues

Phone or interface issues rank second for users. Well over half reported problems.

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Irrelevant content

Of lesser importance, but still an issue to users, was receiving irrelevant content when trying to access or purchase content.

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Payment issues

In the United States, more than one in 10 users reported payment and billing issues as problem areas. It was only slightly worse in the United Kingdom, where 13 percent of users cited it as an issue.

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Effectiveness of methods for finding content

Users found that going to favorites or bookmarks were the most effective ways to navigate when searching for content. URLs, search engines and desktop icons followed as favorites, in that order.

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Least effective methods of finding mobile content

Consumers said they are least favorite way to find the mobile content they want actually is by clicking on ads or banners at their wireless service provider’s store or portal. They were nearly as dissatisfied with their handset manufacturers store or portal.

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Percent of attempts to access or purchase mobile content that are unsuccessful

In what should be worrisome to content providers, users say they are unsuccessful in accessing the mobile content they want 27 percent of the time. In the U.S., that number falls to 24 percent of the time.

This is where Alabot’s AI/NLP based engine helps in content access and discovery for both operators and content aggregators and portals. To know more about how Alabot can make this happen you can write to me at sidhartha.bezbora at alabot dot com

Source : Fierce Mobile and Metrics