Consumers Prefer Inserts Over TV For Product Info
In its latest
Consumer Focus study Vertis Communications, a Baltimore-based
company, found that people are less reliant upon television to spur
their purchasing decisions and instead are looking toward
(newspaper) inserts�as well as online promotions�to help make up
their minds.
According to
the most recent survey of 3,000 American adults�the company�s 10th
annual�only 22% listed television as the main influence in making
their purchasing decisions, down from 30% in 1998. Conversely, those
who cited inserts rose a similar amount, from 19% ten years ago to
27% now.
Not
surprisingly, the Internet is also growing as a decision driver. Ten
years ago, Vertis didn�t even ask about it in a consumer�s
decision-making process. And when Vertis first posed the medium
eight years ago, only 11% cited the Internet as a decision driver.
This year, 26% said it was a key driver, as the convenience and ease
with which people can get information means it will only continue to
grow.
The increased
availability of information has also led to a more informed consumer
when it comes to making purchases. According to the survey, only 17%
of adults said they entered a store without having conducted prior
research last year, compared to 31% in 2004 (when the question was
first asked). Approximately 57% of consumers said they used
advertising inserts as a research tool, 50% cited the Internet and
38% used catalogs, according to the survey.
Over the 10
years of the Consumer Focus survey, Vertis has also tracked certain
consumer behaviors. For instance, young adults are participating
less in team sports than they were 10 years ago. They�re also
choosing to stay in, rather than go out. According to the survey,
only 3% of young adults said they were more likely to go out to a
movie than stay in. In 1998, 13% said they were likely to go to a
movie.
The survey also
noted that single women are becoming a more influential category
versus 10 years ago. In 1998, only 69% of women between 18 and 24
were involved in home electronics purchases. By 2008, that number
has grown to 91%, in part driven by the prevalence of personal
electronics such as cell phones and computers.
Over the past
10 years, the number of women 25-34 who were single or living with a
significant other (as opposed to being married, divorced or widowed)
increased 8% to 38%, according to the survey. And they are more
educated: the percentage of women who had an undergraduate or
graduate degree increased, from 28% to 41%, over those 10 years.
Consumers are
much more socially aware than they were 10 years ago, and are making
decisions based on that awareness. Nowadays, people are much more
environmentally focused or concerned about social fairness.
Consumers are
also more open to change, whether it�s in the form of political
action or personal preference, he says. Right now is the perfect
time for new things, whether it�s new products or new leadership.
We�re also seeing a younger attitude in the country, so we�re
talking about adopting messaging that�s fresh and innovative and
captures a new attitude.