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Insurance Buying starts On Mobile Devices. 50 Percent Of Insurance Seekers Start On Mobile Devices, Nielsen Study

The latest data released from its “Mobile Path to Purchase” research, Nielsen, xAd and Telmetrics reveals that the mobile device is the starting point in insurance shopping. that's the moment someone builds an intent to research about insurance policies, he/she reaches for the mobile.

The 2013 Mobile Path-to-Purchase study was based on online survey data (2,000 respondents) and behavioral observation from “Nielsen’s Smartphone Analytics Panel of 6,000 Apple and Android users.” The broader study looked at mobile activities and purchase behavior in a range of vertical markets. This can be bought by paying money.

The insurance markets covered in this data included health insurance, auto insurance and homeowners insurance (US only). The study found that 40 percent of conversions (final purchase) happened over the phone, which was offline. The remaining took place at local insurance agent offices, on tablets or PCs.

On an average insurance purchase decisions were made after at least a month of consumer research involving multiple devices. The research devices included mobiles, tablets, laptops and PCs.

Tablets (and smartphones) are found to be the device of choice in the insurance research process — largely in the home as PC substitutes or supplements.

Very few insurance-related conversions happened as e-commerce transactions on smartphones. Yet smartphones were a critical element in the consumer research process.

According to the study 40 percent of insurance research time was spent on mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) and 25 percent of study participants used mobile devices exclusively in their research. Half of insurance buyers began their research on mobile devices as well.

NOTE: Each vertical studied in research shows slightly different usage patterns. The insurance vertical particularly saw more devices for research than others.

What the Study Tells:

Firstly, the research findings show that people are using their mobile devices to research things, more than any time in the past.

Secondly, the advertisers, showing insurance ads on TVs and in public places are motivating people to research their insurance buying on the spot. Indirectly this also means that Insurance providers are providing realising the importance of mobile platforms and reaching out to people with decision data on these mobile platforms.

Tablets may be too big to carry outside, but they are slowly replacing the humble PC and not so humble laptop, when it comes to researching content. This in a way proves the status of tablets as content consumption devices. You can't type easily on a tablet, but you can read stuff.

The conversions are still taking place on conventional devices like PCs or local Insurance agent, as there may still be some security concerns in the minds of the insurance buyers. this also points to rather tedious Insurance buying process, that can be completed at the agent's PC, with his help.

Over all, the best bet for marketers is to better inform the prospective buyers, so that they can reach the buying stage. Thus, marketers neglecting mobile (organic and ads) are potentially missing out on leads and opportunities to reinforce their brands and messaging with mobile and mobile-first users. ---------

Insurance Buying , Mobiles , Studies

Insurance Buying starts On Mobile Devices: Study

Anil Singh Wednesday, November 6, 2013

A New Facebook Study suggests that Facebook Use and Sadness are Linked. The more you use Facebook, the more miserable you get.

Facebook Studies -- that's the various studies by researchers on the effect of Facebook on our mental well being are not new. The world's biggest social network, with active users equalling the population of countries like India or China, attracts researchers as much as as it attracts any new internet user.

One of the studies in the past revealed that for Facebook users "the grass is always greener on the other side". That's Facebook users keep silently visiting their real life classmates' and long forgotten friends' Facebook profiles to see what they are doing in life (What they have achieved in personal and professional life); and always return back with a feeling of sadness. As they find their classmates and friends in a better position than them. This resulted the researchers of the said study assume that Facebook makes people sad.

happiness, sadness, Facebook, relationships, research, facebook study, study, facebook studies, studies, social networks

Now, another Facebook study has arrived. This time from the researchers at the University of Michigan.

The study reveals that the increasing use of Facebook among young adults creates an increased lack of well-being.

The Facebook study titled: "Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults." goes a step further with linking Facebook and Happiness. The study suggests that the Facebook and happiness may be virtual opposites.

