As I discussed in the Mobile Apps — Let’s Rush into TV Shows!!! ( Part 1 ), the simple mobile app Ugly Meter made a unbelievable success after it was mentioned on the Howard Stern radio show in the U.S with $80,000 in just a single day and half million after it released. Personally, I will not spend any penny on this app because I do not trust a phone can measure how attractive I am. In addition to Ugly Meter, sound effect apps are not in my desirable purchasing list. They are too simple to provide me with a long-term benefit and I am most likely tired of it in a week. But a sound effect app called Whip Sound App had also had the similar experience as the Ugly Meter. Whip Sound became famous quickly after it was played in the Big Bang Theory. So here is the question — Why do mobile apps become popular after they were mentioned in various TV shows?
First of all, the presence of apps in on the TV shows significantly decreases the time between when people know the apps and when people buy the apps. That is to say that TV shows help apps make people recognize the expected performance they want from apps, which is simply having fun. People can see the direct performance of apps when hosts play them, so information search is not necessary. Also, people tend to buy the same apps from the same developers as they are shown on TV shows, which make people neglect those apps with same functions but different name. It is the reason why mobile apps can become profitable after TV shows — people will not consider alternatives!!! All these points encourage people to make a quick purchasing decision. Last, those apps are usually sold at a price of $0.99 and $1.99 which is too low to matter, so postpurchase dissonance rarely happens.
Overall, the presence of apps on TV shows can advertise them in an interactive way, which is the best method for bringing the happiness of playing apps to those people sitting in front of the screen.
