Our last post on QR Codes and Mobile Phones Part 1: research, statistics and business opportunities, showed the significant increase in the number of people that have online access via their smartphone and how businesses can capitalize on this using QR Code technology. The next installment focuses more on the demographics behind who uses this interactive technology and the impact this will have on companies that decide to take the opportunity to communicate with their consumers via QR Codes.
70 per cent of people would be more likely to remember an advertisement with a QR Code
MGH, a Maryland based marketing company conducted an online survey of 415 smart phone users on the Vision Critical Springboard America Panel survey in February 2011 to study the trends in QR Code usage. About the chosen sample: 49 per cent were men whereas 51 per cent were women; 52 per cent were between 35-54, 14 per cent were over 55 and 34 per cent were between 18-34. Educational level, 54 per cent were University level, 35 per cent College/BA and 35 percent High School. 10 per cent earned less than $25k per month, 21 per cent between 25-50k and 69 per cent over 50k per month. Here are a few interesting facts from their findings:
QR Codes are Increasing in Popularity
- 70 per cent said would be interested in scanning a code whether for the first time or again. According to a study Burson-Marsteller and Proof Research released in December 2010, 22 per cent of the Fortune 50 companies are using QR Codes.
Their Visibility is Increasing
- 65 per cent said they had seen QR Codes, 28 per cent had not whereas 7 per cent said they did not know.
- Most consumers like to access product information through QR Codes
Emphasis on Commercial Value
- Whether it is a coupon offering major price concessions, a winnable sweepstake or an attractive purchase, the emphasis is on scanning QR Codes to gain something and there are many ideas online that can help in explaining how you can create QR Codes to promote your product or service.
- 87 per cent of the respondents said they would like to use the QR Code for Coupons or deals, 64 per cent to enter a sweepstake, 63 per cent for additional information, 60 per cent to make a purchase, 53 per cent to receive more information, 36 per cent to access more videos and 31 per cent to interact with social media properties.
Clear Link between QR Codes and advertising
- [UPDATED Sep. 2011] 70 per cent would be more likely to remember an advertisement with a QR Code. QR Codes are an attractive way to trumpet your product (MGH Inc, February 2011)
So what can you gather from this research?
Combine all of the above trends and you can make a number of conclusions: the market for QR Codes as business applications on the internet is increasing by the day. While the number of mobile phone users has spiraled out of control, the range and diversity of business applications on the web and smart phones needs to be enhanced further. Importantly, awareness about QR Codes and their visibility also needs work. These gaps in statistics suggest untapped markets for businesses to explore.
QR Codes are efficient ways to establish functional connects between
diverse data quantities in the world of information.
In an age when growth has overtaken clarity and streamlining, the more efficient a company will be in representing itself, the greater its visibility and popularity. The aim should be to establish a rapport with consumers who are might be experiencing cognitive overloads from the multitudes of information and technologies around them.
Though the growth of smart technologies has been inspiring, the commensurate growth in streamlining technologies like QR Codes leaves much to be desired. In the aftermath of the continuing information revolution and entropic growth of ICTs, there is now a need to take stock and control the chaos. Technologies like QR Codes are efficient ways to establish functional connects between diverse data quantities in the world of information. Without that, chaos can only lead to greater chaos.
More research also needs to be done on the use and efficacy of QR Codes. Data is sparse and needs to be enhanced. The use of QR Code managements systems such as SQUARE:CODE Exchange can be used to calculate the number of QR Codes generated, the types of media types used to decode them, which media elements produced the best results for which geographic location or advertisement.
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