The Facebook Study Linking Facebook and Happiness:

Here's one of the revelations made by the study,

"The more people used Facebook at one time point, the worse they felt the next time we text-messaged them; the more they used Facebook over two weeks, the more their life satisfaction levels declined over time."

The study that was performed among 82 young adults, thus links Facebook and Happiness inversely. That the more one uses Facebook, the more unhappy he/she becomes.

Here's another insight into Facebook use from the Study,

"On the surface, Facebook provides an invaluable resource for fulfilling the basic human need for social connection. Rather than enhancing well-being, however, these findings suggest that Facebook may undermine it."

Another insight the Facebook Study shares is,

"Facebook is not a place where people, especially young adults come for dating. That's, teh study found no evidence that people turned to Facebook as a pick-me-up."

How closely the Study understands Facebook Use and its Effect on the Facebook user's mental Well being:

To a geek or a person who uses Facebook as part of his profession, the findings of the study may seem far from truth. As he/she spends his entire work time and beyond, with no signs of unhappiness. But there may be some truth in the finding that those who used Facebook for long periods are seeking some sort of relief from the misery in the real life in the first place. This misery may be anything from the lack of social skills to make friends in real life, talk to people in real life, confront people in real life etc.

In addition, although Facebook provides a sort of parallel world to many users, still it's not the real world. In such a scenario, how can one understand many Facebook users simply spending their entire day or substantial duration of it, socialising, liking and sharing on Facebook.

Regarding the portentous suggestion by the study that Facebook makes people unhappy, I've some reservations. I've observed that just like real world, on Facebook as well, Facebook users do get the opportunity to feel happy as well. For instance, they silently visit a profile of some long forgotten friend or class mate and found him.her in not that good position, in personal and professional life. Then the person may feel some consoling feeling.

But overall, if one tries to estimate the happiness and unhappiness, Facebook users derive out of Facebook use, then the balance will majorly tilt towards the gloomy feeling. The reasons are two:

1) Only those people who are professionally and personally content, share that information on their Facebook profiles, and;

2) People often look for those people on Facebook, who they once saw as their competitors and to whom they feel lagging behind now.

The above insight to Facebook use is not insincere. The behaviour wherein Facebook users silently check the profiles of their long disconnected friends; was also seen on orkut, a social network which offers a feature showing who visited an Orkut user's profile. And there, Orkut users sometimes do find long forgotten friend silently visiting, never trying to officially connect.

Regarding, the insight that Facebook is not a place where people find dates. I do agree. You may find Facebook users liking and commenting on Facebook friend's shares, but the comments are seldom like the ones which encourage dating. This is not a researched finding, but most comments are too small, one or two liners to encourage any close interactions.

To conclude, we could have made more concrete views about Facebook and Happiness, if the sample of the study would have been more.

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Facebook , Facebook Study , Orkut , Social Networking , Studies

Facebook Study: Facebook use makes You Sad

Anil Singh Friday, August 16, 2013

So what are the best ways to find love on Facebook?

According to a new study by Facebook, if you want to get into a relationship, then Valentine’s Day and Christmas are the best days to find love.

Facebook learned about this from Facebook Users’ relationship status.

The large-scale study looks at how relationships – as self-reported by Facebook users via status update changes on the social network – are influenced by seasons, holidays and even the days of the week.

How the study was conducted:

Facebook used the U.S. Facebook data from 2010 and 2011, and looked at how different times of the year affect the beginning and ending of relationships.

Facebook data team started tabulating the changes from a non-coupled relationship status, like “Single” or “Divorced,” to a coupled status, like “In a relationship” or “Engaged.” The team then compared that figure against the number of changes in the other direction, from coupled to non-coupled, to calculate the net percentage change.

Revelations:

4% more Facebook users entered into a couple status in December 2011 than left it, a net gain for romance.

On February 14, the Valentine’s Day, there were almost 50 percent more relationships created than breakups.

Christmas Holidays was also a great period for new relationships with 34 percent more relationships than breakups reported on December 25 and 28 percent more on December 24.

