The Effect of Tablets On Content Consumption
A Guide to FTI’s 2011 Mobile Device and Digital Content Consumption Survey
Media consumption has been changing rapidly over the past few years and the emergence of smartphones and tablets has been an important accelerant for even faster change. FTI’s recently completed Mobile Device & Digital Media Survey sought to gain further insight into how content is consumed online among US and UK respondents, including how tablet usage affects digital media engagement and respondents’ willingness to pay for content.
The survey included over 1,500 respondents in the US and UK who used at least one of the following devices: tablet, smartphone, laptop, desktop or e-reader. This report focuses mainly on US findings.
The study highlights critical indicative trends impacting media companies across the newspaper, magazine, television, motion picture and music sectors. While there are other studies on respondents’ digital engagement, FTI’s study uniquely focuses on differences in consumption patterns among tablet and non-tablet users and the effect on traditional media. These findings point to several key considerations for the digital media strategies of content publishers and producers from around the globe.
We sought to determine the following:
- When, where and how often individuals use mobile devices.
- What types of media individuals are accessing on their mobile devices, and their willingness to pay for that content.
- What differences there are in usage by age and income groups, country, and types of devices.
- How respondents' usage and willingness to pay for content is different when using ‘apps’ (such as on smartphones and tablets) vs. web-browsing (such as on laptops), or traditional (physical) media.
Part I of this white paper presents a summary of our survey findings. Part II provides a detailed analysis by media segment. The reader may wish to skip to segments of interest.
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Methodology – The data was collected through an online survey conducted between May 24, 2011 and June 2, 2011. A total of 1,541 individuals responded to the survey (1,027 in the US and 514 in the UK). While the tablet market is still emerging, and our sample of 1,500 respondents is not large enough to be conclusive, the study does highlight important trends in consumer behavior and attitudes.