• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, June 3, 2010

According to the recent Starch Information Sources Study, sponsored by The Canadian Business Press to measure the effectiveness of specialized business publications versus other information sources, the Internet has become the disrupter among the major trade publications in virtually every industry sector.

And, recognizing that Canada is generally a microcosm of the U.S. marketplace, it is hoped that the data developed in this study bear a relationship to trends in the U.S. to assist in market and media planning.

The study included combined unduplicated circulation of the 58 major individual publications serving the seven industry sectors of Manufacturing, Retail, Automotive & Trucking, Information Technology, Resources & Construction, Agriculture and Travel/Tourism. The research shows that the B2B industry is still ranked in the top two of information sources, falling just behind the internet in five of the seven sectors.

Business and professional publications provide reliable, industry?specific news and information as well as being repositories of knowledge on the sectors they cover and are the ultimate targeted medium. Their raison d'être is built on reaching and serving highly specialized targeted groups of Canadians in business, agriculture and the professions. Since this type of business media is so carefully targeted to specialized audiences, many people are simply unaware of its existence or of how broad the industry really is, notes the report.

Across seven diverse industrial sectors and fourteen different media and information sources, there are seven principal sources that are highly valued and relied upon by business decision makers. Six of these are identified as traditional business?to-business media: 

• Specialized Business Publications
• Salespeople 
• Trade Shows
• Direct Mail 
• Conventions & Seminars
• Business Directories

The seventh principal business?to?business information source, the Internet, has shown spectacular growth in influence since first evaluated in 1996. The Internet showed a significant 23 percentage point gain since 2004, which launched it into the top position. Trade shows have shown a gain of 11 percentage points since 2004, and are tied in their overall rating with Specialized Business Publications. Conventions/Seminars showed a gain of 6%.

 The following table shows the "Very Useful" Rating and Ranking (out of 14) for the Internet from 1996 to 2010.

 The Computer & Technology sector naturally places the highest value on the Internet. Other sectors however have been quick to adapt to the technology and the Internet's usefulness. Even markets that have traditionally relied on more frequent face?to?face contact now use the technology extensively.

 Major contributors to the extensive growth of the Internet since 2004 have been the publishers who have embraced the technology and added value to their brands and marketers who have used business publication advertising to generate website traffic. While usefulness ratings vary according to the type of industry, Business Publications are rated second or third in all seven markets measured.

 Salespeople have dropped from third to fifth in ranking. There has been a steady decline since 1996. While Agriculture, and to a lesser degree Automotive & Trucking, show a gain over 2004, the importance of Salespeople has dropped in every other market, particularly Resources & Construction.

New technology and the high cost of managing a sales force have resulted in fewer sales representatives and a corresponding drop in their usefulness rating and particularly, their ranking. However, there is still an important need for personal contact and this is reflected in the increase in the value of Trade Shows and the steady numbers for Conventions/ Seminars.

Website Usage 

• 80% directly searched for and visited a website belonging to a specific supplier or manufacturer. 
• 70% visited a website belonging to a specialized business publication or business newspaper. 
• 68% visited a website belonging to a supplier or manufacturer through a link on a publication's website. 
• 58% visited a supplier or manufacturer website based on an ad in a specialized business publication. 
• 61% visited a supplier or manufacturer website based on an article or new product announcement in a specialized business publication.

After visiting a business related website, 90% of respondents took one or more actions:

• 72% made an inquiry 
• 71% sourced a supplier or product 
• 50% made a purchase 

  Survey results are based on a total of 693 respondents who are involved in developing specifications, selecting suppliers or approving expenditures for their company or business. Each Information Source was rated on a numeric scale, where ‘0' was Not At All Useful and ‘10' was Very Useful.

Tables in the report show: 

• Summary scores where Very Useful refers to respondents who answer 7, 8, 9 or 10 on the rating scale. 
• The average rating based on the entire scale (0 to 10). 
• The ranking (from 1 to 14) from the most useful to the least useful information source. 
• A comparison to the results of the Information Sources studies conducted in 1996, 2000 and 2004.

For additional information, please visit the CBP here.