When it comes to the advertising medium they find most influential in making a purchase decision, American adults are far more likely to point to TV (37.2%) than any other, including newspapers (10.6%), the internet (5.6%), and magazines (4.4%), per results from a TVB study released in June 2012.
TV Leads Across All Age Groups; Influence Wanes With Age
Data from TVB’s “Media Comparisons 2012″ indicates that a plurality of respondents across all age groups believe that TV influences their purchase decisions the most. Interestingly, 18-34-year-olds are the most likely to report this (40.8%), with TV’s influence declining with age, to 36.5% of 35-64-year-olds and 32.7% of those aged 65 and older. The ExactTarget survey results (see link above) paint a similar picture, with TV ads losing their influence among the older groups.
By contrast, the influence of newspapers rises with age: while just 3.2% of 18-34-year-olds responding to the TVB survey say that newspapers hold the greatest sway over their purchase decisions, that proportion rises to 12.3% among 35-64-year-olds, and 18.5% among those 65 and older. Somewhat predictably, the influence of ads served online is far more prevalent among 18-34-year-olds than the oldest group (7.4% vs. 2.9%).
TV Commercials Also Chief Product Info Source
The TVB survey finds that not only does TV serve as a purchase influence, it is also a key source of information about products. 39.8% of the respondents said that TV is the source they are most likely to learn from about products and brands they would like to try or buy. The internet (8.7%) was next, followed by newspapers (8%) and magazines (6.8%). Almost one-quarter of the respondents were unsure.
Other Findings:
- Roughly 7 in 10 adults report ownership of an HDTV set.
- 48.3% of respondents aged 18-34 say they notice when a commercial on an HD channels is not shown in HD format. This decreases to 35.4% of 35-64-year-olds and 29.4% of those 65 and older. Of note, according to a study released in February 2012 by DG and Kantar Media, TV ads aired in high definition (HD) outperform their standard definition (SD) counterparts in terms of audience retention by 18.4%.
- Per the TVB report, 51% of adults say a TV ad has prompted them to go online to find out more.
- 61% of the respondents report being members of a social networking site. Just 6.8% of those say they have made a purchase decision based on information from a social network.
About the Data: The TVB Media Comparisons Study was fielded in Q1 2012 and conducted by Knowledge Networks, utilizing their “Knowledge Panel.” There were 1,557 respondents in total: 1,433 are adults (aged 18 and older), and the remaining 124 are aged 13-17.
