According to recent data released by Nielsen in 2009, close to 60 million consumers accessed the web via mobile devices in July 2009, up from 42.5 million last year. Specifically, the male mobile audience grew 26 percent of that period. Our Alert Shopper Series #4 examines this segment.

Interviews we conducted offer a window into male shopping habits, brand loyalty and how men research their purchases. Whether they’re shopping at Best Buy, Jamba Juice, Target or Levi’s, interviewees are quite savvy when it comes to combining online and mobile research into the purchase process.

It’s no surprise that many of the men we spoke to exhibit purpose driven shopping habits. Check out Travis – a 30-year old who sifts through Craigslist, eBay and used items online to find the best deals, and even researches deals on his mobile phone while he’s out shopping. Then there’s Kevin, age 23, who mentions he has a solid handle on sales and deals in stores before he goes shopping.  39-year-old Anthony bought a camera from Target after researching its specs online.

Some of those surveyed admit that occasionally, other priorities get in the way of conducting online product research. Joseph, age 31, admits that he sometimes gets backlogged on emails and this prevents him from thoroughly researching products he’d like to buy. For the busy man, a quick mobile search in store is very valuable.

In fact, according to Alert Shopper #3 and our Harris Survey on consumer preferences for mobile marketing, 51% of men ages 18 to 34 expressed some interest in receiving alerts on their phones on new deals and promotions at their favorite establishments, which is significantly higher than interest among females of the same age group (34%).

Brand loyalty also appears to be a consistent theme among the men highlighted in our series. Kevin considers himself a pretty loyal Best Buy shopper, and reports shopping there about three times a month, while Anthony admits he shops at Target about once a week.

More interesting detail can be noted in the video below.