The
Online Publishers Association (OPA) announced this week the results of the long-anticipated media consumption study undertaken with Millward Brown
IntelliQuest in November 2001.
The study profiles consumers who had accessed the Internet from work in the past 30 days ("At-Work Users"), and contrasts them with Internet users who hadn't
("Non-Work Users").
The U.S. at-work Internet audience numbered 52.8 million in 2001, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. This new research suggests that these users have highly desirable
demographics. They are significantly more likely to be aged 18-34 (45% vs. 26%), are more likely to be highly educated (70% have at least a bachelor's degree vs. 50%) and have considerable spending
power (45% have household income greater than $75,000 vs. 22%) in comparison to Non-Work Users. Seventy-nine percent of At-Work Users report that the Internet has made them more productive workers,
and 69% indicate that it helps them balance their personal and professional lives.
The vast majority of At-Work Users (91%) also log on from home. The study investigated the overall media usage
of At-Work Users during a typical 24-hour day. Interviews conducted Tuesday through Saturday asking about yesterday's media consumption revealed that this affluent, highly educated group now spends
more time on the Internet on a typical Monday-Friday than they spend watching television. (Use of the Internet for email was specifically excluded in the questionnaire.) Thirty-four percent of total
media minutes are spent on the Internet, while 30% are spent watching television and 26% are spent listening to the radio. Even among Non-Work Users, the amount of time spent on the Internet during
the workweek is second only to TV.
The study also confirmed that daytime is prime time for the Internet. While Internet usage is notably strong throughout the day in comparison to other media,
the Internet completely dominates daytime media use in the same way that television dominates evenings. (Usage was consistently defined for all media.)
"Busy working people now spend more time
on the Internet than they spend either watching television, listening to the radio, or reading newspapers or magazines," said Michael Zimbalist, OPA acting executive director. "It is clear that the
Internet is an extremely positive force in these users' lives. Its value extends from productivity enhancement to information retrieval on high-quality media sites, making these sites a particularly
compelling way for advertisers to reach their customers."
On a series of attitudinal questions comparing online advertising to advertising in other forms of media, the survey revealed that
At-Work Users consider Internet ads to be more rich in information than ads in traditional media. They further indicated that online advertising was their preferred way to receive marketing messages
about new products and information about companies. Most significantly, online advertising was cited as the number one form of advertising that helps them decide what to buy.
Zimbalist also
said that “the buying power of At-Work Users, coupled with their clear indication that online ads help them make purchase decisions more than ads in traditional media, makes a strong case for all
major advertisers to include online in their media mix."
The research was conducted on a sample size of 1,022 Internet users, of which 755 had accessed the Internet from work in the past 30
days, and 272 had accessed the Internet from somewhere other than work in the past 30 days. The sample was recruited throughout the day from the Lightspeed web panel.
A white paper containing
the full results will be available next month. Further OPA/Millward Brown IntelliQuest research on the effectiveness of online media in conjunction with television advertising is also underway, and
results should be available this spring.