Another day which showed a net change towards relationship is the 1st of April. This day saw 20% more relationship initiations than splits. But since the day coincides with April Fool’s Day; hence not surprisingly, many of these appear to be short-lived; with April 2nd getting the distinction of the year’s most extreme day in terms of Singlehood, with 11% more break-ups than new relationships.

Top Days for finding Love:

Valentine’s Day

December 24

December 25

The Best Time to Approach or Mingle:

People on Facebook were more likely to start a relationship after the weekend and more likely to break up with someone towards the end of the week.

The summer months of May through August were not particularly good to mingle. Reported relationships were much lower during these months compared to the rest of the year.

NOTE: Facebook notes that there is a margin of error in its results as many people may choose to hide their relationship status from friends after a breakup rather than changing it.

Facebook’s latest study has once again brings to fore the question, “How much information you should share on Facebook or social networks?”. The fact that Facebook can derive that much secondary information by simply looking at your relationship status; makes many Tech blogs advise users to think twice about what information they share with social networks.

After all, the revelations of the study wouldn’t help all those ‘single but ready to mingle’ Facebook users; as it will help the social network itself – Facebook can help businesses push more stuff towards you, when you mental inclination for them.

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Best Days and Months to Find Love on Facebook , Facebook , Facebook commerce , Studies

Best Days and Months to Find Love on Facebook: Study

Anil Singh Monday, March 26, 2012

Do you wonder why your Android phone battery needed too frequent recharging; something which defeats the claim made in the phone brochure?

Then the culprit may be apps you run — especially if they serve you ads — according to a new study.

The Study and How it's conducted:

A recent research by Microsoft and Purdue University, looked at five of the most popular Android apps: Angry Birds, The New York Times reader, MapQuest, Free Chess and the Android browser.

The study employed a custom-made app called EProf (capable of not only detecting how much power the app was using, but also the energy demands of specific app activities), to test the battery drain of each app on an HTC Passion running Android 2.3 “Gingerbread.”

The test results revealed that the activities related to serving the user ads consume the most power. Of the total power consumed by Angry Birds, for example, a full 45% of it used to track ad-related user data (such as location). For Free Chess, the apps consumes between 65-75% on serving ads, uploading user info and tracking.

The New York Times, which although showed at a better light comepared to Angry birds and Free Chess, still used about 15% of the battery life for ad related tracking purposes.

As expected, the Android browser's power consumption varied depending on the sites visited, but the amount of power consumed to track the user averaged out to 16%.

In addition to tracking, there are significant additional drains on the battery because of inefficient coding in ad modules. The research found that many ad-related functions create a “3G tail” — that is, a period where the ad is still using the phone's power-intensive 3G connection when it doesn't need to.

Recommendation:

The study recommends developers can make their apps more power efficient by bundling some separate functions into a single process. The research suggests that some apps could reduce power consumption by up to 65% with better-coded ad modules.

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3G Trail , Android , Android Phone Battery , Android phones , Google Android 2.3 Gingerbread , Microsoft , Purdue University , Studies

Why your Android Phone battery depletes so Quickly: Study

Anil Singh Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A recent research by Stanford university researchers can prove to be a big step in the treatment of anxiety disorders among humans, which unfortunately affect more than 40 million adults in the US alone.

According to the research, Stimulating certain parts of the brain with pulses of light could prevent feelings of anxiety.

How the researchers arrived at the above conclusion:

Scientists successfully pinpointed the neural circuit that controls anxious behavior in mice and were able to manipulate it using light. During tests, the amygdala region of the mice's brains was exposed to specially-structured fiber-optic cables, and depending on which cells were exposed to the light, the mice became less fearful of their surroundings or more inhibited. That is, once the pinpointed regions of a mouse are exposed to a particular frequency of light; it started to behave contrary to its usual behavior, where it usually try to avoid wide-open spaces that could expose it to predators, it started showing more willingness to explore open areas.

The scientists were also able to make the mice more anxious and less daring by deactivating the cells with a different light frequency.

