A Study Of Mobile Application Preferences Of Youth And Future Scope

Researchjournali’s Journal of Marketing
Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
1
www.researchjournali.com
Dr.Jay P.Trivedi
Associate Professor
Alliance University, Bangalore
Dr.Sunil Kumar
Assistant Professor
Sukanya Kundu
Assistant Professor
A Study Of Mobile
Application
Preferences Of Youth
And Future Scope

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
2
Abstract
The mobile application industry is one of the fastest growing industries today. Every morning we hear about
new applications and their benefits. A lot of research supports the fact that Gen Y is the largest pool of
Mobile application users. In the present study the researchers have studied the types of applications preferred
by GenY. The results say that the utility based applications score in preference over the other types. Gen Y is
also demanding more of travel related informative applications.
Keywords: Mobile Applications, GenY, India, Mobile Marketing
1. Introduction
Communication is very dynamic in nature. It has evolved from its nascent form in man led messaging to this
day when people can communicate with a click of a button. Especially the mobile revolution took the country
by storm. A report published by Banyan Netfaqs Pvt. Ltd suggest as below:
Mobile Landsacpe (India) No. Of Subscribers
Total Mobile subscribers ( activations) 800 mn +
Active Mobile subscribers 500 mn +
Total GPRS enabled mobile sets (all users) 200 mn +
Active feature and smartphone users 80 mn+
In support a GARTNER INC. research says that in 2011, 213 million units of mobile handsets were sold in
India, which escalated to 231 million units in 2012. Of these 231 million units GARTNER INC. estimates that
about 18.5 million units were smartphones. Experts say this is just the beginning. An opera India report
suggest that there are about 100mn + mobile internet users in India who access mobile Internet once in a year
and there are 35 mn + mobile internet users who access mobile internet every month. This report also
suggests that the favourite browsing activity is downloading music, downloading apps and downloading
videos in that order. A lot more mobile instrument users will switch over to the smartphone creating a
mammoth market for applications and advertisers.
In India Android, Apple app store, Blackberry app store, Windows market place, Nokia store, Mobango,
Getjar are leading app store distribution platforms and there are about 1.5 – 2 million + apps available across
these app stores. Of these 90 % are free apps, while the balance 10 % is paid apps. The same study also
established that 96% of the app users were under the age of 35. A study in USA by localytics (2011) has

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
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established that in October – Dec 2010 almost 26 % apps were downloaded and used just once before being
discarded. This infers that people are very selective in using their mobile apps. Failure of apps leads to
increased revenue losses for the companies who engage in developing these apps. In this study, the
researchers have explored the general patterns of mobile app preferences amongst the youth. This study will
help the app developers get a better understanding of the preferences of their target audience and decrease
failures. Also the media planners can get an insight into advertising in the right kind of apps to attract
maximum eyeballs.
2. Literature Review
Anckar and D ‘Incau (2002) observed that mobile applications related to banking services had high
acceptance in Finland. The applications offering news, games and personalized shopping had lower
acceptance in the said country. Freestone and Mitchell (2004) suggested that the Gen Y was more comfortable
with adopting new technology compared to earlier generations.
Wen and Lim (2005) suggested that Singaporean’s usage of mobile applications was mainly to buy products,
finding locations and receiving instant coupons. This finding suggests that the applications related to GPS and
supporting M-Commerce were used. Okazaki (2005) observed that mobile applications were used as a
platform for advertising owing to their increased penetration and acceptance. Kofman and Eckler (2005) also
confirming to these findings suggested that Gen Y multitask with technology as it reflects their personality
traits. Gen Y uses multiple media platforms like laptops, cellphones, instant messaging and social networking
for communications. Gupta et.al (2005) suggested that the Indian Mobile industry is poised to make huge
monies from mobile applications and VAS.
Schmitt (2008) observed that the success of Mobile applications depends on the relevance of the information
that they offer to the users or how much utility value they provide to the end users. Greengard (2010) put
forward that gender has an influence on the mobile application preference. Women are more likely to use
social networking apps and men are more likely to use productivity / utility apps.Mobile Social Gamer (2011)
confirmed to the above finding and reported that, in USA, gender plays a role in the types of apps people use.
Males comprised of 60 % gamers market but only 47% of the mobile social gamer’s market. Lobo (2011)
found out that Consumers who visited app stores in India, till October 2010, grew by 108% since 2009 and
the sales for smartphones witnessed a y-o-y growth of 294.9%. Rasheed (2012) found out that 90 % of the
fortune 500 companies were not offering apps to its customers and this makes the mobile applications market
a huge opportunity for the future. Biztech (2012) reported that the Indian app development market was at
USD 227 million. Gartner research (2012) identified that location based services, social networking apps,

