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Industry chatter about AR’s world-changing status sometimes outweighs evidence that it’s captivating consumers today. Though we see some signals, such as engagement figures from mobile AR players, we’re often flying blind when it comes to consumer AR sentiment.
Looking to fill that gap, AR Insider’s research arm ARtillery Intelligence asks consumers directly how they feel. Working with consumer survey specialist Thrive Analytics, it wrote questions to be fielded to 50,000+ U.S. adults, and produced a report – now in Wave 9 – based on the results.
Among the topics: How is mobile AR resonating with everyday consumers? How often are they using it? How satisfied are they? What types of experiences do they like most? How much are they willing to pay for it? And for those who aren’t interested in mobile AR….why not?
After the last installment of this series examined the aspirational use cases that AR users are most interested in, we now move on to another area of the survey: non-user sentiments. For those who aren’t interested in mobile AR at all, what are their biggest reasons?
AR-Forward
Earlier in this series, we examined the most popular types of AR experiences, as well as the most desired forms of AR for future use. On both counts, social AR scored high. By social AR, we mean filters and lenses that enliven 2D media that’s shared with friends or followers.
Drilling down, the next question becomes which social AR apps are used most. Snapchat took the top spot with 35 percent of survey respondents reporting engagement with its Lenses (up from 26 percent last year), followed by TikTok (28 percent), and Instagram (20 percent).
These results weren’t surprising given Snap’s leading position in the social AR world. Snapchat isn’t the biggest social app in terms of sheer reach, but it’s the most AR-forward. This is a result of its commitment to AR as a core driver of its user experience and business.
That contrasts Meta, which has greater global reach – Facebook + Instagram – but its mobile AR efforts aren’t as central. Of course, AR is broadly a massive emphasis at Meta, including hardware. But it has de-prioritized mobile AR effects, including killing its developer platform.
Back to Snap, its efforts have been propelled in new directions given the convergence of AR and AI. It has leaned into those points of synergy with AI Video Lenses, Sponsored AI Lenses, and its Imagine Lens. The latter makes Snap first to market with what we call generative AR.
Market-Share Leader
The two main drivers noted above for Snap’s work in AR are user experience and business. The former was covered, but what about AR’s role as a revenue generator? Snap isn’t just investing in AR because it’s fun. There’s a feedback loop of execution and business results.
That plays out in a few ways. For one, AR can boost user engagement. When done right, it can elevate things like user dwell time and usage frequency, as shown in several of the AR marketing case studies we publish. That engagement is the foundation for monetization.
And that’s what comes next. According to the market sizing and forecasting of our research arm, ARtillery Intelligence, immersive brand marketing drove an estimated $6.6 billion last year, growing to $10.3 billion by 2030. Snap is the market share leader for all the reasons above.
Back to the AR/AI convergence, it will factor into the monetization discussion as well. AI doesn’t just enable intelligent and interactive lenses but ad optimization. As demonstrated by Meta’s core business over the past two years, AI can elevate and optimize social-graph ad targeting.
All the above takes on new meaning when the convergence of AR and AI moves from handheld to headworn. A can be a lot more powerful when it sees what you see and unlocks line-of-site intelligence. We’ll get to see how that plays out with Snap’s consumer Specs later this year.