• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, August 6, 2012

A new study of how parents are tackling this year’s back-to-school shopping finds that TV is the most effective way to reach them -- a bit of a departure from their ballyhooed reliance on online and social media channels. 

Deloitte’s annual back-to-school survey reports that television “is the No.1 source that parents cited for information about the items they plan to buy, followed by family members and newspapers,” Collin Brinkman, partner in Deloitte’s retail practice, tells Marketing Daily. “And when it comes to their kids, they believe that family members are the No. 1 information source, with television at No. 2.”

Brinkman, who says he was surprised to see parents relying on old-school media, says it was also striking to see how much moolah they intend to cough up this year. “Some 27% are planning on spending more than $500,” he says. ”That’s a huge jump from last year.” (In 2011, 15% said they would do so.) And many expect their kids to spend more, with 38% saying their children would spend upwards of $201 on back-to-school items. 

But parents aren’t ponying up more because they think there are better deals out there, or because merchandise is so tempting. In fact, the reverse is true: 58% say they are spending more because prices are higher, and fewer respondents (36% this year versus 47% last year) think stores are offering them more value for their money.

To make their funds go further, 59% of parents say they intend to use a budget, and 66% say they will shop for items on sale. And while 65% plan to use their mobile devices to check prices and download coupons, only 22% say they plan to use social media channels.

The survey, based on 1,130 parents of school-age kids, also found that while half of the respondents believe we are still in a recession, 88% of those who earn $100,000 or more believe they are doing as well as -- or better than -- they were last year.