Does Device Cost Influence Premium App Usage? Here’s A Comparison of Mid-Range and High-End Users

Bobble AI, an artificial intelligence-powered mobile keyboard platform, has released a study underlining the long-held assumption that users of expensive smartphones are more likely to purchase premium products.

According to Bobble AI study, for too long, the advertising industry has clung to the misconception that owning a high-end smartphone is a prerequisite for engaging with premium products. The latest study shatters this myth, revealing that mid-range smartphone users are the most affluent luxury goods and services consumers, it said.

The study, conducted by Bobble AI’s Market Intelligence division, delved into smartphone users’ actual online behaviour to determine whether such an assumption holds.

Bobble AI’s Market Intelligence division studied user behaviour by segmenting smartphone users into three categories based on device price: high-end (Rs20,000 or more), mid-range (Rs 9,000 to Rs 20,000), and low-end (below Rs 9,000).

The study focused on two key areas: Intent Affinity and Premium App Usage.

By analysing digital footprints from Google searches and chat platforms, they identified users’ aspirations for premium goods and services. They then examined user engagement with premium apps, focusing on four product categories: premium fashion, automobiles, OTT subscriptions, and hospitality, all representing high-end desires and experiences.

Affinity Detected Through Chat and Search Data

The data reveals that more than 60% of the searches and chats for premium products were among mid-range users (63.71%), followed by low-end users (26.41%), surprisingly, the affinity for the premium products was found to be the least among the high-end handset users (9.88%).

The report states that the affinity for all four premium categories was highest among the mid-range handset users. Among the high-end handset users, the affinity was the highest for OTT subscriptions at 11.69%.

Hence, it can be stated with confidence that mid-range handset users have the highest affinity for premium products, strongly contradicting the assumption that high-end handset users would be the ones interested the most in premium products.

App Usage Metrics

Bobble AI also studied the app metrics for the premium apps according to the handset usage.

Open Rate

The Open rate shows the proportion of active users of the premium apps, the metric was found to be the highest for the low-end handset users, reflecting the aspirational engagement, however, the numbers for the mid-range users narrate an interesting story when read with the chat and search data; even though about the same proportion of users are opening the premium apps among the high end and mid-range users, yet a vast majority of the mid-range users are searching for specific products whereas, more than 90% o the high-end users aren’t searching for products but mostly scrolling through the apps.

Average Session Counts per User

The average Session Count per user (ASU) shows the level of engagement the users have with the premium apps. The data shows that the ASU is the highest for the high-end cell phone users, however, the users of mid-range cell phones are a close second and the difference between the high-end users and the mid-range users isn’t significant hence, the behaviour of mid-range users is almost congruent to the behaviour of the high-end users. However, as the report established through the Open rate metric, the mid-range users are the ones who are accessing the apps with a purpose.

Average Session Duration

The study looks at the average duration of time spent on premium apps by the users, the calculation of an overall metric for this aspect would show a “not real” picture as the nature of the categories of Apps under the study are quite different.

The metric shows some interesting results, The “Premium Fashion” category shows that the low-end users have the longest sessions on the Apps, followed by the medium-range users, and the high-end handset users have the shortest sessions. Whereas, the trend gets reversed in the case of OTT subscribers. However, the trends for automobile apps and hospitality apps throw up some interesting findings.

In the case of Automobile Apps, the session duration is almost the same for the high-end and medium-range handset holders, with the low-end handset holders lagging, whereas, in the case of Hospitality Apps, the high-end handset owners are leading the pack, with medium-range and low-end users lagging with almost the same amount of time spent on the apps.

Outlook

The data presented in the report goes a long way in breaking the perception of the relationship between holding an expensive handset and being interested in premium products. The report presents that even though the usage of premium apps is substantial among the owners of high-end mobile handsets, still, the users of medium-range are at the same level of engagement with the premium apps and products.

The report shows that advertisers can leverage Data-Driven insights by utilising AI-powered tools such as Bobble AI to uncover valuable insights into consumer behaviour and preferences.

The report goes on to establish that advertisers can significantly increase their reach and ROI by including mid-range smartphone users in their campaigns, thereby expanding the reach of their campaigns. Moreover, the campaigns can tailor their messaging by understanding mid-range users’ unique aspirations and behaviours to create more effective and targeted messaging.