Mobile Users Prefer Coupons to Checkins [REPORT] (Source: Mashable)

As mobile users become more acclimated to sharing their whereabouts via mobile devices, findings from JiWire's Mobile Audience Insights Report prove that they're also becoming more open to receiving ads and mobile coupons relevant to where they are.

In fact, more than 50% of respondents indicated that they wanted to receive location-specific advertising, with mobile coupons a more appealing incentive than checkins.

In the report, mobile media company JiWire examines market trends around audience data over public Wi-Fi during the second quarter of 2010. The survey portion of the study focused on location-based mobile services and queried respondents on their location-sharing habits and attitudes.

Men showed more interest in sharing their location than women, and those in the 25-34 and 35-44 age categories indicated more openness than younger and older age groups. Responses also showed that mobile users are nearly as likely to use location-based services in their homes as they are while on the go.

JiWire also looked at the most popular LBS applications, and the functionalities and features that are most appealing to users. GPS and applications such as Google Maps ranked highest. Google, Yelp, Facebook and Foursquare round out the top five in sequential order. Interestingly enough, coupons and discounts placed second only to maps, and out-ranked reviews, status updates and checkins when users ranked the most valuable features of location-based applications.

The data is extremely telling and could point to a future where discount-oriented, location-sharing apps à la Shopkick make a major impact on mainstream mobile shopping behaviors. With Facebook set to make a big location announcement later today, it's also interesting to note that in the eyes of mobile users, the behemoth social network already out ranks Foursquare in location utility.

The full report is available as a free PDF and includes interesting data on the increase in free public Wi-Fi and the most popular Wi-Fi mobile devices.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Thomas_EyeDesign

More About: checkins, foursquare, geolocation, jiwire, location based advertising, location sharing, Mobile 2.0, mobile coupons, study

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