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New Media News Every Morning

Online consumers consider environmental consciousness an important company trait– DoubleClick Performics

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DoubleClick Performics, the performance marketing division of DoubleClick Inc., announced the results of a survey gauging online consumer behavior and attitudes regarding “green” marketing.

In the survey of 1,087 adults, consumers indicated the most attractive type of environmentally-conscious marketing is that which focuses on such “specific user benefits” as saving money on bills or longer product lifespan. Consumers, when choosing between two similar products, prefer environmentally friendly products; 83 percent indicated they are extremely or very likely to choose the environmentally friendly option.

Additional data from the DoubleClick Performics’ “Green Marketing Study” revealed factors reported by consumers to influence their attitudes toward online buying:

• Of all online advertising sources, search engine results pages had the highest influence, with 32 percent of consumers reporting their impact on the purchase decision

• Most consumers (65 percent) provide feedback about an online purchase at least some of the time

• Approximately three fourths of those who make online purchases say a recommendation from a friend, family member or co-worker is valuable when purchasing online

• Respondents ages 18 to 34 find recommendations to be particularly valuable compared to older respondents

Originally posted on April 10, 2008 @ 7:22 pm

Majority unconfortable with websites customizing content-based visitors personal profiles

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A majority of U.S. adults are skeptical about the practice of websites using information about a person’s online activity to customize website content. However, after being introduced to four potential recommendations for improving websites privacy and security polices, U.S. adults become somewhat more comfortable with the websites use of personal information.

These are some of the results of a nationwide survey of 2,513 U.S. adults surveyed online between March 11 and 18, 2008 by Harris Interactive. This survey was designed in collaboration with Dr. Alan F. Westin, Professor of Public Law and Government Emeritus at Columbia University, Principal of the Privacy Consulting Group, and a noted authority on privacy issues.

Specifically, the survey found:

• A six in ten majority (59%) are not comfortable when websites like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft (MSN) use information about a person’s online activity to tailor advertisements or content based on a person’s hobbies or interests. A quarter (25%) is not at all comfortable and 34 percent are not very comfortable;

• The remaining 41 percent who say that are comfortable with websites tailoring content is split between 7 percent who are very comfortable and 34 percent who are somewhat comfortable.

Originally posted on April 8, 2008 @ 7:20 pm

Online sales to climb despite struggling economy– Shop.org

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In a year where retail industry sales are expected to experience sluggish growth, Americans will continue to flock to the Internet for clothing, computers, and even cars. According to The State of Retailing Online 2008, the 11th annual Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research, Inc. of 125 retailers, online retail will continue to be a bright spot in the industry with retail sales* rising 17 percent this year to $204 billion. Apparel ($26.6 billion), computers ($23.9 billion), and autos ($19.3 billion) will be the largest three sales categories.

As the number of people new to the Internet begins to wane, online retailers are constantly struggling between investing in strategies that retain current customers or those that attract new ones. According to the report, online retailers allocate 53 percent of their marketing budgets to online customer acquisition and 21 percent of marketing dollars to online customer retention. However, retailers are finding that traditional acquisition programs such as search engine or affiliate marketing may also serve as retention tools that attract existing customers as well as new shoppers.

According to the survey, retailers report that search engine marketing continues to be the most effective way to reach new customers, citing 35 percent of sales coming from that initiative. As a result, nearly all online retailers surveyed (90%) use pay-for-performance search placement, and 79 percent said they will make this tactic an even greater priority this year. Companies are also using offline marketing tactics to drive customers to the web, with catalogs and other direct mail pieces taking priority over methods like television and newspaper advertising.

Originally posted on April 8, 2008 @ 1:56 pm

U.S. advertising spending rose 0.6% in 2007– Nielsen

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The Nielsen Company reported that advertising spending for the full year 2007 rose 0.6% compared to full year 2006, with Internet continuing to demonstrate the strongest performance (+18.9%) of any media category.

According to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the leading provider of competitive advertising information, advertising spending was mixed across media with gains in some categories and declines in others. In addition to Internet advertising, other media categories that showed an increase in 2007 were National Magazines (7.6%), Outdoor (7.2%), National Sunday Supplements (4.9%), National Cable TV (2.2%), and Spanish-Language TV (1.5%).

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Originally posted on March 31, 2008 @ 5:40 pm

Online consumers prefer smaller and lighter laptops

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PriceGrabber.com explores portable-style laptop trends through its latest Consumer Behavior Report. Results are based on a survey of 1,868 online consumers conducted in late February 2008. PriceGrabber.com defines portable-style laptops as weighing less than six pounds and having a screen size of less than 15 inches measured diagonally. Of the 72 percent of respondents who indicated owning or using a laptop, 58 percent own or use a portable-style laptop.

Consumers who have different laptops for work/school and personal use carry the burden of traveling with multiple laptops. Of those surveyed, 38 percent need two or more laptops. The demand for portable-style laptops has increased over the past year as more consumers find it a nuisance to carry around the standard-size laptop, let alone two. Forty-four percent of online consumers say they would travel more often with a laptop if it were smaller and lighter.

Forty-six percent of consumers stated that performance is the most important feature to consider when purchasing a portable-style laptop. Unfortunately, as performance increases and the size of the laptop decreases, it comes with a price that not everyone is willing to spend. Of the nine percent of respondents who anticipate spending more than $2,000 for a portable-style laptop, 62 percent said they value performance as the most important feature, while 11 percent value battery life and nine percent value weight.

Originally posted on March 19, 2008 @ 11:28 pm