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
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Mobile search and utility apps will be the most demanded applications and entertainment, productivity, photo
and video sharing and music related applications, if made relevant, will gain high acceptance in the future.
The above mentioned research emphasizes on the fact that mobile application preference varies in each
country. But all researches have confirmed that Gen Y is the highest user base of the mobile applications. In
this backdrop, the present research paper has analyzed the mobile application preferences of youth basis
application categories suggested by Gartner Research and explored the types of apps Gen Y will want to use
in the future.
3. Research Methodology
The objective of this study was to find out the types of applications preferred by Gen Y and the ancillary
consumer behaviour for mobile applications. Hence the sub-objectives were:
- If Gen Y prefers to use web browser over mobile applications or vice versa
- If Gen y is willing to pay for mobile applications
- Best source for Gen Y to know about mobile applications
- The frequency with which Gen Y updates the mobile applications
- If Gen Y loses interest in mobile applications owing to advertisements
A descriptive research design was used to measure the Mobile application type preferences amongst Gen Y. A
questionnaire was designed and electronically circulated amongst 120 Post Graduate students in Bangalore
city. Close ended questions were designed to study the various preferences of Gen Y pertaining to types of
apps and open ended question was used to know the new types of apps Gen Y wanted to see / use in the
future. After data was collected, 103 responses were considered for analyzing and drawing conclusions. The
types of applications measured in the questionnaire are well defined and used most commonly in major
articles and related research publications as documented in the literature review. The researchers also
executed an open ended question to a respondent base of 50 students to see if the students recognized these
types of applications correctly. Upon satisfactory results the final questionnaire was executed. Based on the
above objectives and sub- objectives, the researchers laid the below hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1: To test the preference of respondents from amongst web browser and mobile application, the
following hypothesis were formed:
Ho: Gen Y prefers to use web browser over mobile applications
H1: Gen Y prefers to use Mobile applications over web browsers
Hypothesis 2: To test the Gen Y readiness for the readiness for paid app the following hypothesis were
formed:

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
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Ho: Gen Y is not ready to pay for mobile applications
H1: Gen Y is ready to pay for mobile applications
Hypothesis 3: To test if Gen Y loses interest in mobile applications owing to in app advertising, the below
hypothesis were formed:
Ho: Gen Y loses interest in mobile applications owing to in app advertising
H1: Gen Y does not lose interest in mobile applications owing to in app advertising
Descriptive statistic tools on SPSS platform have been used to analyze the data.
4. Interpretation Of The Results
Based on the first objective of the study i.e. to find out the types of applications preferred by Gen Y and the
sub-objectives defined in methodology section, the following gives the SPSS output:
Table 1: Descriptive Statistics based on preference by the respondents on Mobile applications
Descriptive Statistics
N Mean Std. Deviation
Q9 (Games) 99 4.90 3.128
Q9 (Social Networking apps) 100 4.41 3.266
Q9 (News apps) 98 4.63 2.837
Q9 (GPS) 95 4.82 2.881
Q9 (Utility Apps) 94 5.66 3.092
Q9 (Productivity Apps) 96 5.28 2.662
Q9 (Weather Apps) 96 5.94 2.718
Q9 (Weather Apps) 100 5.18 2.772
Q9 (Search Tool Apps) 97 5.21 2.723
Table 2: Frequency and percentage values of different parameters as per the objective of the study
Va
lid
Applicati
on Both
Web
Browser Total
Preference to use more when using internet on
your smartphone
Frequen
cy 1 36 38 28 103
Percent 1 35 36.9 27.2 100
Va
lid
Above
Rs. 100
From Rs.
(66-100)
Under Rs.
65
Use free
apps only Total
Ready to pay for a mobile phone applications
Frequen
cy 1 3 13 8 78 103
Percent 1 2.9 12.6 7.8 75.7 100

