According to the latest research from Nielsen, American consumers were least likely to make purchases online after viewing mobile ads. Only 20 percent of Americans owning smartphones made purchases on after seeing an ad. As a comparison, In German, 34 percent of consumers were likely to make a purchase online via a PC after seeing a mobile advertisement. In fact, smartphone and tablet owners in the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany were found to be more likely than Americans to make a purchase online after seeing mobile ads.

Only 4 percent of American smartphone owners purchased a product directly on a smartphone after seeing the mobile ad. Surprising information, considering how simple and fast this method appears to offer consumers. American tablet owners were only slightly more inclined with just 8 percent admitting to making a purchase directly after viewing an ad on their tablet. The results were also surprising because of the strong consumer culture in the United States.

The takeaway from the Nielsen study seems to be that the mobile advertising world may not yet have found the best way to target audiences in America and have somehow found a way to reach European audiences more effectively. Another key factor in the results may be that American consumers are so inundated by advertising everywhere else, they may be more jaded than their European counterparts when it comes to receiving ads and therefore less likely to make purchases afterward from their mobile and tablet devices.