JiWire Mobile Audience Insights Report: Mobile Advertising Has Measurable Effect on Consumers’ QSR and Casual Dining Choices

SOURCE: JiWire

SAN FRANCISCO — February 13, 2014 — JiWire, the leading location-powered mobile advertising and data platform, today released its quarterly “Mobile Audience Insights Report.” This quarter’s report focuses on the quick service (QSR) and casual dining restaurant industry and examines how mobile is significantly influencing consumers’ path to purchase. One compelling discovery is that mobile devices have emerged as consumers’ method of choice in deciding when and where to eat, try new menu items and read restaurant reviews.

A key advertising objective for restaurant brands is driving consumers into their locations.  To measure the effectiveness of mobile advertising within this vertical, we benchmarked overall Q4 2013 performance using JiWire’s Location Conversion Index™, the industry standard drive-to-location mobile ROI measurement solution. The Q4 2013 report found that consumers exposed to QSR or casual dining-specific ads visited the restaurant 35% more than those who did not see the ad, and that consumers are more likely to respond to ads that feature menu information and special offers.

Additional key findings from the report revealed:

• * Mobile ad campaigns delivered 37% lift in drive-to-location for all client campaigns in the 2H 2013; and 35% lift in visits to QSR and casual dining establishments vs. consumers not exposed to the ads.
• * Consumers chose mobile as their preferred source of information influencing their dining decisions 117%, 2.2x over online resources.
• * 75% of consumers are likely to try a new menu item after seeing a mobile ad.
• * Menu information (33%), special offers (24%) & location (21%) were the most influential ads for driving patrons to restaurants.

“We are seeing first hand how mobile is reshaping the way QSR brands engage with consumers,” said David Staas, president, JiWire. “The great news for QSR brands is that because of mobile, the opportunity to influence consumers during the path-to-purchase cycle and provide a new level of engagement has skyrocketed.”

Consumers Use Mobile Devices to Discover Information on QSRs

JiWire’s research shows the vital role mobile devices play in consumer research and dining behavior throughout the path to purchase:

• * 77% of mobile consumers have visited QSR or casual dining restaurants within the last 60 days.
• * 39% of consumers use mobile apps over other methods to find information on QSR and casual dining establishments.
• * Restaurant review apps are second only to WOM for determining where to eat.
• * 83% of consumers rely on their mobile device for dining decisions while traveling compared to 65% while in their home market.

Purchase Decisions Most Influenced by Menu Information, Coupons & Proximity

Brands are constantly trying to identify the most effective mobile advertising to influence their audience’s purchase decisions, and for QSR the most influential mobile ads include menu information and special offers, which were the primary ad creative executions in Q4. JiWire’s research also revealed:

• * 54% of consumers have tried a new restaurant or menu item as a result of seeing a mobile ad; and 75% claim they’re likely to try a new menu item as a result of seeing a mobile ad.
• * 33% of consumers are influenced by mobile ads with menu information while 24% are influenced by sales or coupons in a mobile ad.
• * Menu options and proximity are the most influential ads for both home market and traveling consumers.

About JiWire’s Mobile Audience Insights Report

JiWire’s Mobile Audience Insights Report highlights recent mobile audience usage trends, offering advertisers invaluable insights that can be applied to their mobile strategies and campaigns. This quarter focused on understanding how mobile impacts consumers’ path-to-purchase behaviors specifically for quick service restaurant (QSR) and casual dining establishments. Research is based on data compiled from a survey of 2,260 randomly selected mobile users, as well as the billions of data points from JiWire’s proprietary Wi-Fi and mobile advertising technology platform.

About JiWire

JiWire is the leading location-powered mobile advertising and data platform. Used by major retailers and marquee brands across verticals, JiWire leverages proprietary historical- and present-location data to engage advertisers’ desired audience across all mobile devices at scale. Its ROI-driven approach and unique data platform leverage both Wi-Fi and mobile location big data to deliver true one-to-one mobile audience targeting at four times higher performance over traditional mobile targeting or geofencing.

With the launch of Location Conversion Index™, JiWire offers marketers the ability to measure the ROI of their mobile spend by providing the actual increase of in-store visits directly attributed to their mobile ad campaign.

JiWire has been recognized for its innovation with various awards. Headquartered in San Francisco, JiWire also has offices in New York City, Chicago and Silicon Valley. Follow us on Twitter (@jiwire) and check out our Facebook page. Learn more at JiWire or Location Conversion Index™ .