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
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Va
lid
Blogs
Friends /
Family
Media
Others (Pl
specify)
Social
Network
To
tal
From which source do you get information
about various types of apps
Frequen
cy 1 3 50 36 5 9
10
3
Percent
1 2.9 48.5 35 4.9 7.7
10
0
Va
lid not sure
once every 3
months
once
every
week
once in a
month
once in every
2 weeks
tot
al
how often do you update your mobile apps
Frequen
cy 2 20 5 28 31 17
10
3
Percent
1.9 19.4 4.9 27.2 30.1 16.5
10
0
val
id No Yes Total
Interest in an app decreases if you see
advertisements in the apps
Frequen
cy 1 32 70 103
Percent 1 31.1 68 100
From Table 1, we analyze that on average the respondents are more favorable with the second minimum
standard deviation (i.e. 2.718) which means the respondents are in more favorable towards weather apps. It is
envisaged from Table 2 that 36.9 % of the respondents prefer to use web browser and application while using
internet on smartphones. Further, it is noted that 75.7% peoples are in favor of using free apps. Also,
approximately half of the respondents get information from their family and friends about various types of
apps. Further, not much variation in the respondent’s choice to update the mobile apps i.e. 27.2% of responses
for once every week and 30.1% are in favour of once in a month. Lastly, around 68% of the responses
response in decrease interest if they see advertisements in the apps.
5. Conclusion
Hypothesis 1: To test the preference of respondents from amongst web browser and mobile application, the
following hypothesis were formed:
Ho: Gen Y prefers to use web browser over mobile applications
H1: Gen Y prefers to use Mobile applications over web browsers
As observed in the results, Gen Y prefers to use both web browser and applications when they use internet on
their smartphones. At a close second are the applications, which indicate that with the increase in the types of
applications, it may soon assume utmost preference. The respondents preferring applications are doing so
because they opine that it is faster to access. Respondents opting for web browser do so owing to their
practice of using it on computers and their concern about apps utilizing a lot of memory space. This is an area

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
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of concern for the application developers. As observed in the results an over whelming percentage amongst
Gen Y have more than 10 apps on their mobile phones, an indication of their inclination for adapting new
technology as documented in literature review. In this research, it was observed that Gen Y updates the
mobile applications on a monthly basis, reflecting the huge opportunity which lies in the mobile application
development market.
Hypothesis 2: To test the Gen Y readiness for the readiness for paid app the following hypothesis were
formed:
Ho: Gen Y is not ready to pay for mobile applications
H1: Gen Y is ready to pay for mobile applications
Statistical analysis suggested that the respondents would prefer only the free applications. Hence, either the
application developers can comply by the target audience opinion or create a strong perceived value for the
applications they develop. At the same time this value should be strongly communicated through select media
vehicles. The least inclination towards paid apps is a challenge for the high end OS users like Apple to
overcome as their phones mostly offer paid apps.
Hypothesis 3: To test if Gen Y loses interest in mobile applications owing to in app advertising, the below
hypothesis were formed:
Ho: Gen Y loses interest in mobile applications owing to in app advertising
H1: Gen Y does not lose interest in mobile applications owing to in app advertising
The statistical analysis concluded that in –app advertising led to a decrease in their interest towards a certain
application. This is a conundrum for the application developers as they have to find financial gain from the
application. It has been observed that most of the in-app advertising is banner ads. The advertisers can create
more interesting and innovative advertising not interfering in the application, still drawing attention. Still
further, advertisers can create innovative apps around their brands, thus creating consumer engagement.
Friends and Family were found to be the source for the youth for getting information on mobile applications.
This was followed by media. In the current scenario we are seeing many applications being advertised in
Indian Media. We chat and Line is the examples. We chat has also brought on board celebrities like Pariniti
Chopra and Varun Dhavan, who are youth icons. As observed in the results, this strategy used by application
developers will surely give returns as the app becomes more famous owing to publicity on media vehicles like
TV. Radio is a youth led medium and hence apps should also explore this opportunity.

