Newspaper Advertising Still Tops

When it comes to planning a shopping expedition or making purchasing decisions, adults tend to lean on newspapers to help them prepare their line of attack. Based on a recent survey of 2,502 US adults sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) titled “How America Shops and Spends 2011” newspaper ads still rank number one in driving consumers to shop and in due course make purchases.

NAA President and CEO John Sturm stated, “They are an opt-in media in an opt-out world, making newspaper advertising an ideal and effective choice for advertisers who want to reach consumers ready to shop and spend.”

The survey revealed that 4 out of 5 adults, or 79%, of those interviewed admit they “took action” as a result of newspaper advertising in the past month. The “actions” were defined as the following:

Clipped a coupon – 54%
Bought something – 46%
Visited Web site(s) to learn more – 37%
Tried something for the first time – 20%

Additionally, advertising on a local online edition newspaper ranked second amid web advertising choices. Nearly 72% of all adults surveyed said they read newspaper preprints and the figure rises to 90% for Sunday inserts. Over the course of 30 days, 79% acted on newspaper preprint advertising. 52% of the adults acknowledged that newspapers are the medium they use to assist in planning their shopping trips or making purchase decisions. Furthermore, 38% of the adults who claimed to be newspaper “non-readers” admitted they had used other forms of engagement in the past week such as checking local store sale ads, clipping coupons, comparing prices, researching movies or TV listings and classified ads, in conjunction with various forms of editorial content leaving this unofficial exposure to add an extra 13% points to the newspapers’ weekly reach.

The report disclosed a ranking of the primary medium for checking advertising:
1. Newspapers – 35%
2. Internet – 28%
3. Ads received via direct mail – 12%
4. TV – 9%
5. Catalogs – 7%
6. Magazines – 3%
7. Radio – 1%
8. None of these

Finally, the study found additional benefits stemmed from newspapers that ranked higher than other media such as:

Checking for regular shopping – 41%
Supplying ads from stores normally shopped – 36%
Being most trustworthy – 36%
Rated the best in bringing attention to sales – 38%
Being most valuable in planning shopping trip – 36%
Preferred for receiving advertising information – 36%
Look forward to this form of advertising – 30%

Despite the reduced circulation in newspaper print publications, online editions are on the rise. The NAA reported that an average of 105.3 million people per month visited a newspaper web site during the 4th quarter of 2010 spending 3.4 billion minutes per month browsing the pages. That equals to an astounding 32.3 minutes and 38.9 page views per individual per month. The sites reach 58% of adults age 25 – 35 and 73% of individuals living in households with incomes of $100,000+.