• ClickZ, Friday, May 12, 2006 10:48 AM

It should come as no surprise to marketers that the Internet affects purchasing decisions. A new study from Yahoo and OMD identifies four paths, or product research cycles, in following consumers down the purchasing funnel. The study breaks them down into quick, winding, long, and long and winding, paths to making purchases. Quick generally refers to an impulse buy, winding means cross-channel comparison shopping, and the long path means consumers are waiting for an event such as a price drop or new product availability. For bigger items like cars or financial services, consumers, hungrier for information, take the so-called long and winding path, leading them through lots of information, as well as cross-channel comparison shopping. The study suggests that marketers selling such big-ticket items need to craft cross-channel campaigns to reach these consumers as they wade through a wealth of information to make their purchasing decisions.

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