A new study conducted by MTV Networks (MTVN), a division of Viacom, in partnership with research consultancy Latitude reveals that 83 percent of mobile users are feeling addicted to apps. This joint study titled “Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em: Adoption, Abandonment and the App-Addled Consumer,” investigated the underlying psychology and current behaviors surrounding app adoption, use, and abandonment for heavy app users. As a result, it also uncovered top characteristics and features of a successful app.

In reality, this new study by MTV Networks and Latitude pinpoints three fundamental ways that apps are changing our lives for the better. According to the researchers, the study included a round of initial qualitative interviews, a deprivation phase (normal app users were asked to go app-free for three days), and a quantitative survey of more than 1300 app-engaged smartphone owners between the ages of 13 and 64.  

“Our use of creative qualitative and quantitative techniques, including deprivation, ultimately helped us uncover a simple shorthand for how apps are addressing and extending user needs and desires; essentially, ‘apps can improve me, my life, and my world,’“ said Neela Sakaria, senior vice president at Latitude, in a statement. 

Specifically, MTVN and Latitude found that apps are changing consumers in three fundamental ways by creating personal moments, improving everyday routines, and allowing users to discover new skills and experiences.

First, according to the analysts, apps create “Me” moments. This growing expectation for offerings with a powerful, instantaneous “me focus” is making its way into desired in-app entertainment and ad experiences, said the partners. According to this study, 87 percent of participants said that “Apps let me have fun no matter where I am or what I’m doing.”

Second, apps make everyday life better. The study indicates that Apps are enhancing our day-to-day experiences directly by enabling productivity and achievement of our personal goals. About 77 percent of participants in this study said that Apps are my personal assistant. 

Third, apps open us to new worlds. Whether it’s learning new languages or overlaying a map of the sky onto some old-fashioned star-gazing, the possibilities seem endless as apps open people’s imaginations to the new and magical, the study reveals. Similarly, 91 percent of participants said that apps expose me to new things.

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