LONDON: Mobile consumption often involves 'micro-moments' of usage but these slivers of time can be successfully exploited to build brands and drive action, an industry figure argues.

Writing in the current issue of Admap, Ian Gibbs of On Device Research, looks at how consumer behaviour on the path to purchase has evolved in the age of mobile and the impact of creative depending on where a consumer is in the purchase journey.

He outlines four key considerations, derived from On Device's own research including an analysis of over 170 mobile brand effectiveness studies, for marketers wanting to engage consumers effectively in micro-moments.

First is the extent to which people routinely use their smartphones for product research: almost half of mobile users across 19 markets have used the device to look for a better price, while 43% searched out product information and one third looked at product reviews.

"For upper-funnel metrics such as brand awareness and ad recall, a combination of video and interstitial or banner creatives works hardest" in these moments, Gibbs reports.

Secondly, mobile purchase is becoming more common as the process becomes easier with the uptake of mobile wallets. At this end of the funnel, simple interstitials and banners work best.

"Finding that micro-moment when consumers are considering making a purchase on mobile (a micro-moment that can be identified by overlaying behavioural analytics and search data), and swaying the decision-making process in a far subtler manner than would be done by a more intrusive ad, can pay real dividends for brands," says Gibbs.

Marketers also need to appreciate where mobile fits into a wider pattern of cross-channel research and purchase, where showrooming and multi-screening are commonplace and where mobile micro-moments are fully integrated with people's day-to-day lives.

This trend is being driven by millennials, who, according to Gibbs, respond differently to mobile advertising and can process multiple communications at once. Varying combinations of video, interstitials and banners will drive purchase intent among different age groups.

Finally, Gibbs reports strong evidence that exposure to mobile ads drives store visitation, citing a 46% uplift in the case of one UK supermarket.

"In the world of mobile, what people say they do, and what they actually do, are strongly aligned, again providing evidence that reaching them with a piece of comms at a micro-moment of hyper-receptivity will have a tangible real-world impact," he states.

Data sourced from Admap