Survey: Mobile Usage Growing Significantly in China
A new study illuminates the growing reliance on smartphones in China and the potential for businesses to target this engaged audience.
According to Deloitte’s “2016 Global Mobile Consumer Survey – China Edition” survey, in the past year, the number of heavy smartphone users (users who check their phone 50 or more times per day) rose from 4 percent to 23 percent.
At the same time, the number of mild users (11-50 times per day) declined from 68 percent in 2015 to 63 percent in 2016, indicating mild users tend to become heavy users over time. Half of smartphone users check their phone within five minutes of waking up in the morning – and nearly all (97 percent) check their phone within their first waking hour.
In the morning, users are looking for information to start their day, including real-time information (25 percent), social networks (20 percent), weather (14 percent) and news (11 percent).
If users are checking their phone at midnight, users’ interests differed to more leisurely pursuits, such as viewing instant messages (50 percent), checking the time (42 percent) and reading news (35 percent).
The data shows the effectiveness of video ads on mobile has increased 2 percent year over year; while the effectiveness of direct message ads remained the same and social media ads and mobile app ads decreased 1 percent.
However, among all the mobile ad options, social media remains the most effective in spurring user action.
For Deloitte’s study, data was collected from 2,000 Chinese users across four demographic sample statistics.
Digital Channels Account for 40% of Advertising Spend in China
A 2016 iiMedia Research study found digital channels now account for nearly 40 percent of advertising spend in China. In additional, about half of that nearly 40 percent is being spent specifically on mobile advertising.
Other top ad channels included more traditional platforms: television (32.4 percent), and the rest of the landscape is fractured across multiple distribution channels (i.e. newspaper, radio, magazine).