Features

QR Codes Best in Magazines, Newspapers and Packaging

By Association Adviser staff • November 5, 2012

By Association Adviser Staff

A new comScore study about mobile QR (Quick Response) code scanning found that 14 million mobile users in the United States, representing 6.2 percent of the total mobile audience, have scanned a QR code on their mobile device. Who’s scanning the most on their mobile devices? Researchers say it’s young, affluent males. According to comScore, men account for 60.5 percent of the code scanning audience. More than half (53.4 percent) are aged 18 to 34, and more than one third (36.1 percent) have a household income above $100,000.

  • Young, affluent males are the member segment most likely to take advantage of QR codes in your communication vehicles.
  • The most popular source of a scanned QR code was a printed magazine or newspaper, with nearly half scanning QR codes from this source.
  • QR codes can be integrated easily into your existing media and marketing campaigns.

READER NOTE: For more on QR codes, see our past article by Marcus Underwood, Vice President and GM of NaylorNet.

Those between the age of 25-34 were twice as likely as the average mobile user to take advantage of QR codes, while 18-24 year olds were 36 percent more likely than the average smart phone user to scan. Among mobile users who scanned a QR code on their mobile devices in June, 58 percent did so from their homes, while 39.4 percent did so from a retail store and 24.5 percent did so from a grocery store.

The most popular source of a scanned QR code was a printed magazine or newspaper, with nearly half scanning QR codes from this source. Product packaging was the source of QR code scanning for 35.3 percent of the audience, while 27.4 percent scanned a code from a website on a PC and 23.5 percent scanned codes from a poster/flier/kiosk.

So as we slog through this slow-growth economy, keep experimenting with new ways to drive your message home. But, no matter how quickly you attract a qualified visitor to your website, it may take several carefully sequenced repeat “engagement” sessions to get them to take the action you want. QR codes are cool, but they’re not a magic silver bullet.

As Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile remarked shortly after the research was announced, “QR codes demonstrate just one of the ways in which mobile marketing can effectively be integrated into existing media and marketing campaigns.”

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