The researchers say that the human brain is structured in a similar way to those of mice, and hence hope the study will help them understand anxiety more than they do now. ---------

Studies

Flashes of Light to Brain can make One Less Anxious

Anil Singh Friday, March 11, 2011

According to the findings of a new survey conducted by market research firm YouGov, the tablet ownership picture for UK looks like this:

47 percent own an Apple iPad

Out of these iPad owners:

* 19 percent have atleast two tablet devices.

* 17 percent said that their iPad is being constantly used by family members.

* 6 percent of iPad owners have bought a second iPad. Out of these, 37 percent revealed that they had bought a second iPad because their partner, or some other family member, kept it engaged all the time. 14 percent admitted they purchased another iPad because their child was using it.

* Nearly a fifth of iPad owners (19 percent) admit they are considering purchasing a second tablet PC, with 71 percent of these admitting this will also be an Apple iPad.

* 1 percent said he/she bought second tablet (of some other brand) to try it.

16 percent of all tablet owners own more than one tablet computers. With 21 percent of these multiple table PC owerners, admiting that the second tablet has been gifted by an iPad user and iPad is monopolizing the previously bought tablet PC. ---------

Apple iPad , Studies , Tablets , Tech24Hours Europe

Tablet ownership picture for UK

Anil Singh Thursday, December 23, 2010

A revelation, which was not a revelation to married people. Still, it feels good to read a common knowledge in insight form. :)

According to a survey by CESI Debt Solutions, 80 Percent of Married People Hide Purchases From Their Spouses. That’s Eight in 10 married people buy things that they don't tell their spouses about.

Hold on, if you are making a mental image of a wife buying something expensive and tucking it in some secret location; then change that image; as men are slightly more likely than women to engage in this soft deception.

What purchases are hidden:

While 43 percent of wives cop to buying clothing or accessories that they don't tell their husbands about, making fashion easily the most common purchase that a spouse of one gender hides from the other. The purchase guys are most likely to keep from their wives is booze, which 21 percent of husbands have done.

Why spouses do that:

According to psychologist Brad Klontz about this prevalent practice,

"A wife is hiding the purchase to avoid conflict or criticism from her partner. The same applies to the husband when he chooses to hide the purchase." ---------

Studies

8 in every 10 Married People Hide Purchases From Their Spouses: Study

Anil Singh Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Have an online business and haven’t optimised your website for mobile phones? Then better tak the step before it’s too late.

As a growing number of people shop via their mobile devices, a recent study shows.

According to recent research from the Mobile Marketing Association,

* 67 per cent of European consumers will be using their phones to aid them with their Christmas shopping this year.

* 25 percent will be searching for gift ideas though the devices.

* 5 percent will be making online purchases on their internet-enabled phones.

Courtesy, an ever-increasing sales of smartphones; this market is likely to continue to grow.In addition, the increasing number of retailers launching mobile shopping sites is also helping to drive this trend. ---------

eCommerce , smartphones , Studies , Tech24Hours Europe

A growing number of people shop via their mobile devices: Study

Anil Singh Monday, December 13, 2010

First what is Black Friday, excerpt from Wikipedia,

Black Friday is the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Especially popular in the United States, the event is spreading to other nations such as Canada and Australia. On this day, many retailers open very early, often at 4 a.m., or earlier, and offer promotional sales to kick off the shopping season. Black Friday is not actually a holiday, but many employers give their employees the day off, increasing the number of potential shoppers. It has routinely been the busiest shopping day of the year since 2005, although news reports, which at that time were inaccurate,have described it as the busiest shopping day of the year for a much longer period of time.

The day's name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving.

This year Online spending rose much more than expected on Black Friday, should the trend continue, holiday 2010 sales may be stronger than expected, especially if e-commerce (online purchase) is a proxy for overall retail activity.

