IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ipt/decwpa/201907.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Going Mobile: The Effects of Smartphone Usage on Internet Consumption

Author

Listed:

Abstract

With relatively small screens and limited display, smartphones significantly affect users' online browsing experience relative to fixed devices like the desktop. As consumers increasingly access the Internet through mobile devices, this paper explores the effects of a shift towards smartphone Internet access on the consumption of online content. Using data on the clickstream activity of over 2,900 individuals on both their smartphone and desktop, I estimate the effect of smartphone usage on users' allocation of time across various categories of websites, as well as their diversity and depth of online content consumption. Employing an instrumental variables approach based on updates of the smartphone operating system, the results show an increase in the usage of game and social networking domains at the expense of news and shopping domains - among others - as mobile usage increases relative to desktop. I also find that the diversity of consumption decreases within several categories, whereas consumption depth increases for games and social networking categories and decreases for search and news domains. Results show limited differences across consumer demographics. These results have important implications for website publishers, advertisers, and online competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Aguiar Wicht, 2019. "Going Mobile: The Effects of Smartphone Usage on Internet Consumption," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2019-07, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:decwpa:201907
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC117256
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Brynjolfsson & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Michael D. Smith, 2003. "Consumer Surplus in the Digital Economy: Estimating the Value of Increased Product Variety at Online Booksellers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(11), pages 1580-1596, November.
    2. Dmitri Kuksov, 2004. "Buyer Search Costs and Endogenous Product Design," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 490-499, May.
    3. Austan Goolsbee & Peter J. Klenow, 2006. "Valuing Consumer Products by the Time Spent Using Them: An Application to the Internet," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 108-113, May.
    4. Liran Einav & Jonathan Levin & Igor Popov & Neel Sundaresan, 2014. "Growth, Adoption, and Use of Mobile E-Commerce," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 489-494, May.
    5. Andre Boik & Shane Greenstein & Jeffrey Prince, 2016. "The Empirical Economics of Online Attention," Working Papers id:11100, eSocialSciences.
    6. Wang, Rebecca Jen-Hui & Malthouse, Edward C. & Krishnamurthi, Lakshman, 2015. "On the Go: How Mobile Shopping Affects Customer Purchase Behavior," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(2), pages 217-234.
    7. Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb & Sang Pil Han, 2013. "How Is the Mobile Internet Different? Search Costs and Local Activities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 613-631, September.
    8. Erik Brynjolfsson & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Duncan Simester, 2011. "Goodbye Pareto Principle, Hello Long Tail: The Effect of Search Costs on the Concentration of Product Sales," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1373-1386, August.
    9. Anindya Ghose & Sang Pil Han, 2014. "Estimating Demand for Mobile Applications in the New Economy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(6), pages 1470-1488, June.
    10. Fiona Scott Morton & Florian Zettelmeyer & Jorge Silva-Risso, 2001. "Internet Car Retailing," NBER Chapters, in: E-commerce, pages 501-519, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Jeffrey R. Brown & Austan Goolsbee, 2002. "Does the Internet Make Markets More Competitive? Evidence from the Life Insurance Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(3), pages 481-507, June.
    12. repec:bla:jindec:v:49:y:2001:i:4:p:501-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Erik Brynjolfsson & Michael D. Smith, 2000. "Frictionless Commerce? A Comparison of Internet and Conventional Retailers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(4), pages 563-585, April.
    14. J. Yannis Bakos, 1997. "Reducing Buyer Search Costs: Implications for Electronic Marketplaces," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(12), pages 1676-1692, December.
    15. Susan Athey & Emilio Calvano & Joshua S. Gans, 2014. "The Impact of Consumer Multi-homing on Advertising Markets and Media Competition," CSEF Working Papers 379, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 27 Apr 2016.
    16. Erik Brynjolfsson & Astrid Dick & Michael Smith, 2010. "A nearly perfect market?," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-33, March.
    17. Il-Horn Hann & Christian Terwiesch, 2003. "Measuring the Frictional Costs of Online Transactions: The Case of a Name-Your-Own-Price Channel," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(11), pages 1563-1579, November.
    18. Glenn Ellison & Sara Fisher Ellison, 2009. "Search, Obfuscation, and Price Elasticities on the Internet," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(2), pages 427-452, March.
    19. Huanxing Yang, 2013. "Targeted search and the long tail effect," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 44(4), pages 733-756, December.
