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People Still Turn To Sunday Papers For Coupons

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The newspaper industry may be struggling, but people are still turning to the Sunday editions when it comes to clipping coupons, despite the rise of digital media and coupon sites.

According to consumer research firm Scarborough Research, coupon usage for household items such as groceries is up 24% since 2006. And although more than a fifth (22%) of these coupon users are using digital media such as email, text messaging and the Internet to get coupons, the primary channels continue to be Sunday newspaper inserts (49%), in-store coupons (43%), direct mailings (33%) and in-store circulars (26%).

"If you look at FSI's, they've been the dominant source of coupons for a long time," Brian Condon, executive vice president for commercial development for Scarborough, tells Marketing Daily. "To chip away at a share of that is [hard] because it's such a large base."

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At the same time, the electronic coupon users, which Scarborough calls "Digital Deal Seekers" (defined as adults who live in households that usually obtain cents-off coupons through email, text messaging or Internet sites or those who went online for coupons in the past month), are more likely than average adults to patronize local businesses such as florists, malls, restaurants and day spas. Some of that can be attributed to the "Groupon effect," in which people seeking deals are also getting offers from group coupon sites. Or they could just be avid shoppers, according to Condon.

"What we found was that the people who fit into this category were more active shoppers and supporters of local businesses," Condon says. "Plus, people that are redeeming coupons are people who are active shoppers and have an intention to use coupons."

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