Consumers are always on the hunt for the best entertainment, especially when they spend hours traveling from city to city. To assess in-car engagement, our 2017 Consumer Roadtrip Survey asked travelers exactly how they pass the time on the road.
From reading and watching the scenery, to eating and listening to the radio, passengers have a variety of activities competing for their attention during long stints on the highway. Looking at the results, we chose to take a deeper look at three popular answers among respondents: using social media, talking to others in the car, and playing games on a phone or tablet.
Would consumers rather use social media or chat with others in the car? Apparently face-to-face social interactions still rank supreme. According to the survey, everyone showed more interest in talking to others in the car than using social media to pass the time. The 6% gap between these two options for Centennials grew to a high of 44% as age increased.
Looking at playing games versus talking in the car, Centennials (56%) and Trailing Millennials (47%) prefer to play games on their phone or tablet instead of joining in on conversation. As age increases, interest in real-life exchanges grows and the urge to play games decreases. So what does this mean? The mobile gaming industry is doing a great job in attracting and engaging young users, but they need to step it up if they’re looking for a larger audience.
Putting gaming and social media head-to-head sees gaming come out on top across every age group. Centennials (56%) expressed interest in playing games on their phone or tablet and nearly half of Millennials showed the same preference. When we isolated social media, younger users stood out as most active, with interest in social apps decreasing with age.
What else did the AdColony Consumer Road Trip Survey reveal? Stay tuned for the next post, which dives deeper into consumer concerns and behavior in regards to travel!
About the Study
The AdColony 2017 Consumer Road Trip Survey asked global consumers a short series of easy-to-answer questions about travel plans, revealing a generous amount regarding traveling concerns and patterns of behavior in a variety of age groups.
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