Are You Developing a Recruitment App? You May Want to Wait.

Have you taken that sales call yet from someone wanting to develop an iPad, iPhone, or Android recruiting app for you? You might want to wait.

Unless you have a strategy to enter your prospective students' "circle of app trust", you may want to hold off on that marketing initiative.

New research from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project indicates that 68% of smartphone owners open five or fewer apps per week. According to Pew estimates, approximately 42% of U.S. adults have phones with apps. "The novelty wears off," says Pew researcher Kristen Purcell.

While faster data networks and fancier phones have steered more Americans to embrace apps software, the appeal of instantly downloading the latest apps loses its luster quickly, according to Roger Yu at USA Today.

But the ones with staying power really do stick. Android phone users spend about 90 minutes a day on their phone, about two-thirds of that on apps, says Monica Bannan of media research firm Nielsen. "We see a very familiar behavior with (iPhone users)."

Tricked-Out Smartphones ... or Not

I was speaking with an industry colleague late last year on the topic of smartphone usage among high school and college students. At DemandEngine, we've recently completed some soon-to-be released research on how high school students and adult learners participate online and through mobile devices. We were discussing some of the initial findings.

While the perceptions is that students are walking around campus with the latest tricked-out smartphone or tablet, this may not be the case. According to my colleague, we may think that the student body owns an iPad and a smart phone, but in reality they are walking around with the cheapest phone with texting capability.

 

High School Students Use Laptops for Online Channel Access ...

At DemandEngine, we found that 66% of high school student respondents use a smartphone phone for texting while a higher percentage access other common online channels using laptops and desktops.

... And the Laptop is the Device of Choice for Adult Learners

We found similar results for adult learners (ages 22-50) with laptops playing a more dominant role.

There is no denying the role that mobile devices will play now and in the future in higher education. Look for no better example than what is happening in the college textbook industry today.

But realize that technology initiatives have what Gartner Research calls the "over-enthusiasm" or hype cycle. Your challenge is to rationalize technology choices in light of your goals and resources.

 

 

Comments

[Rob Burton]

Hi on Feb 1st you posted this:

we've recently completed some soon-to-be released research on how high school students and adult learners participate online and through mobile devices.

Im the market research manager at Kingston University in the UK i'd be interested to see the results of the research if possible as we're doing something similar here.

Thanks

Rob

Dr. Rob Burton

[Tim Copeland]

Hi Rob,
Thanks for your note. You can pick up a copy of our adult learner communications research at http://www.demandengine.com/research/college-marketing-preferences-adult-learners.php.

The high school version is being released next week at HobsonsU in Nashville, TN. Check back on our website next week.

Tim

[Trident University]

Looks like if a college did produce an app it will only capture a small set of students. There is also the issue of creating a recruitment app that has appeal to students; most would rather download a Facebook or Instagram app.