Tablets fuel rise of the four-screen household
Almost one-quarter of the British population has access to four screens at home, a 6% rise over six months, according to Kantar Media’s futurePROOF study.
23% of UK households have access to a TV, computer, smartphone and tablet, found Kantar, and seven in ten consumers with access to a tablet said these devices are shared by two or more adults in the household.
The study found that consumers use tablets more often at home than when out and about – just 7% of those with a tablet at home say they use it out-of-home on a daily basis, compared with 49% who claim to use the device at home every day.
Unsurprisingly, smartphones are used more so when on the go. However, the research did reveal some more interesting behaviours with 53% of smartphone users claiming to have used their device to search for information on a product or service whilst in-store.
Qualitative findings from futurePROOF explain that mobile phone users prefer to use their device for purchasing ‘low cost’ digital content where it is more convenient to use a phone. Such activities include buying music, train tickets and eBay bidding.
The study also found that demand for content such as catch-up TV is higher on tablets than smartphones. 26% of tablet users say they watched on demand TV programmes or films on their device in the month, compared to only 8% on their mobile phones.
Recent figures from the BBC iPlayer report for March demonstrate the rise of the tablet, revealing that for the first time ever, there were more requests for BBC iPlayer content via a tablet than a mobile.
Trevor Vagg, Director at Kantar Media Custom, said that the findings have “exciting” implications for both advertisers and media owners.
“With the proliferation of multi-screen households and the explosive growth in tablets at home, which has doubled from 16% of the GB population just six months ago to 32% today, the industry has the opportunity to reach and engage with audiences across multiple platforms,” he said.
“As consumers adapt their choice of device used to suit the occasion, the challenge (and opportunity) for media owners and advertisers will be to design engaging experiences and impactful advertising which responds to this.”