Gender is a major influence in predicting which users will engage with mobile apps after installing them, with cost-per-action (CPA) and conversion rates varying significantly between men and women across some app categories, according to the Q1 2015 Liftoff Mobile App Engagement Index.

The quarterly analysis measured the CPA and conversion rates across 22.5 million installs and 550 million post-install events in six app categories: dating, finance, shopping, social, travel and utility.

In shopping apps, the cost to acquire a new customer who makes a first-time purchase is much lower for women than men, with women 32 per cent more likely to make a purchase (click to enlarge image).

cpa by gender

For social apps, women also trump men with 36 per cent more females sharing content, resulting in a much lower cost-per-first-time-share of $7.74 for women, versus $10.52 for men.

Financial apps are the “men’s domain”, the study claims, with males costing significantly less to acquire. Cost-per-install (CPI) for men is 15.25 per cent lower than for women, while cost per registration is 16.3 per cent less than women.

When it comes to dating apps, men like to browse, while women like to buy and, although attracting women may cost a bit more, the ROI is greater in overall lifetime value.

Over half of men who install a dating app create an account, compared to just over 40 per cent of women, for a $5.19 registration CPA for men.

“This data is extremely valuable in helping app marketers more accurately plan their budgets and maximise ROI from their mobile advertising campaigns,” said Dennis Mink, vice president of marketing with Liftoff.

“In order to be truly effective, campaigns must generate engagement in post-install events like registering or making a purchase, to generate true ROI. Otherwise, you could be paying way too much to acquire low-quality users,” he added.

In addition to gender differences, the Index found contrasts between mobile operating systems. While Android users engage by registering or sharing content more, iOS is “where the money is”.

When it comes to transactional events — purchasing, subscribing or reserving — iOS is more cost effective, costing up to 22 per cent less to acquire a first-time buyer (click image below to enlarge).

cpa by platform

The index also revealed that mobile advertisers spent an average $9.54 to acquire a new registered user, consistent with the prior three months, and that social apps convert 76.3 per cent of all installs into registered users, followed by ecommerce (72.5 per cent) and financial (43.8 per cent).