InMobi’s “Multi-Screening: The Who, What and When For Marketers” study looks at how consumers interact with their smartphones and tablets while watching television. More than 15,000 mobile Web users participated in the study across 14 markets from August to November 2012.

“Consumers are researching products on their mobile devices, showrooming and more,” said Shrikant Latkar, vice president of global marketing at InMobi, Singapore.

“This also happens when they are watching TV and see an interesting product and jump to their mobile device right away,” he said.

“Forward-thinking marketers and online commerce companies make it real easy to search and buy these products instantaneously.”

Plugged-in consumers
Consumers are more plugged into mobile devices than ever nowadays.

InMobi’s study found that the average mobile Web user spends 108 minutes with their device per day.

The average consumer spends roughly 90 minutes per day online, with a similar amount of time spent watching TV.

Radio consumes 52 minutes of a consumer’s day, and users spend 37 minutes on a tablet. Magazines control 35 minutes of a consumer’s day.

Sixty-two percent of mobile Web users interact with other activities while they are watching TV.

Only 9 percent of consumers who multi-tasked while watching TV were shopping, which shows how influenced sales are a much bigger opportunity for marketers with commerce.

For example, 46 percent of consumers said that mobile helped influence their decision to buy via their devices.

Seventeen percent of consumers searched for content on their device that was related to what they were watching on TV. Similarly, 18 percent of users searched for products that they saw on TV.

Fifteen percent of consumers searched for content that was not related to what they were watching on TV.

Forty percent of consumers surveyed said that they used their mobile device during a purchase.

Additionally, 75 percent of respondents said that they learned something new about a purchase via their mobile devices.

Sixty-seven percent of consumers said that their mobile device provided them with better options about a purchase, and 69 percent said that their mobile device helped them find something nearby

Fifty-five percent of consumers said that mobile caused them to reconsider a product.

Social users
These multitasking consumers are also highly social, according to the report.

Forty-eight percent of consumers accessed social networks while watching TV and 46 percent used text messaging or instant messaging.

When it comes to demographics, 69 percent of millennials surveyed said that they multitask while watching TV, and 65 percent of youths aged 18-years-old or younger admitted the same.

The report found that consumers are increasingly becoming more comfortable with mobile ads, which points to a growth in opportunities for marketers to tie mobile and other marketing channels together.

In fact, 29 percent of consumers surveyed said that they were more comfortable with mobile ads and found them useful. Another 30 percent said that they are getting more comfortable with mobile ads.

Twenty percent of consumers found mobile ads intrusive, and 21 percent of users surveyed did not think about the mobile ads on their phones.

Not surprisingly, increasing mobile ownership and multitasking are outlined as two of the factors why mobile multi-screen viewing is growing.

Interestingly though, the report also points to an increased acceptance of mobile commerce and advertising from consumers, which could point to more brands getting the cross-screen experience down.

One-on-one marketing
According to the report, marketers have to master a few basic principles when using mobile for multi-screen engagement.

Understanding an audience and creating relevant content are table stakes for marketers, according to the report.

It is also important to not treat multi-screen campaigns as one-offs. This means building a longer-lasting relationship by consistently reaching back out to consumers once they have engaged with a brand.

“The better you understand user context, the better one can predict user intent,” Mr. Latkar said.

“There is opportunity for huge innovation in this space, and as InMobi we are leading the charge to continue to improve our understanding of user context and user intent so that we can enable marketers to target the right user with the right message at the right time,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York