Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Almost All Consumers Now Use Web for Buying Decisions

Avenue A | Razorfish surveyed 475 consumers across "all demographics" in July.  The findings show the usual divide between what the loud techno-elite minority cares about, as compared to the quiet mass-consumer majority:

  • Only 60% personalize home pages
  • 47% never share bookmarks
  • 44% never use RSS feeds
  • 65% never use tag clouds
  • Almost all read the "most popular" or "most emailed" items on sites

Video: Big

  • 67% regularly watch videos on YouTube, etc.
  • 95% have watched online videos in the last 3 months.
  • 49% have uploaded online videos in the last 3 months [shockingly high--almost makes us discount all findings, or at least conclude that this is a highly web-literate and young consumer sub-set].
  • 85% have watched online movie previews in last 3 months.
  • 71% have watched a TV show online in the last 3 months [ more than we would have thought].

Online Music, Photos, Blogs: Pretty Big

  • 42% regularly purchase music online
  • 41% use photo-sharing sites
  • 70% read blogs regularly

Online research when making product selection decisions: HUGE

  • 92%+ use the web when making product buying decisions (research, reviews, retailer location, price comparison, etc.)
  • 54% start their product research at a search engine
  • 14% start it at a comparison shopping engine
  • 30% start it at an e-commerce or retailer site
  • 55% rely on USER REVIEWS most when choosing products
  • 21% rely on EXPERT REVIEWS most.
  • After product selected, most important criteria when choosing where to buy are PRICE (38%) and SITE REPUTATION (38%)

Mobile data services: Small

  • 68% never use mobile phone to listen to music
  • 76% never use mobile phone to watch video.
  • 64% never use mobile phone to check headlines.