Newspapers Are Still The Primary Source Of Pre-Purchase Information For Local Purchases

In the Dieringer Research Group’s American Interactive Consumer Survey 2005 survey (that the NAA was a sponsor of) that attempted to quantify the impact of the internet on shopping related behavior in the U.S, we now know that even as the Internet grows in importance for discerning shoppers, local print newspapers remain top of mind for local purchases by a wide margin.

Among the some highlights taken directly from the study:

• Local TV, the next most commonly cited “primary source” for local advertising, falls 13 percentage points behind print newspapers.
• Broadband, tenured and early adopters lead in citing newspapers above all other media for local shopping, and online users are ever more likely to site newspapers as their primary source for local advertising than offline adult users.
• Nearly 9 out of 10 adult Americans view or read newspaper content in print or online.
• Overall Internet use still ranks somewhat behind reading of daily print newspapers in terms of the overall size of universe, trailed only slightly by Sunday newspaper readership.
• Local online newspapers lead national online sources in their branding impact for online consumers.
• Younger shoppers actually seek out online shopping information in local online newspapers, citing this content as third behind only weather and local entertainment as what they prefer.