• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, November 19, 2012

According to a new study by nRelate, conducted by Harris Interactive, Behavior Shift: Getting Content in Front of Consumers study, 76% of consumers click on related links at the bottom of articles for more information. Next to search results, these related links are consumers’ preferred method of discovering information online, even trumping videos, articles and images recommended by friends on social networks.

 Neil Mody, CEO of nRelate, says “...no single search engine or website is the sole gateway to content discovery... it’s a fragmented, highly contextual, often serendipitous process... yet consumers spend more than seven hours a week... looking for it... viewing four articles and three videos per session... “

The study found that consumers are gravitating toward an exploratory, contextual information discovery process

• 92% of adults read content online, spending more than seven hours per week looking for content (this is higher among the younger age groups)
• Consumers read three to four articles per session and watch two to three videos per session (this number is higher among males for both articles and videos)
• 31% of respondents indicate search engines are not the primary sources for finding content (articles and videos) online
• Nearly half 48% of respondents say that after reading an article, they are likely to click on related content
• 51% of consumers say they read and click on content pushed to them via email newsletters from brands they trust

According to the study, a number of factors influence a consumer’s decision to click.

• 62% of consumers are drawn to traditional news links versus images, videos or blog posts that are related
• After finishing an article, more users say they are likely to click on a link to another article (34%), than to a video (15%)
• 39% indicate they are more likely to click on an article if there is an image associated with it

The likelihood of a reader clicking through to related or suggested content differs based on the subject matter:

• Local News. 84% are likely to click a related link
• National News. 78% are likely to click a related link
• Entertainment. 62% say they are likely to click on a related link
• Sports. 47% say they are likely to click on a related content link

Quality is key, and consumers indicate quality content has the following attributes:

• 60% say when it’s from a source already known in the offline world
• 24% say includes images
• 23% say when it Includes author image and byline
• 11% say includes embedded video

 76% of respondents indicate they do not get most of their content recommendations from friends on social networks. While researching, 48% of users are most likely to click on search results followed by:

• Links at the bottom of the article they’ve just read (28%)
• As opposed to links found on facebook (8%)

When it comes to purchase decisions, consumers say they trust:

• Content from a brand or manufacturer’s website (44%)
• An article discovered through a search engine (31%)
• An expert on the product (28%)
• A mainstream news site (20%)

  more than they do content posted by a friend on a social network (10%)

Mody concludes that... the results of the study prove consumers are hungry for content that is not only relevant and timely, but trusted and easily discoverable...“

For more information about nRelate, please visit here.