A study by Adology finds that mobile advertising and branded smartphone applications influence consumers? purchase decisions.

Nearly half (49.2 percent) of home furnishings consumers say mobile applications or advertising influenced their purchase decision. The implication for retailers in this particular space is that they need to have a presence in the mobile advertising and applications arena.

?These retailers may want to consider adding this media type to their marketing mix, as mobile use continues to rise and the market for mobile apps expands,? the Adology Digital Media Influence study says.

Adology is a research firm that focuses on the specific demographic, psychographic, geographic or vertical market segments most likely to be the best customers for specific sectors and what motivates them to buy.

The Digital Media Influence study focuses on mobile marketing in the United States.

Influencing purchase intent 
Consumers who report that mobile applications or marketing influence their purchases are primarily male (54.4 percent), adults ages 25-34 (31.9 percent) and homeowners (63.9 percent).

Almost half of the casual clothing buyers surveyed, or 46.6 percent, say mobile applications or advertising influenced their purchase.

Apparel and accessories retailers need to be using mobile advertising and smartphone applications to keep in touch with customers by sending promotional texts and offering a store-related mobile application that could feature information such as a style guide, store locator and upcoming sales events, according to Adology.

But home furnishings and clothing buyers are not the only shoppers influenced by mobile advertising and applications.

Buyers of personal care services (42.7 percent), vehicles (45.3 percent), home maintenance and repairs (42.7 percent), auto care (42.7 percent), jewelry (44.0 percent), insurance (45.4 percent) and electronics (44.0 percent) are also influenced by this type of mobile marketing.

The study also mentions that direct mail is an important driver of purchase intent.

?Retailers may find success utilizing direct mail and mobile apps or advertising,? the study says. ?One possible strategy is to send out mail pieces that promote the business?s mobile app or text promotion, or allow readers to sign up for direct mail pieces via the text messaging or mobile applications.

?It appears that a healthy mix of online and offline marketing can influence a variety of purchasers,? it says. ?Mobile use continues to increase, and there is a large market for not only new smartphone users, but also for those who upgrade their smartphones.

?Retailers should be utilizing these marketing methods in anticipation of this expected continued growth.?

Media usage
More than half, or 53.7 percent, of consumers influenced by mobile applications or advertising use a smartphone.

IPhone users lead the pack with 14.8 percent, followed by BlackBerry (13.4 percent) and Google Android (9.1 percent). By type of phone, the breakdown is as follows:

Adology said that the reason why iPhone users report the most influence, may be due to the prevalence of Apple?s iTunes, which is considered the leader in mobile application sales.

However, as other mobile app stores gain prominence, it is likely that users of other smartphone types will report increasing influence by mobile marketing.

Approximately 98 percent of recent consumers who report influence from mobile applications or advertising use the Internet.

To reach more readers online, businesses may want to consider broadening the scope of their other online activities, particularly those that are most popular among consumers influenced by mobile apps or advertising.

These activities include checking the news, weather, conducting online banking and shopping. Specifically, Internet activity via smartphones in the past year includes downloading applications, visiting mobile Web sites and watching mobile video.

Among influenced consumers, the most popular social networks are Facebook (used by 73.8 percent) and YouTube (43.3 percent).

?Cross-promotion of both social network profiles and mobile apps or marketing could be a successful way to capture even more consumers? attention,? the Adology study says.