The Japanese QR Code Studies Reveal Wonderful Insights

The use of QR codes by marketers is very well documented. Every day we are bombarded with many companies that are employing QR codes with their marketing. These include well-known brands and even charitable institutions. We are also very familiar with the use of QR code in education. Teachers are increasingly relying on QR codes to help their students learn their lessons.

It seems that the usefulness of QR codes is making it appear just about everywhere. But there is another use for QR codes that Japanese researchers are doing: using these little square codes as research topics.

Japanese researchers at the Autonomous University of Madrid have just published three studies delving into the use of QR codes for mobile promotion. These three reports:

1. Examined the content of 260 advertising campaigns that used QR codes.

2. Examined the psychology of scanning QR codes.

3. Looked into what factors made customers scan QR codes.

The reports further found that loyalty programs are the number 1 reason why customers scan QR codes, while the biggest deterrent to QR code scans are security concerns.

This is not surprising. With more and more QR codes leading users to viruses, malware and other harmful content online, it is just normal for people to be paranoid about and avoid scanning a QR code. This is why it is important that you should use customized QR codes for your marketing. Not only will customized QR code look better with your own branding, but it will also give your customers the peace of mind that scanning the QR code is safe.

The Japanese studies also reflect what we have seen in the United States, where security is also the main reason why people shy away from scanning QR codes. This just means that the Japanese experience could easily apply to us here.