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xAD Study Reveals Mobile Behavior for Travel, Automotive Industries

The ‘Mobile Path-to-Purchase’ research study revealed that most travelers who conduct mobile searches intend to complete the transaction the same day.

by Staff
August 17, 2012
1 min to read


According to the results of xAD’s “Mobile Path-to-Purchase” research study released Aug. 14, local relevance and decision timing are key influences in mobile purchase behavior for the travel and automotive industries.

The study showed that in the travel category, 33% of mobile searchers plan to complete their transaction within the same day. Also, most mobile web or app search activities are research based and do not always result in immediate buying decisions.

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Results for the automotive category were a mix of both quick conversions and researcher based activity, as 49% of searchers intend to complete the transaction the same day.

Nielsen conducted the online survey of more than 1,500 smartphone and tablet users who reported that they had engaged in a restaurant, travel or automotive-related mobile activity in the past 30 days. The information was combined with data from Nielsen’s Smartphone Analytics Panel of 3,000 iPhone and 3,000 Android users to identify the mobile consumer journey.

More details of the study can be found at mobilepathtopurchase.com.

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