The consolidation of mobile devices for information consumption in Spain

Abstract

The media live in a constant adaptation to face an increasing consumption of information from mobile devices. This demand has given rise to mobile journalism, designed and adapted specifically for this technology, and has led to the appearance of new advertising formats to retain new audiences, also mobile. To find out what are the habits of users regarding the consumption of news from these devices, their preferred journalistic formats and how they interact with information, we designed a survey study that was administered in Spain to consumers between 16 and 65 years (N=555). The results reflected the consolidation of mobile devices for the consumption of information (84.8% consulted news or journalistic content on the mobile phone on a daily basis, frequently in the workplace, while waiting for something, or during downtime), the adaptation of the media to this technology, and a predilection for social media apps to find news, to the detriment of media websites. They also revealed that informational video is the most successful format among consumers, although from native video applications, such as YouTube or Vimeo. Thus, that is where the media have a challenge: offering more attractive video consumption experiences so that the public consumes this format on their pages and, therefore, turns to first-hand sources of information.