Consumers are increasingly dividing their media time among various media types.

BURST! recently surveyed more than 2,600 web users about changes in their media consumption in the past year. Online Insights  BURST! Online Insights        BURST! Online Insights       

Consumers, today, are flooded with a myriad of entertainment options - ranging from television and movies to online games and music and video downloads.   For entertainment marketers, reaching consumer segments and influencing their choice of entertainment options is getting more and more difficult.   Consumers are increasingly dividing their media time among various media types.  This media fragmentation has made it increasingly difficult for marketers to not only reach their target consumer, but also get their attention.   In order to better understand changes in consumers’ media use, BURST! recently surveyed more than 2,600 web users about changes in their media consumption in the past year.   Furthermore, our study looked at the media types consumers use to gather entertainment information.

 

ü      Three out of five Respondents Say They Are Using the Internet More

Overall, three out of five (60.9%) respondents say they spend more time on the Internet today than a year ago – 32.2% say “much more time” and 28.7% say “somewhat more time”.   Few (9.0%) respondents said they spend less time on the Internet than a year ago.

Respondents were also asked about their use of other media types.  About one-quarter of respondents say they spend more time with radio (27.8%), television (24.5%) or newspapers (24.1%); and one-in-five (21.3%) say they spend more time with magazines.  Fully one-third said they are spending less time today, compared to a year ago, with: television (35.5%), or magazines (34.1%): and one-quarter of respondents say they are spending less time today listening to radio (27.1%), or reading newspapers (30.3%), compared to a year ago. (Chart 1)

 

ü      Increased Web Usage Seen Among All Age Segments

All age segments reported spending more time today on the Internet versus a year ago.  Interestingly, even among the teen and 18-24 years segments – segments thought to be already spending a considerable portion of their overall media time on the Internet – three out of five (62.6% and 60.9% respectively) said they were spending more time today on the Internet than a year ago.

 

ü      Demographic Segments and Other Media Shift

As noted, fairly sizable portions of respondents say they spend less time today than a year ago with radio, television, newspapers or magazines: and differences are noted in the responses of various demographic segments for each of these media types.  For instance, 18-24 year olds are much more likely than other age segments to say they are spending less time today than a year ago listening to radio (33.7%) or watching television (40.5%).   Other demographic segments saying they spend less time watching television include: males 25-34 years (39.6%) and males 35-44 years (41.2%).   Women 25-34 years and 35-44 years are the demographic segments most likely to say they spend less time today than a year ago reading newspapers – 34.6% and 39.5%, respectively.   Males 45-54 years are the segment most likely to say they are spending less time (41.4%) today than a year ago reading magazines.

 

ü   Information Resources For Entertainment Information

Overall, three out of five respondents say they have used television (63.6%) or the Internet (62.7%) for entertainment information.   Other entertainment information sources include local newspapers (57.1%), word of mouth (49.6%), radio (42.7%), magazines (30.1%), and national newspapers (24.6%).  

 

There are noted differences between men and women and the entertainment resources they use.  Women are more likely than men to have gathered entertainment information from television (65.9% versus 61.6%), local newspapers (61.6% versus 52.5%), and word of mouth (56.8% versus 42.3%). Men are more likely than women to say the have gathered entertainment information from the Internet – 66.0% versus 59.3%.  (Chart 2)

 

ü   Internet Resource For Local Entertainment News

Over half (57.2%) of respondents say they have used the Internet to gather local entertainment information – such as information on local sporting events, concerts, lectures or exhibits.   This finding is consistent for nearly all age segments – and drops (to 41.9%) only among respondents 65 years and older.  Other sources of local entertainment information are local newspapers (52.9%), television (48.7%), word of mouth (44.7%), radio (40.5%), magazines (21.0%) and national newspapers (19.0%).

 

ü   Television Most Popular Source For Movie Information: Young Men Use the Internet

Television is the most popular source of information on current movies and television shows, with 57.2% of respondents saying they have used the medium to gather information.  Other sources of information about movies and TV shows are: Internet websites (46.1%), local newspapers (39.6%), word of mouth (35.0%), radio (23.2%), magazines (22.7%), and national newspapers (16.8%). 

 

Men are more likely than women to say they have used the Internet to gather information on current movies and television shows – 50.0% and 42.2%, respectively.   Additionally, for males 18-24 years and 25-34 years, the Internet is the top source for movie and television show information.   In fact, 56.8% of men 18-24 years and 59.0% of men 25-34 years point to the Internet as a source of information or reviews on current and upcoming movies or television shows.

 

How you can use this information;

 

Use the Internet In Coordination With Other Media.   Advertisers must keep up with consumers’ changing media habits.  The new media environment is a boon for advertisers who now not only have expanded opportunities to cross-sell their products and services, but also have the opportunity to cost effectively expand the reach and frequency of their media buys.   Use media synergies and coordinate your messaging and placement to take advantage of your targets’ media choices.   Also, as you evaluate your media options remember that the Internet may be your target’s preferred media and plan accordingly.

hts        BURST! Online Insights       

Current Facts

 

A recent comScore Media Metrix report, “Surfing Through Life Changes: How Consumers Embrace the Web During Major Life Events” points to the Internet’s usefulness in and influence on major consumer purchase decisions.   The report further speaks about the opportunities the web presents to marketers looking to target consumers who have experienced or about to experience a major life event - such as the birth of a child, a marriage or a new home purchase.   One segment attractive to marketers is “Engaged Buyers” – and according to comScore Media Metrix, more than 4.6 million U.S. Internet users have gotten engaged or married in the past six months or plan to get married in the next six months.   To help marketers reach “Engaged Buyers”, BURST! offers a number of content channels that have a high concentration of this desirable audience segment. (Chart 3)

 

ü      BURST!’s Shopping channel provides classifieds, catalogs, buying guides and coupon resources.  Three-out-of-five (59.7%) channel visitors say the Internet is their primary source of information on products they are considering to purchase.  More than two-thirds (68.6%) of channel visitors say they shop online.

 

ü      BURST!’s Music channel provides information, not only on bands, artists and concerts, but also on instruments and sheet music.   More than half (56.0%) of channel visitors shop online.  During the past month, nearly half (47.5%) of channel visitors say they purchased a music CD, and 49.1% went to the movies.

 

ü      BURST!’s Food and Drink channel provides the necessities to plan your next great meal, either by using our recipe and cooking properties or reviewing our restaurant guides. Half (53.4%) of channel visitors say the Internet is their primary source of information on products they are considering to purchase.  Over half (56.4%) of channel visitors shop online.

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About BURST! Media

BURST! Media is an Internet ad services and online ad sales rep company that delivers more than 5.5 billion advertising impressions for over 2,000 web publishers every month.   According to comScore Media Metrix, BURST! reaches one in three people online and is one of the largest online media properties in terms of unique visitors and reach making it one of the largest online ad companies in the U.S.  By providing thousands of web publishers with tools and expertise from ad sales to email newsletter tools and community forums for learning, BURST! helps publishers generate sustainable revenue.  The company, founded in 1995, also markets AdDesktop, a competitively priced, ASP ad management solution that helps web publishers securely target, serve, track and report the performance of online advertising campaigns.

 

BURST! is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, and maintains offices in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.  For more information, visit our web site at http://www.burstmedia.com or call 800-876-4352.  Please forward any comments you have on Online Insights to onlineinsights@burstmedia.com.

 

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