Stunning Revelation: Teens Don’t Like Mobile Ads

ComScore’s latest research reveals that while U.S. kids ages 12-17 are cell phone-savvy, they are not particularly receptive to mobile ads, according to MediaPost. Plus, it turns out that the relative simplicity of their phones, and the fact that nearly 70% of teens need their parents to pay the bill and approve buying extras, makes them poor campaign targets, the report said.

“Over 68% of teens are on a plan where another family member is responsible for the bill,” comScore marketing analyst Jen Wu said in the article. “So while they may want to download games and ringtones, or send picture messages, they often need to ask for permission first.”

Plus, they understand the dangers of the wide-open Internet and are apt to recognize messages from unwanted parties. “Teens have been trained so well by their parents to be wary about online ads, spam and people asking for their info on the PC,” Wu continued. “So that may be contributing to why they seem less receptive to mobile advertising than one would expect. Texting is a short, easy form of communication for them, but it would be disjointed for them to get an ad while they’re texting back and forth with their friends.”

(Image credit: Clipart.com)

Join Baratunde Thurston (left), The Onion’s Director of Digital and author of How to Be Black, for an entertaining look at creative social media campaigns in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. Other speakers include Morin Oluwole (Facebook), Tim Devane (bitly), and SocialTimes' writer Devon Glenn.   Register now.