New survey sheds light on QR code use

RESTON, Va. — About 6.2% of 14 million mobile phone users have scanned a quick response or bar code on their mobile device, according to a new ComScore survey.

Among 14,452 users surveyed during the month of June that have scanned a QR or bar code, 58% of them scanned a code at home, while 39.4% and 24.5% of respondents have scanned codes at a retail store or grocery store, respectively. As far as what they scanned, 49.4% said they scanned a QR or bar code found in a newspaper or magazine, while 35.3% scanned product packaging.

The study also found that a mobile user that scanned a QR or bar code during the month was more likely to be male (60.5% of code scanning audience), skew toward ages 18 to 34 years (53.4%) and have a household income of $100,000 or above (36.1%).

"QR codes demonstrate just one of the ways in which mobile marketing can effectively be integrated into existing media and marketing campaigns to help reach desired consumer segments," ComScore SVP mobile Mark Donovan said. "For marketers, understanding which consumer segments scan QR codes, the source and location of these scans, and the resulting information delivered, is crucial in developing and deploying campaigns that successfully utilize QR codes to further brand engagement."