Comscore, the online research firm, had expected online sales to rise 12% this year. However, According to Coremetrics third annual Black Friday Benchmark Report, quoted here, “Online sales were up a healthy 15.9 percent, with consumers pushing the average order value (AOV) up from $170.19 to $190.80 for an increase of 12.1 percent.

Trends that are clearly seen in the recent report:

1) Luxury Goods have come back to favor. Jewelry retailers reported a 17.6 percent increase in sales.Affluent shoppers appear very willing to spend money.

2) Consumers are not wandering unnecessarily , they know what they want and where to get it. People are viewing 18.0 percent fewer products on sites than last year.

3) Shopping via Social networks or Social Shopping finding traction: Consumers appear increasingly interested about their favorite brands’ social presence (like a fan page on Facebook), and are turning to brands’ networks or communities on social sites for information about deals and inventory levels. Though the percentage of visitors arriving from social network sites is fairly small when compared to all online visitors—nearly 1 percent—it is gaining momentum, with Facebook dominating the space.

4) Facebook is changing the face of e-commerce. The social networking giant now carries 25 percent of all online display ad space. Owing to its low cost ads and 500 million plus user base, Facebook now appears to be on its way to becoming a major influence in the direct recommendation of the purchase of goods/services for the holidays as Facebook members are seen point out retail favorites to one another.

Shop well ! ---------

eCommerce , Online Retail , Social Networking , Studies

Amidst rising Facebook influence, Black Friday Online Spending Up 16%

Anil Singh Sunday, November 28, 2010

The book, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus, tells how the two genders react and how they behave while entangled in a same problem. To summarize, the book tells that they react and behave very differently. Like, if a male driver gets loses his way; one thing he hates most is the person sitting in the next seat giving him direction. His way of tackling the situation is to try to find the solution himself, taking clueless circles, checking out a map or GPRS are among his strategy.

On the contrary, when a woman finds herself in a similar situation; first thing she will do is to immediately ask for direction or ask for help to the person sitting besides.

A recent study by a British car Insurance company has validated the Book’s insights (even if some among us will call the study self serving, for obvious reasons).

The study reveals that an average man spends 276 miles in a year, driving in circles (can call clueless driving), avoiding asking for directions, and cursing the GPS while lost on the road. Adding that, 26 percent of lost male drivers will wait more than 30 minutes before pulling over to ask for directions and 12 percent don’t ask at all.

No surprise, the study finds, female drivers are more likely than men to pull over immediately to ask for directions. Although, Women also drive 256 miles per year while lost; that may be because of totally different reasons – Like finding someone reliable to ask for directions, or finding some safe spot to pull over.

Take this in a non-reformative spirit; as no matter how much one tries “Men remain Martians and Women the Venetians”. ---------

Studies

Lost Miles an Average Driver covers in a Year

Anil Singh Wednesday, November 3, 2010

According to a study (conducted from March through July 2010) by Sunnyvale consumer electronics website Retrevo.com,

shows that the kind of gadgets a person uses tells something about him/her.

Below are the key revelations of the study:

1) Android owners tend to be more technically minded and more likely to cut the cord to their home phones.

2) Android owners don't care as much about recycling gadgets.

3) Android owners tend not to read books.

4) Owners of iPhones, meanwhile, are younger than other smart-phone owners and are early adopters of activities like making online purchases and watching TV online, but they're more likely to still rent movies from Blockbuster and probably don't know what kind of TV they own.

For those who like to see numbers everywhere:

1) 31 percent of Android owners don't have landlines, compared with 23 percent of iPhone and BlackBerry owners.

2) 23 percent of iPhone owners are more likely to rent movies at Blockbuster, while 22 percent are more likely not to know what type of TV they have.

3) BlackBerry owners were 21 percent more likely than Android owners to still have an old TV with a picture tube as their main set and get their music from the radio.

