A survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. has confirmed what many people have a sense of anecdotally - that two groups, young consumers and highly educated consumers, state online information sources are their primary influence for their buying decisions when compared with the rest of the population.
"The eyes of young people 18 to 34 and the most highly educated Americans are looking online - search engines, online articles, online ads, email offers and social media -- to a degree that is head and shoulders above the average citizen," says Scott Severson, president of survey sponsor ARAnet.
In the 25 to 34 year old age group, half expressed a "strong preference" for using search engines, compared with 39% for all respondents; online articles, 39% vs. 28%; e-mail communications from marketers, 32% vs. 20%; online ads, 30% vs. 19%; and social media, 31% vs. 18%.
For those who make $75,000 or more, Mr. Severson said search engines are preferred by just under half, a similar figure to the younger respondents.
But when all respondents are taken into account, personal advice from friends or family members still rules. Nearly six in 10 of respondents said this was influential or very influential in their buying decisions.
Next was television news at 40%; search engines at 39%; television ads, 36%; newspaper or magazine articles, 31%; online articles, 28%; radio news, 25%; direct mail, 24%; radio ads, 20%; e-mails from retailers or manufacturers, 20%; online ads, 19%; social media posts, 18%; and billboards, 15%.
Mr. Severson said that the survey results supports the trend of a higher percentage of marketing budgets flowing into online and digital tactics. "Search engine optimization and backlinks from advertising and public relations efforts are providing information in the places where high-value consumers are influenced about buying decisions," he said.
