Japan is not as mobile-centric as we think: Appier

The Cross Screen User Behaviour Report for Japan for the second half of 2015 shows that there are three reachable mobile phones for every PC, and 21 for every tablet. But that doesn’t mean marketers should channel all their energy into mobile—yet.

Appier notes that PCs and tablets generate a disproportionate amount of usage. PCs are used as much as smartphones on weekdays, and 90 percent as much on weekends. Individual PCs are used nearly 2.5 times as much as individual smartphones. Tablets meanwhile, generate 10 percent more average web usage than smartphones on weekdays, and a further 9 percent more on weekends.

Caroline Hsu, chief marketing officer for Appier, said the data shows that it would be a mistake to dismiss these devices and bet everything on mobile. “What this means is that marketers need to take a cross-screen approach,” she said. “Mobile first doesn’t mean mobile only.”

Japan is different to the rest of Asia in that women are 20 percent more active PC web browsers than men. They are also 20 percent more active on smartphones and 40 percent more active on tablets. Smartphone usage overall peaks at lunchtimes (12 pm to 1 pm) and again at 11 pm.

The study highlights that many people (one in three) interact differently with advertising depending on the screen, as is the case across Asia. Notably in Japan though, phones and tablets with larger screens lead to higher clickthrough rates (5 percent and 25 percent, respectively).

But “screen size is only one of the factors impacting behaviour”, Hsu said. She noted Japanese people interact with all screens in “interconnected ways” and that gender and timing all influence behaviour. With this in mind, it’s important to consider how different ad formats and messages can trigger different responses, she said.

Appier released its Asia-Pacific-wide Cross Screen study in April.