Seizing the Commuting Moment : Contextual Targeting Based on Mobile Transportation Apps

Despite the average daily commuting time of commuters increasing by the day, the way marketers can benefit from our commuting behaviors has not yet been thoroughly examined. In collaboration with one of the largest global mobile service platform providers, this study investigates how contextual targeting with commuting is associated with responses to mobile coupons. The analysis is based on a field study in which 14,741 mobile coupons were sent to 9,928 public transit app users on commuting routes or routes other than commuting routes (i.e. commuters or non-commuters). The key findings indicate that commuters are about three times as likely to redeem their first mobile coupon compared to non-commuters. Further analyses allowing users to receive multiple coupons provide useful insight into an effective distribution strategy for mobile coupons. The findings suggest that enhanced receptiveness to mobile coupons is more perceivable when users obtain multiple coupons. Additionally, multiple-coupon distribution strategy increases response rates more effectively among non-commuters than commuters. Moreover, coupons with short expiration dates more successfully improve the response rates of commuters than do coupons with long expiration dates. For non-commuters, however, the reverse holds true; their response rates are higher for coupons with long expiration. Finally, commuters redeem coupons not only more frequently but also at a faster rate. Both dynamic and static matching methods are adopted to address possible selection biases. By carefully exploiting commuting, which is easily identifiable and occurs throughout the world, managers may improve their mobile marketing effectiveness