Before concluding, let I share with you a Cartoon, published some years ago in Reader's Digest. In the cartoon, a squirrel is shown on a hospital bed; saying to the doctor: When I think of the popular proverb, "you are what you eat"; I realized that I'm 'Nuts'. ---------

Studies

4 things your gadgets tell about you

Anil Singh Sunday, September 26, 2010

According to a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, which offers some insights on the teen culture and communication, texting has risen dramatically even since 2008, eclipsing cell phone calls, instant messaging, social networks -- and talking face-to-face. This surge the study attributes to the fact that unlike phone calls, text messaging can be quietly carried out under the noses of parents, teachers or other authority figures and, unlike computers, it can be done almost anywhere.

The findings of the study are:

 75 percent of teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17 now own cellphones

 A third of U.S. teenagers with cellphones send more than 100 texts a day

 Girls typically send or receive three times more number of text messages per day compared to boys. Girls send or receive 80 text messages per day and boys, 30 per day.

 87 percent of those who text said that they sleep with, or next to, their phone.

 While boys don't typically use punctuation, for girls such nuances are critical. This can be attributed to girls’ attempt to avoid misunderstandings.

 Percentage of teens with cellphones who sent at least one text message a day increased from 38 percent in 2008 to 54 percent in September 2009.

 38 percent of teens said they daily make at least one cell phone call, 30 percent said they talk on a landline phone and 24 percent said they used instant messaging

The study underline that the texting culture among teens has reached such a culminating point where now teens expect other teens to respond to text messaging and to be available; and texting has become a part of their lives . ---------

Studies

Popularity of texting among US teens

Anil Singh Wednesday, April 21, 2010

According to Gartner’s latest research, India and China Remain Undisputed Leaders as top locations for Offshore IT and BPO Services in Asia Pacific in 2010; But Considerable Investments in Offshore Services has resulted in other Countries Strengthening Their Positions.

The top ten locations include mature environments that offer limited cost benefits; and emerging countries with a variety of challenges, but attractive costs or cost benefits.

Top 10 Locations for Offshore IT and BPO Services in Asia Pacific in 2010:

--India and China (undisputed leaders with proven track records, emerging economies with a variety of challenges, but attractive costs or cost benefits)

--Australia, New Zealand and Singapore (mature environments that offer limited cost benefits)

--Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam (emerging economies with a variety of challenges, but attractive costs or cost benefits) ---------

Studies

Top 10 Locations for Offshore IT and BPO Services in Asia Pacific in 2010

Anil Singh Saturday, April 3, 2010

By A Bisht

To majority of shoppers Black Friday means buying stuff for themselves than for others.

According to a NPD Group study:

About 50 percent of sales during the most recent Black Friday went toward items not intended as gifts. In addition, 64 percent of shoppers revealed that they expect to buy items for themselves during the holiday season.

This season an average shopper is spending over $100 on stuffs for himself during this year's shopping binge, called "selfing,". ---------

Studies

Share of gifts in Black Friday shopping this season

Anil Singh Saturday, December 19, 2009

By A Bisht

According to a report published by the University of California, San Diego,quoted here, an average American consumes an average of 34 gigabytes of data -- and 100,000 printed or spoken words -- every day, across all forms of media.

The media wise division of the data consumption is as under:

TV___________________________45 percent

Computers/the web_____________27 percent

Radio________________________11 percent

Printed sources________________ 9 percent

Telephone, computer games, movies, and recorded music make up for the remaining. ---------

Studies

Information an average American consumes in a day

Anil Singh

By A Bisht

According to a recent survey by PMN and Pace University survey, although Gen Y spends considerable time on social networks, it’s the email and texting which they would least give up for one week.

When asked “what they would least like to give up for one week” the Gen Y responded this way:

 Email and texting(text messaging)____________26 percent
 Watching TV_____________________________15 percent
 Talking on phone__________________________11 percent
 Visiting social networks_____________________9 percent
 Reading magazines_________________________7 percent
 Visiting Non social network sites_____________ 6 percent

Thus for Gen Y while Email and texting are most essential activities; Visiting Non social network sites is least essential one. ---------

Studies

Email and texting most indispensable for Gen Y

Anil Singh Saturday, November 14, 2009

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