SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 25, 2017) - Verto Analytics (http://vertoanalytics.com), the consumer-centric measurement company, today released a new report titled "Consumer Behavior in 2018: Four Trends to Watch," which analyzes trends in consumer behavior between 2016 and 2017. Key findings include the massive growth of personal assistant devices and the increasing use of AI and voice user interfaces in digital services; stagnation in the mobile gaming market; and key shifts in consumer mobile behavior.
Verto Analytics' findings and analysis reflect proprietary data gathered between June 2016 and July 2017 from its panel of U.S. consumers adults aged 18 and above. Verto used its single-source methodology and passive behavioral metering tools to capture cross-device interactions and media engagement. Based on the data gathered, Verto identified four trends that brands, advertisers, and digital publishing companies should watch over the coming year.
Explosive growth of personal assistant devices
Between January 2016 and August 2017, the market penetration for personal assistant devices grew an astounding 295 percent year-over-year from 1.7 percent to 7.4 percent, equating to nearly 16 million users. With Amazon, Apple, Google, and other tech companies entering the space, personal assistant devices will soon be transforming the common living room. By May 2018, personal assistant devices will near a 10 percent penetration rate, making consumer-targeted voice assistants a significant opportunity for brands, publishers, and advertisers to extend their audience reach. Voice-enabled devices show potential to become the next user interface to reach mass market adoption.
Mobile gaming usage is stagnating
Mobile gaming has had a constant presence in the headlines the past two years, anchored by massively popular games like Candy Crush and Clash of Clans, and the debut of nostalgic returns such as Super Mario and Pokémon GO. For example, the Match 3 genre of mobile games (including the Candy Crush franchise) increased from approximately 24 million users in July 2016 to more than 30 million as of July 2017. While Pokémon helped the AR and role-playing games (RPG) genre claim about 14 million monthly users in July 2017, the overall mobile gaming user numbers and the competitive landscape have stabilized and time spent has flattened, creating a challenge for game publishers with new releases hoping to make a splash in the market. It is also likely that large game publishers, who have marketing power behind them, will capture more of the total minutes spent on gaming at the expense of smaller gaming companies that do not have the capital or scale to compete.
Consumer time spent online stabilizes, as time spent on social media drops
Verto Analytics found that while the average time spent per user on social media, communications, and mobile gaming properties (apps and websites) either stagnated or decreased in the past year, entertainment properties (such as Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube apps and websites) saw a rise in time spent per user, to 11.5 hours per month, across PCs, smartphones, and tablets, about a 23 percent increase in time spent. As of July 2017, consumers spent more than 41 percent of their online time on communications and social media apps, which equates to an average of more than 25 hours per month per user. From June 2016 to July 2017, consumers spent about 1% less time in social media and communications apps -- the first reported decrease in time spent.
Time and attention are two key indicators measuring consumer behavior, and determining where consumers spend their time is vital for advertisers and publishers when considering how to reach their targets. Video and music entertainment apps, like streaming media services, will focus less on mobile app installation ads, which have driven mobile advertising in the past. Instead, they'll look to native advertising experiences to attract new users and help brands engage with the consumer through experiences that bundle mobile payments, context- or location-driven coupons and more.
Mobile multitasking behavior growing in complexity
Between July 2016 and July 2017, the daily number of consumers who engaged with more than four apps per mobile device session increased by 10 percent, from 121 million to 143 million adults in the U.S., showing that the success of new apps depends on their ability to become a part of the digital cycle of consumer habit. Diving into frequency, Verto Analytics found that 36 percent of an average daily user's daily device session was comprised of multitasking sessions, an increase from 34 percent in 2016. And, by January 2018, more than 149 million adult consumers in the U.S. are forecasted to engage in multitasking sessions, equaling 69.4 percent of the online U.S. adult population. Because multitasking has become a normalized behavior for consumers, mapping the consumer mobile journey -- which apps consumers launch, and in which order -- has never been more important for advertisers. Advertisers need to understand which apps to invest in and which apps can trigger multitasking behavior to other services which might result in conversions like online purchases, restaurant bookings, and travel bookings.
"With endless options for communication, entertainment, and content consumption, it's no surprise that consumer behavior is changing on a daily, even hourly, basis," said Hannu Verkasalo, CEO of Verto Analytics. "As we move into 2018, the rise of consumer-targeted artificial intelligence, new and improved channels for content, and the frequency of multitasking will have a significant influence on the way consumers interact, or don't interact, with their devices. Publishers, brand and advertisers alike must understand this fluctuating consumer behavior to maintain a healthy user base and know where to invest."
Get a copy of 'Consumer Behavior in 2018: Four Trends to Watch Report' here. For additional insight into the report, register here for Verto Analytics' webinar, taking place on Thursday, October 26 at 9:00am PST.
About Verto Analytics
Verto Analytics is a media measurement platform that offers a holistic view of the consumer -- their behavior along with demographics, lifestyles, attitudes, and interests. Verto owns and operates a single-source, passively metered panel that gives us the power to measure behavioral changes over time across all media -- second by second. Through a platform that democratizes behavioral research, brands, publishers, and researchers can benchmark against competitors and the market, fill in the gaps in the consumer journey, and identify ways to increase engagement and loyalty. Read our blog, follow us on Twitter, or learn more at http://www.vertoanalytics.com.
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