How Do Consumers Find Out About New Products and Brands?
by MarketingCharts staff
How are Americans introduced to new products and brands? Most often through TV ads, according to new survey results from Ipsos Open Thinking Exchange. After TV ads, Americans say they’re most likely to learn about new products and brands from friends and family (54%) and on the internet (also at 54%). The results reveal some interesting demographic differences within the US, as well as some intriguing variations between US responses and ones from the rest of the world. Advertisement
Predictably, the results differ significantly when sorting by age bracket. In the 18-34 group, the internet is the primary source of discovery (59%), with TV falling to third (48%), also behind friends and family (56%). Among older age groups (35-49) and (50-64), TV returns to the top, with its influence rising alongside age. That’s an interesting finding, as previous research has suggested that TV ads are more influential among younger age groups, at least for purchases.
Nevertheless, at least for new product discovery, TV and the internet appear to move in opposite directions in terms of age patterns. The influence of retail stores and direct mail also increases alongside age, while the opposite is true for social networking sites and blogs.
There are also some notable gender gaps within the US, with women in general appearing to be more likely than men to rely on most of the sources identified. Some of the bigger discrepancies related to:
- Friends and family (a source for 63% of US women versus 46% of men);
- Retail stores (55% of women vs. 45% of men);
- Magazine ads (38% of women vs. 25% of men);
- Social networking sites (36% of women vs. 15% of men);
- Email newsletters (22% of women vs. 15% of men);
- Magazine editorials (18% of women vs. 9% of men); and
- Blogs (16% of women vs. 9% of men).
In other demographic differences, the survey reveals that the influence of friends and family, the internet, email newsletters, and magazine editorials increases with household income levels, while TV advertising is a bigger source of new product and brand discovery for married than single respondents, as are retail stores and magazine ads.
Reliance on friends and family appears to increase alongside education level, with blogs and magazine editorials following suit. Interestingly, senior executives and decision-makers are more likely to discover new products and brands through TV ads than their respondents not in those positions (63% vs. 58%), and the former are also more likely to discover new products and brands from entertainment, such as TV shows and movies (34% vs. 20%).
Internet Less of a Source for Americans
It’s a different story when looking at the 24-country average. On a global level, the internet is the top medium for new product and brand discovery, cited by 68% of respondents, a fairly marked difference from the 54% of US respondents who discover new brands on the internet.TV ads take the second spot among global respondents, but they are still more likely to be a source of new product discovery by the average global consumer (61%) than by the average American (58%).
Other interesting gaps between US responses and the overall average include:
- Americans being 16% more likely to find out about new brands and products in retail stores (50% vs. 43%);
- Americans being more than 30% less likely to find out about them through social networking sites (25% vs. 36%); and
- Americans being 31% less likely to discover new products and brands through email newsletters (18% vs. 26%).
