• by Aaron Baar , January 12, 2012

Free apps on a smartphone (as opposed to those one might get at Chili’s) could be the key when it comes to reaching consumers.

According to Nielsen’s “State of the Media: Consumer Usage Report,” more than half (51%) of consumers said they have no problem with advertising on their mobile devices if it means they can access content for free.

However, consumers don’t want the ads to take them out of the app experience. Among the respondents, 58% of users don’t want to be removed from the app, but they will follow up on their own. About a fifth said they the searched or looked online after seeing an ad on their mobile device, says Monica Bannan, vice president of product leadership for mobile media at Nielsen.

“In fact, app downloaders are the most receptive to mobile search advertising compared to other formats like in app, mobile web and SMS advertising,” she tells Marketing Daily via email. They’re also more likely to use their devices to find out more information from ads they see on television. “Approximately 30% of consumers who used their tablets while watching TV looked up info on their tablets related to a product ad they saw on television.”

Despite the openness to advertising, most consumers opt for a combination of paid and free apps on their phones, with the average consumer having about 33 apps total. Of those who only downloaded apps during the past month, a third of them (33%) chose games, a fifth (20%) downloaded social networking apps and 18% chose music. Those who downloaded exclusively paid apps opted for games (35%), maps and navigation (29%) and music (27%).

Despite the combination, consumers are willing to upgrade from free to paid apps, Bannan says. Three-quarters (75%) of app downloaders upgraded to paid versions in order to access additional features or options that were not available in the free versions, and a quarter upgraded because their free version expired, according to the survey. Only 30% of users said they opted for a paid app because it was advertisement-free.