Everywhere we look, it is immediately obvious how much the mobile phone is an integral part of daily life. Yet, the medium is still relatively new to advertising research, particularly among academics who have devoted recent years of study to this topic addressed in this issue's special package, “What We Know about Mobile Media and Marketing.”
The growth in digital advertising spend—and investments in mobile—argues for the need to understand the right metrics for measurement. In “Are You Using the Right Mobile Advertising Metrics? How Relevant Mobile Measures Change the Cross-Platform Advertising Equation” (please see page 245), our columnists Gian M. Fulgoni and Andrew Lipsman of comScore warn, “The fact is that the right mobile metrics are within advertisers' grasp, but the wrong ones often are consulted.” Relying on click-through rates for mobile banner advertisements is problematic, the authors argue, since there is such a high incidence of clicks by accident: “Mobile is exceedingly capable of demonstrating substantial reach—particularly in relation to desktop.” Furthermore, the authors contend, given “the habitual engagement that occurs on mobile, daily reach is an increasingly relevant metric… mobile viewability ought to be anchored to whatever minimum view time drives meaningful lifts in brand metrics, rather than to any previous standards for digital advertising on desktop.”
Usage across platforms has brought new attention to the role of consumer trust, report Kristin Stewart (California State University San Marcos) and Isabella Cunningham (University of Texas at Austin) in their article, “Examining Consumers' Multiplatform Usage and Its Contribution to Their Trust in Advertising: The Impact of the Device on Platform-Use Frequency and Trust in Advertising Across Platforms” (please see page 250). There are “few metrics that account for consumers' reaction to a message as a function of their interaction with the messaging platform,” the authors suggest. Examining platform use across a variety of consumers, they found that the greater use of particular platforms bred greater levels of trust: “Younger adults will prefer the efficiency-related functional communication provided by interactive mobile platforms, as opposed to other platform types.” The researchers encourage marketers to realize that “platform-use frequency contributes to trust in advertising. As the frequency of consumers' interaction with certain platforms changes, therefore, so should the distribution of advertising dollars.”
To facilitate stronger consumer connections to brands, companies increasingly are turning to apps. Mobile apps, more specifically, help build company/consumer bonds and keep the brand top-of-mind. But what do we know about ensuring the success of these apps? An international team of scholars attempt to better “understand and evaluate the market performance of mobile apps” in “When Are Apps Worth Paying For? How Marketers Can Analyze the Market Performance of Mobile Apps” (please see page 260). Lara Stocchi (Flinders Business School [Adelaide, Australia]), Carolina Guerini (LIUC University [Castellanza, Italy] and Bocconi University [Milan]), and Nina Michaelidou from England's Loughborough University find that “apps linked to an offline or online brand can attract more users and obtain stronger brand image if made available to consumers at no cost, but apps branded independently attract more users and obtain stronger brand image if offered at a price.” They advise, “Managers should treat the app as a branded extension and an add-on to the promotional mix, as a way to appeal to the existing customers of the brand.” Moreover, they continue, “managers should, by default, make the app available to consumers at a price, as a way to convey a price–quality advantage and a sense of uniqueness over the many free apps available.”
Given the potential use of apps to build bridges to continuous customer relationships, two authors from South Korea examine the use of in-app reward advertisements to generate in-app purchases. In “Positive Side Effects of In-App Reward Advertising: Free Items Boost Sales—A Focus on Sampling Effects” (please see page 272), Joowon Lee (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejon) and Dong-Hee Shin (Chung-Ang University, Seoul) studied the use of free games for mobile users. Given the number of free apps in the marketplace, the authors suggest that one way that companies have used to monetize their apps is by “inducing users to make in-app purchases by selling virtual game items to users in their apps.” The authors caution that research “conducted in the area of in-app advertisements primarily has examined security and privacy.” Their work also shows that “mobile game items are typical information goods but also have the traits of physical search goods, in that they tend to function as actual goods in the virtual world…. Free mobile game items in the form of reward as product sampling in the virtual world…can be highly effective in increasing game-item sales, just as in the real world.”
* * *
I have very big shoes to fill as I settle into the role of Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Advertising Research. My predecessor, Geoffrey Precourt, has been a constant force for upholding rigor while maintaining and enhancing relevance during his tenure, and the Journal has significantly benefitted from his able leadership over the last 10 years. He also has been a mainstay for both me and my colleague, Jenni Romaniuk, during our three years as Academic Co-Executive Editors. We always could turn to him if we had questions, and his sage counsel was immediately helpful. I am relieved that he will remain available for advice from time to time in his role as Editor Emeritus. He has been a great role model, and my personal goal is to continue his fine work. I cannot thank him enough for all that he has done to put us in the position of leadership in Advertising Research that we now enjoy.
I also would like to acknowledge all of Jenni's work dealing with submissions from everywhere other than North America. As our readership has expanded globally, the number of submissions from beyond North America has grown significantly. Managing these manuscripts while representing us at a variety of academic and professional conferences around the world has raised our visibility greatly. Jenni is an enormously skilled and competent scholar as well as a very good friend. I am very happy that she has agreed to join us as a member of the Senior Advisory Board. Her advice and leadership will be invaluable as we move forward with the Journal of Advertising Research. Thank you, Jenni.
- © Copyright 2017 The ARF. All rights reserved.
Vol 57 Issue 3
