• by Tameka Kee , September 12, 2007

A new Revenue Science study conducted by JupiterResearch found that for online shoppers, behaviorally targeted (BT) ads outperformed contextual ads--in some cases by up to 22%. Shoppers across more than ten specific categories (including CPG, automotive and financial information) were at least 10% more receptive to BT ads--with both frequent and infrequent shoppers also showing higher receptivity.

Online surveys of more than 2,000 Web users were conducted in April--including frequent online shoppers (at least once a week), infrequent ones (less than once a week), and non-shoppers.

Overall, 14% of those surveyed said they would pay more attention to behaviorally targeted ads than contextual ones. While frequent shoppers were only 6% more receptive to BT ads than to contextual ones, infrequent and non-shoppers were 15% and 16% more receptive to them, respectively.

Across categories, BT ads consistently outperformed contextual ads. With consumer electronics, for example, shoppers were 15% more likely to pay attention to an ad targeted to their behavior. For educational services, online shoppers were 18% more receptive to BT ads, while government services shoppers were 22% more receptive.

But the study also showed that some 76% of online shoppers only shopped once per month or less--and when it came to advance research on their purchases, the majority (57%) only researched a product once or twice before buying. For 43% of shoppers, the research process lasted seven days or less, and according to Marla Schimke, Revenue Science's vice president of marketing, such numbers mean that advertisers have a limited opportunity to connect with shoppers before they buy.

"They don't have a huge window to move these people through the purchase funnel," she said. "This research shows that behavioral targeting is the solution."