Getting smartphone owners to download an app is still somewhat of a challenge for a number of marketers. According to research, there are a variety of reasons why smartphone owners install a mobile app, and one of the main motivations is simple: They had a specific task, and they thought the app would help.
Tune, which provides software for mobile marketing management and measurement, surveyed 3,005 US smartphone owners during early summer 2016. Overall, the reasons why smartphone owners install a mobile app are pretty straightforward. For example, 31.0% of respondents said they downloaded an app because a friend recommended it, and nearly a quarter saw an ad for an app and found it to be interesting.
Search was another key driver of app downloads. Some 13.5% of smartphone owners said they Googled something and the app looked like a good answer. Furthermore, 13.0% saw an app featured by Apple or Google and assumed that it must be good.