    20. Shankar, Venkatesh & Venkatesh, Alladi & Hofacker, Charles & Naik, Prasad, 2010. "Mobile Marketing in the Retailing Environment: Current Insights and Future Research Avenues," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 111-120.
    21. Zheng Fang & Bin Gu & Xueming Luo & Yunjie Xu, 2015. "Contemporaneous and Delayed Sales Impact of Location-Based Mobile Promotions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 552-564, September.
    22. Goldfarb, Avi & Prince, Jeff, 2008. "Internet adoption and usage patterns are different: Implications for the digital divide," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 2-15, March.
    23. Fiona Scott Morton & Florian Zettelmeyer & Jorge Silva‐Risso, 2001. "Internet Car Retailing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 501-519, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb & Sang Pil Han, 2013. "How Is the Mobile Internet Different? Search Costs and Local Activities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 613-631, September.
    2. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F. & Allender, William, 2016. "Search and price dispersion in online grocery markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 255-281.
    3. Anindya Ghose & Yuliang Yao, 2011. "Using Transaction Prices to Re-Examine Price Dispersion in Electronic Markets," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 269-288, June.
    4. Fiona Scott Morton, 2006. "Consumer Benefit from Use of the Internet," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 6, pages 67-90, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Javier Donna & Andre Trindade & Pedro Pereira & Tiago Pires, 2018. "Measuring the Welfare of Intermediation in Vertical Markets," 2018 Meeting Papers 984, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. Eymann, Torsten (Ed.), 2007. "Tagungsband zum Doctoral Consortium der WI 2007 [WI2007 Doctoral Consortium Proceedings]," Bayreuth Reports on Information Systems Management 24, University of Bayreuth, Chair of Information Systems Management.
    7. Erik Brynjolfsson & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Duncan Simester, 2011. "Goodbye Pareto Principle, Hello Long Tail: The Effect of Search Costs on the Concentration of Product Sales," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1373-1386, August.
    8. Peter Mayerhofer & Peter Huber & Dieter Pennerstorfer, 2017. "Handel und Einzelhandel im Wiener Beschäftigungssystem. Arbeitsmarktrelevanz, Arbeitsplatzcharakteristika, absehbare Herausforderungen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61951.
    9. Donna, Javier D. & Pereira, Pedro & Pires, Tiago & Trindade, Andre, 2018. "Measuring the Welfare of Intermediaries in Vertical Markets," MPRA Paper 90465, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Gérard P. Cachon & Christian Terwiesch & Yi Xu, 2008. "On the Effects of Consumer Search and Firm Entry in a Multiproduct Competitive Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 461-473, 05-06.
    11. Hoskins, Jake D., 2020. "The evolving role of hit and niche products in brick-and-mortar retail category assortment planning: A large-scale empirical investigation of U.S. consumer packaged goods," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    12. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F. & Empen, Janine, 2015. "Attribute Search in Online Retailing," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 202968, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. repec:oup:ajagec:v:99:y:2017:i:1:p: is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Jason Chan & Probal Mojumder & Anindya Ghose, 2019. "The Digital Sin City: An Empirical Study of Craigslist’s Impact on Prostitution Trends," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(1), pages 219-238, March.
    15. Javier D. Donna & Pedro Pereira & Tiago Pires & André Trindade, 2022. "Measuring the Welfare of Intermediaries," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(11), pages 8083-8115, November.
    16. Genakos, Christos & Roumanias, Costas & Valletti, Tommaso, 2023. "Is having an expert “friend” enough? An analysis of consumer switching behavior in mobile telephony," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 359-372.
    17. Nestor Duch-Brown & Bertin Martens, 2014. "Consumer benefits from the EU Digital Single Market: evidence from household appliances markets," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2014-03, Joint Research Centre (Seville site).
    18. Thomas W. Quan & Kevin R. Williams, 2016. "Product Variety, Across-Market Demand Heterogeneity, and the Value of Online Retail," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2054, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    19. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan, 2009. "Brand and Price Advertising in Online Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(7), pages 1139-1151, July.
    20. Andrea Pozzi, 2012. "Shopping Cost and Brand Exploration in Online Grocery," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 96-120, August.
    21. Oksana Loginova & Andrea Mantovani, 2019. "Price competition in the presence of a web aggregator," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 43-73, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Internet consumption; smartphones;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ipt:decwpa:201907. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Publication Officer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ipjrces.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.