• by February 25, 2004

While the Internet speeds transactions and makes shopping more convenient for the time-starved, Americans continue to place a high premium on personal contact and service, according to a new survey by Havas' Arnold Worldwide Partners, Boston.

The survey, part of the advertising agency's "Mood & Mindset" research series, found that Americans seek out human contact when looking for service of all kinds, and are willing to pay for it.

Except for select activities, the survey sample of more than 1,000 respondents revealed that Americans still prefer shopping in bricks-and-mortar stores. Among the survey's findings:

*37 percent of respondents said they would shop online for a gift for a friend, while 63 percent prefer shopping in a physical store location. *21 percent said they prefer shopping online for clothes for themselves, while 79 percent prefer to go to the store. *57 percent prefer ATM machines for banking, while 43 percent would rather visit the teller. *34 percent order prescriptions online, while 66 percent order drugs at the local pharmacy. *47 percent like paying bills online, while 53 percent prefer to pay bills by mail. *31 percent enjoy researching and shopping for automobiles online, while 69 percent prefer purchasing autos at dealerships. *53 percent say they would rather book cruises online, while 47 percent prefer booking via a travel agent.

"Our survey shows evidence that many Americans still prefer the face-to-face contact with the teller when managing their bank accounts," says Andrew Lynch, cultural strategist in Arnold's brand planning department. "Americans are seeking out the human contact that the digital age seems bent on making scarce. They are willing to incur costs--at least costs in time, if not monetary costs--in order to gain the responsive and human service that only face-to-face contact can deliver."

Moreover, service delivered via human beings, as opposed to a digital interface (at least when it's good service), establishes people as the actual representatives of brands, which is "sometimes missing from online transactions," Lynch explains. "There is still something to the human connection, and a kind of professionalism that you can find in person." The research suggests that people eventually acculturate and adapt to transactions that don't involve personal interaction, such as using ATM bank machines and subway pass kiosks. "People get used to it--it becomes part of their daily habit," Lynch says, adding: "I'm not suggesting that all human interactions will be dispensed with, but more transactions will take place through the Web or some machine interface."

The online survey, fielded by Greenfield Online, polled Americans culled from a balanced national population of Internet households as defined by Forrester Research, not the U.S. Census. The Internet households comprised a 50/50 split between males and females ages 18 and above, representing a mix of ethnic backgrounds.