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
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Frequencies were run to analyze the most preferred application types amongst the Gen Y. The results were as
follows:
The most preferred applications were weather, utility apps (bill payments etc.), productivity apps,
entertainment apps, search tool apps, games apps, GPS app, news app, social networking app in that order.
This leads us to infer that respondents viewed mobile applications as a tool to ease their life. This notion is
reflected in the fact that the first 3 preferred applications are related not to fun but to chores of life. This gives
tremendous scope to developers as they can find out day to day activities of public and develop an app around
it. It is also a strong indication to service led organizations that are yet to give customers an app for utilizing
their service. The researchers gave an open ended question to the respondents to share the types of
applications they want to see more i.e. need more. The observation led to the conclusion that respondents are
in need of more of travel and shopping related apps. This opens a huge opportunity for the corporate retailers
who do not have access to customers across a mega city. By creating a customized app, they could reach out
to these new potential customers.
6. Managerial Implications
The findings indicate that application developers need to concentrate on applications which are related to
easing the user’s life or adding value in terms of information up gradation. Large amount of monies are spent
on applications and some of the apps never see daylight. Also advertisers can decide to spend money basis the
utility related apps rather than social media / entertainment apps. Application developers can continue using
mass media for creating awareness for an application as the research results confirm to this.
7. Scope Of Future Research And Limitations
This research was done in Bangalore city only. Future research in this area can be done on the all India basis.
Researchers can also conduct a gender wise research for preference of mobile applications, which is not
studied in the current research. Further research can also be done to analyze what are the technical aspects
which attract users towards an application.
8. References
Anckar, B., D’Incau, D., 2002. Value creation in mobile commerce: findings from a consumer survey. Journal of
Information Technology Theory and Application. 4 (1), 43-64.
Freestone O., Mitchell, V. W., 2004. Generation Y attitudes towards E-ethics and Internetrelated misbehaviours. Journal
of Business Ethics. 54 (2), 21-8.

Vol. 2 | No. 3 April | 2014 ISSN 2348-0947
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Gupta, M, P, Sahu, G, P, and Gauri, S, (2005), Assessing Impact of mobile communications on organisations: A
Flexibility Analysis, Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, 6:3/4, pp, 11
Greengard, S. (2010). The Pew Report on Mobile Apps. Communications of the ACM, 51(11), 17. Retrieved from
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/M/mobile_application.html
Gartner (2013). Gartner Says India’s Mobile Services Market To Reach Rs.1.2 Trillion In 2013. Retrieved April 22,
2013, from http://www.gartner.com/ newsroom/id/2442116
Kofman, B., &Eckler, K. (2005). They are your future: Attracting and retaining Generation Y. Canadian Human
Reporter , 18(8), 7
Lobo, A, (2011), 'The Great Indian Mobile App', Accessed from http://articles,economictimes,indiatimes,com/2011-08-
19/news/29905434_l_mobile-apps-app-store-informate-mobile-,intelligence
Okazaki, S., 2005. Mobile advertising adoption by multinationals - Senior executives’ initial responses. Internet
Research 15 (2) 160-180.
Rasheed, H( 2012), 'Innovation Strategy', iUniverse Publishing, NY, pp. 188.
Scmitt, J., Hollick, M., Roos, C. and Steinmetz, R. (2008), Adapting the user context in real time: Tailoring online
machine learning algorithms to ambient computing. Springer Science+Business Media (Published Online), October
2008.
Yang, K. C. C., 2005. Exploring factors affecting the adoption of mobile commerce in Singapore. Telematics and
Informatics. 22, 257-277

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