1. Branded Apps Are Powerful Advertising
Tools, According to Study
Posted on December 11, 2011
New research published in the Journal of Interactive Marketing indicates that what many
marketers have suspected for a while is true: The humble mobile app may be one of the most
effective marketing tools ever created. According to the study, apps generate consumer interest
in products and generate positive feelings toward their sponsors. All apps were effective, but
apps that provided information or tools were most likely to resonate with users and establish
connections.
According to Robert F. Potter, coauthor of the study, “We found a double benefit. First, the app
increases the general interest in the product category that you’re trying to sell, and then the app
also improves the attitude that you have toward the sponsoring brand … and the purchase
intention that you have towards the product — your product.”
Historically, advertisers have reached out to consumers through one-way media advertisements
or press releases that required customers to passively receive the message. Apps, on the other
hand, provide perceived value to the user and require interaction between the consumer and the
marketer. The research also indicates that apps may allow marketers to target a broader audience
than they could expect to reach with traditional marketing methods.
The researchers believe that the interactive nature of apps and the fact that users choose to
download the ones that they find appealing means that consumers process the messages of app
sponsors at a deeper level than they process traditional ads or even websites.
According to Potter, “You have a more personal connection with your mobile device than you
will with a website. One benefit of the mobile app is that you go, you get it and you download
the app. It’s now yours. It may be a deeper level of interactivity.”
At one time, an advertiser who wanted to reach virtually everyone in the country had only to buy
air time on the “big three” networks and place a full-page ad in a few major newspapers.
Dramatic shifts in consumer habits mean that those days are long gone. On any given evening,
the residents of even one small town may be accessing hundreds of different media offerings.
The new study suggests that apps may represent a way to adjust to the change in consumer
behavior.
To gather information on the effects of apps on consumers, researchers studied the responses of
225 people aged 18-74 who were exposed to a variety of branded apps. Half the apps chosen
were geared towards a female demographic and half were aimed at a male demographic.
Researchers asked questions to determine the effect of the apps on participants’ product interest

2. and attitude towards the brand. In addition, the researchers measured some biological indicators
of emotional state, such as heart rate.
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Although participants reported no difference in their responses toward different types of apps,
informational apps evoked a stronger physical response than easier-to-develop game-playing
apps or apps that allow users to immerse themselves in an experience, such as test-driving a car.
“We found through the physiology measures that when you have an app that provides people
with information that it is something they internalize and personalize more than the external-
based focus of the game-based app,” said Potter. “You’ve invited the brand into your life and
onto your phone. If it’s an informational app, you’re inviting that brand even deeper in, because
now you’re thinking about what’s in your life and apply it to the things that the apps are
presenting you with. With the experiential app, things are still kept at a distance; you’re still
experiencing it on your phone and not in your life.”
The researchers were surprised to discover that apps developed with one demographic group in
mind were able to engage the interest of consumers outside the targeted demographic. Potter
suggested that the findings might represent a new way for companies to broaden their markets.
“If you market apps to people who may have never heard of your product or who aren’t familiar
with the product category, then our research shows that if you can get them to download the app
then you may be able to introduce a whole new audience to your product.”