• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, June 6, 2006

People who first learn of news via traditional media turn to the Web to supplement stories on TV or newspapers with more in-depth information. That's among the major findings of a study by the Online Publishers Association, "A Day in the Life: An Ethnographic Study of Media," that will be unveiled today in Atlanta.

For the report, the Online Publishers Association followed up on research conducted last year by Ball State University's Center for Media Design. Ball State researchers observed approximately 350 people in Muncie and Indianapolis as they interacted with media, as part of the school's Middletown Media Studies. The OPA this February and March built on that research by conducting interviews with a dozen of the original participants, said Pam Horan, OPA vice president, marketing and membership.

The OPA's research supports the idea that traditional and online media are complementary, Horan said. For instance, she said, a TV viewer who watches a news report of a tornado will visit a Web site to see video footage of tornadoes when the TV broadcast referenced the Web site.

The Ball State study also showed that the Web reaches more people at work than TV, radio, newspapers, or magazines. At home, the Web's reach is second to TV. But Ball State researchers also found that, despite their popularity, electronic media appears to be less engaging than print media, such as newspapers and magazines.

The OPA did not examine engagement for the study it is releasing today. Rather, the organization focused on Ball State's research about the reach of the Web, expanding Ball State's report by drawing on data from the U.S. Census Bureau to compare estimated spending patterns of heavy Web users and TV watchers.

Overall, the OPA found that heavy Web users spent more than TV watchers. When the OPA looked at Census data for ZIP codes of participants categorized as heavy Web users, it found that they spent an average of $26,450 on retail purchases annually, compared to $21,401 for those classified as heavy TV watchers.

The heavy Web users also spent an estimated average of $3,281 on entertainment and recreation, compared to the heavy TV watchers' $2,626. For out-of-home food spending, heavy Web users spent an average of $3,803 annually, compared to the TV group's $3,102.

Travel and health were also categories where heavy Web users spent more than TV watchers. In travel, average estimated annual spending among heavy Web users totaled $1,879, compared to $1,501 for heavy TV users. For health, heavy Web users' spending averaged an estimated $3,215, versus $2,635 for the heavy TV users.