Young & Upscale Consumers Instrumental To Growth Of Wireless Internet.

A report based upon a 30-nation study of established and emerging mobile markets, conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres posits that the growth of the burgeoning mobile Internet can be fueled by marketers who meet the current information needs of target consumers and create demand for new types of information via this medium.

The report, “Wireless and Internet Technology Adoption by Consumers Around the World,” reveals that consumers under age 25, and upscale consumers will drive demand for 3G, much as these two groups drove the overall mobile phone market. The interest of the youth segment is particularly strong in Western Europe and the United States.

Among consumers who are interested in a mobile Internet, the uses of greatest interest are communication and information, followed by financial applications of m-payments, m-banking and m-trading. There also appear to be many niche applications, such as chat rooms, forums, etc.

“Any company that wants to maximize the impact of 3G must rigorously follow a market focussed, consumer-centric approach,” said Chandra Chaterji, Senior Vice President of Taylor Nelson Sofres Global Information Technology Practice. “The key question should be ‘How can we leverage our brand to market a bundle of products or services employing mobile networks?’”

The report concludes that in an increasingly segmented market, the winners will be those who understand consumer needs in terms of mobility and meet these needs by delivering branded products and services. The report hypothesizes that marketers can deliver these branded offerings by forming strategic alliances with businesses that provide networks, content, hardware and/or software. For those marketers whose core competencies are in consumer insights, new-product development and branding, the potential is huge and virtually untapped.

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